Abstract

The presence of hydrogen sulfide in high-pressure gas systems causes several complications. Sour gas corrosion is a major concern in the oil and gas industry due to the presence of localized corrosion. Hydrates can occur in these systems at high pressures and low temperatures. Sour gas decreases the pressure and increases the temperature at which hydrate formation occurs. Operators have used both corrosion inhibitors and kinetic hydrate inhibitors to decrease the capital requirements of developing sour high-pressure gas systems. The development of sour gas corrosion inhibitors that are compatible with kinetic hydrate inhibitors is a major requirement for qualifying corrosion inhibitors for these applications.

This paper describes results of laboratory work on the development of new corrosion inhibitors by performing corrosion performance and compatibility testing with two different kinetic hydrate inhibitors. The new corrosion inhibitors must meet various additional requirements which make the development process even more complex. The partitioning of a corrosion inhibitor between the oil and water phases significantly impacts inhibitor selection and treatment strategy. Additionally, the type of kinetic hydrate inhibitor employed in the process poses restrictions to the corrosion inhibitor chemistry selection process. General corrosion performance was addressed using mass loss and electrochemical data. Localized corrosion evaluation was performed using vertical scanning interferometry (VSI). The main advantage of this approach is in providing quantitative data for product performance differentiation for minimizing the risk of localized corrosion.

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