VELOCITY GUIDELINES FOR AVOIDING EROSION-CORROSION DAMAGE IN SWEET PRODUCTION WITH SAND

CO2 corrosion in carbon steel piping systems can be severe depending o n a number of factors including CO2 content, water chemistry, temperat ure, and percent,vater cut. For many oil and gas production conditions , corrosion products can from a protective scale on interior surfaces of the piping. In these situations, metal loss rates can reduce to bel ow design allowances. But, if sand is entrained in the pow, sand parti cles impinging on pipe surfaces can remove the scale or prevent it fro m forming at localized areas of particle particle impingement. This pr ocess is referred to as ''erosion-corrosion'' and can lead to high met al loss rates. In some cases, penetration rates can be extremely high due to pitting. This paper combines laboratory test data on erosion-co rrosion with an erosion prediction computational model to compute flow velocity limits (''threshold velocities'') for avoiding erosion-corro sion in carbon steel piping. Also discussed is how threshold velocitie s can be shifted upward by using a corrosion inhibitor.