Abstract
The use of corrosion inhibitors in multiphase flow environments consisting of oil/water mixtures is common in a wider variety of industries. Frequently, oil is assumed to reduce uninhibited corrosion rate, which could lead to lower required concentrations of inhibitor to maintain protection. In this paper, results of a study of inhibited corrosion in multiphase flow are presented. These results are obtained from a novel three-cell flow loop (EC3) that is capable of simultaneous, independent measurement of erosion, corrosion, and erosion-corrosion. The efficiency of inhibitor in oil-water flow is measured at two water cuts, 100% and 40%. Decreasing the water cut from 100% to 40%, or increasing oil content, was found to lower the baseline, 0 ppm inhibitor, corrosion rate. For the conditions considered, further decreasing water cut did not have a statistically significant effect. Increasing oil content was found to reduce inhibitor surface coverage, likely due to a combination of adsorption of inhibitor to oil-water interfaces and dissolution of inhibitor in the oil phase.
