Abstract
The use of carbon steel and film forming corrosion inhibitors has often been retained as the most cost effective solution for corrosion control, in particular for long pipelines carrying sweet or mildly sour wet hydrocarbons, including but not limited to crude oil export lines, wet gas pipelines, and flow lines. The integrity of such structures heavily relies on the effectiveness of the corrosion inhibition program in place. The NACE accepted definition of a film forming inhibitor is not very restrictive. Essentially most corrosion inhibitors used in the oil and gas industry in pipelines, wells, and most facilities are film forming inhibitors. This paper presents a review of research efforts made over the past decade in the area of corrosion inhibition using film forming inhibitors. It then gives an overview of the requirements to succeed with such corrosion inhibition program. Finally, a study of corrosion inhibition in pipelines is presented to illustrate and capture the well-understood aspects of corrosion inhibition along with the knowledge gaps in such area.
