Oilfield chemicals have been used to prevent erosion corrosion. Earlier work has recorded both laboratory studies and field studies that show that certain corrosion inhibitors can retard erosion corrosion in gas systems containing sand for both mild steel and corrosion resistant alloys. 1 In this paper, new work on improved oilfield chemicals to retard erosion corrosion is reported.
Metal loss due to the impingement of particles has been well studied. 2'3'4 Laboratory tests have shown that corrosion inhibitors are able to both reduce erosion corrosion of mild steel in carbon dioxide environments in a rotating cage 5'6 and rotating cylinder electode 7 and jet impingement apparatus. 8 Corrosion inhibitors have been observed to allow producers to produce at higher velocities in situations that contain sand. 1'9-12 In one study, corrosion inhibitors have been observed to retard erosion corrosion of both carbon steel and 13% chromium containing stainless steel in carbon dioxide environments. 1 Erosion corrosion of carbon steel in carbon dioxide environments involves the synergistic action of metal loss due to impingement and corrosion of an active surface. Inhibitor action may involve both the reduction of metal loss during impingement and subsequent retardation of active corrosion. Previous studies have shown that corrosion inhibitors that mitigate erosion corrosion of mild steel in carbon dioxide environments also act as corrosion inhibitors without sand, hence adsorb to the metal surface. In this paper the adsorption characteristics of an inhibitor that has mitigated erosion corrosion in laboratory 5-s and field conditions 11 with sand is presented. Laboratory tests using sand comparing the performance of particular corrosion inhibitor and a more recently developed corrosion inhibitor are presented. The tests indicate that more efficient mitigation of erosion corrosion in a carbon dioxide environment will be obtained with the newer formulation.
