Transporting 'new' gases in natural gas pipelines:

how about internal corrosion?

Investing in your future:

Martin.Hommes@dnvgl.com Maarten.Duyff@dnvgl.com
This research has been financed by a grant of the Energy Delta Gas Research (EDGaR) program. EDGaR is co-financed by the Northern Netherlands Provinces,the European Fund for Regional Development, the Ministry of Economic Affairs and the Province of Groningen.

Water is an important parameter for transmission pipelines internal corrosion

Why water is important

Gas components like CO2 and H2S dissolve in liquid water; dissolved components cause a corrosive
environment. Internal corrosion affects the condition of a transmission pipeline; eventually resulting in
leak or rupture.

Current situation
Besides incidental off-spec situations with water and/or water dew point ('upsets'), Dutch gas trans-
mission pipelines normally do not contain water AND the amounts of relevant components are
relatively low. Therefore there is no or low probability of failure due to internal corrosion (so far,
failure was not encountered in the Netherlands).

From mono- to multi-gas

Changing gas markets results in an increase of injection points, with associated increased probability
of upsets AND/OR 'new' gases bio-, shale or syngas may contain higher amounts of corrosive
components. This research aims at determining how this will influence the probability of failure of Source: U.S. National Transportation Board

internal corrosion in transmission pipelines, i.e. the impact on pipeline corrosion threat. Figure 1: Corroded and ruptured pipeline (in the USA).

Modelling internal corrosion: WHERE is happening WHAT, and for HOW LONG?

WHERE: location of water WHAT: corrosion reactions HOW LONG: wetting time

Water hold-up is dependent on pipeline Corrosion rate is dependent on component Time that water remains at hold-up location
inclination angle concentrations is dependent on evaporation/condensation
Hold-up where critical Focus on CO2 and H2S Evaporation vs. condensation in relation to
critical depends on pipeline diameter, flow rate Two models used: De Waard Milliams (CO2) water vapor content in gas
and liquid type: and Freecorp (CO2 & H2S ) Modelled with steady-state model in Hysys:
Calculations assume '100% wetting time'

The hold-up probability is higher in 36"-67 bar Evaporation and condensation are determined
Pipeline corrosion threat by the delta between phases V (gas and water
pipelines than in 8"-40 bar pipelines, higher in
low flows (summer) than in high flows and vapor phase) and A (liquid water phase).
This three-step model set-up determines and Typical wetting time for an upset of 1 m3 is
higher with pure water than with water/glycol
analyses internal corrosion sensitive locations. determined to be 0.5 to 5 days
mixtures.
Given a gas composition, a pipeline and its
operating conditions, the corrosion threat to the
pipeline strongly depends on the amount of
water (accidentally) entering the system.

Best way to prevent damage is to prevent corrosion from happening...

Liquid water is a requisite for internal corrosion, therefore water management is crucial.
With this model set-up, the effects of water in natural gas pipelines carrying 'new' gases can be determined. Only when water is managed properly, gases
with higher CO2 and H2S concentrations can be admitted to a transmission system without decreasing integrity and/or increasing amounts of repairs. This
may mean increased strictness regarding upsets and water dew-point off-spec situations, increased monitoring and possibly intervention upon violation of
the specifications.