Internal Corrosion Direct Assessment for

Dry Gas & Multiphase Pipelines using

Corrosion Prediction Models
Paper 1420

V. Lagad, R.D. Kane and A. Mehdawe

Honeywell Process Solutions

PRELMINARY VERSION
 Overview

• Introduction to Internal Corrosion in Pipelines

• Need for ICDA
• ICDA Overview
• Dry Gas, Wet Gas and Liquid Petroleum ICDA
• Corrosion in Multiphase Pipelines
• Software for Corrosion Prediction and Flow Modeling
• Case Study
• Benefits of Online Real-time Monitoring
• Conclusions
 Internal Corrosion of Pipelines

• Internal and external corrosion

results in up to 50 percent of
all pipeline leaks (upstream
and midstream)
• Internal corrosion accounts for
between 70 and 90 percent of
corrosion failures
• Direct assessment (DA) has
been developed for the
purpose of performing integrity
verifications for pipelines that
are not able to accept inline-
inspection (ILI) tools
• DA can also be applied to
other critical areas for
assessment of corrosion rate.
 What causes Internal Corrosion in Pipelines?

• Water accumulation at low spots and high inclinations

• Phase separation in case of multiphase pipelines leading
to water wet sections in pipelines
• Top of the line corrosion in case of condensing water
• Accumulation of solids in case of multiphase and liquids
pipeline leading to under-deposit corrosion
• Flow regime changes leading to water separation, solids
deposition
• Presence of water (electrolyte) is a necessary but not
sufficient condition for corrosion to occur
• Presence of acid gases such as CO2 and H2S and other
corrodents causes corrosion
 Need for ICDA
• Some pipelines are not able to accept inline-inspection (ILI)
tools
• In some cases performing ILI may be cost prohibitive or may
require disruption of critical services
• ICDA has been developed for the purpose of performing
integrity verifications on such pipelines
• Initially driven by a need to meet pending changes to U.S.
transmission pipeline regulations in the face of major failures
• Using the latest developments in technology, flow modeling
and corrosion prediction, ICDA can be used to enhance
integrity verification
• Properly performed ICDA leads to substantial cost savings
from reduced inspection of entire pipelines and failure-free
operations
 ICDA Overview: 4 Steps

• Pre-Assessment
- Collection of all essential information regarding the historic and present
operation and to define regions of interest based on certain criteria

• Indirect Inspection
- Use of flow models to determine areas where accumulation of water
and corrodents is most likely

• Detailed Examination
- Performance of excavations and direct examination of pipe to
determine if significant internal corrosion has occurred

• Post Assessment
- Review data from previous three steps to evaluate pipeline integrity and
determine reassessment intervals
 DG-ICDA, LP-ICDA & WG-ICDA

• DG-ICDA
- For Dry Gas Transmission Pipelines (Normally dry, )
- NACE SP0206
- Well received by pipeline operators and DOT and used widely
• LP-ICDA
- For Liquid Petroleum Pipelines (Normally liquid full, less than 5%
BS&W)
- NACE TG 315
- Currently being finalized
• WG-ICDA
- For gas pipelines with less than 10 % liquid
- NACE TG 305
- Currently being finalized
 Common steps in ICDA

• A mechanism for susceptibility is identified (internal

corrosion due to water accumulation or solids deposition)
• A property associated with this mechanism is used as a
basis for detecting susceptibility (water accumulation, solids
accumulation etc. using flow modeling)
• Direct observations (excavations) are made to verify the
correlation between the property and mechanism
• Corrections are made for any discrepancies
• Examinations of a few critical locations along the pipeline
most susceptible to corrosion can provide information about
the complete pipeline.
 Corrosion in Multiphase Pipelines
• Parameters affecting
corrosion in multiphase
pipelines
- Water Cut (Wet-ability)
- Hydrocarbon Properties
- Flow Regimes
- Water Phase Behavior
- Pipeline Inclinations
- Solids deposition
 Corrosion Prediction
• Accumulation of water alone is not sufficient, it is also
important to quantify the amount of potential condensed
water
• Once water accumulation it determined, it is important to
assess potential corrosion severity
• Presence of CO2 and H2S
• Prediction of system pH
• Temperature, with pH (bulk/saturation pH gradients)
determines scaling and precipitation of FeS, FeCO3 or lack
of protection
• Presence of H2S has a significant effect on corrosion rate
and Fe-related scaling.
• Corrosion Prediction Model integrates the effects of system
thermodynamics and phase equilibrium, ionic electro-
chemistry and fluid dynamics
0
 Predict - Corrosion Prediction Model

Ionic Strength,
H2S, CO2, Determine Eff.
Acetates,Temp. Determine pH CO2 Pressure

Water phase
Determine characterization
Saturation pH for Determine Effective
FeCO3 and FeS Corrosion Rate

Operating CO2/H2S Ratio

Temperature Film Effects
H2S Effect Relative
Domination

Gas/Oil Ratio
Water Content Oil/Gas/Water Effects
Oil Type
Dew Point Horizontal Flow

Flow Modeling
Inhibition: Vertical Flow
Delivery Method
Effectiveness
Corrosion Rate Chlorides
Aeration
Prediction Sulfur

1
 Flow Modeling

• When gas-liquid mixtures flow in a conduit, the two phases

may distribute in a variety of patterns
• The particular pattern one observes depends on the flow
rates, the fluid properties and the tube size
• Mass transfer rates and momentum transfer rates may both
vary greatly with the attendant flow pattern
• Flow Modeling Involves
- Predicting flow pattern
- Quantifying Liquid Hold-up
- Pressure Drop Calculation
- Shear Stress Calculation
- Critical Angle Computation

2
 Water Phase Behavior

• Uses Bukacek and Maddox correlation, more accurate than

other traditional methods
• Calculates the distribution of the total water in the system
between the liquid and gas phase.
• Accounts for changes in Gas Holding Capacity of gas based
on CO2 and H2S concentration
• Calculates dew point of the gas based on these calculations
• Quantifies any condensation or evaporation of water in the
gas due to changes in the operating conditions
• Quantifies Liquid Water Holdup

3
 Software System Interface
• Comprehensive, in-depth ICDA
for pipelines, with a number of
modules
- Import Pipe Geometry
- Identify Critical Segments
- Analyze Water phase behavior
- Perform rigorous flow modeling
- Generate Corrosion Prediction
Profiles
- Analyze Water Holdup
- pH computation
- Integrate analysis & data with
other software systems

4
 Case Study

• An offshore gas pipeline transmission system was

characterized for potential corrosivity during system upsets
• Historical Analysis and GPS Data was provided by an
inspection partner company
• Transmission rate: 13.95 MMSCFD (0.395 Mm3/day)
• 155.5 psia (1072.1 kPa), 60 F (15.6 C)
• Pipe ID 11.8 in (299.7 mm)
• Worst Case CO2 content of 1.68 mol %
• Analysis of a stretch of 16485 feet (5.03 km) is presented in
this case
• Total pipeline length: 286125 feet (87.21 km)

5
 Case Study – Importing Pipe Geometry
• Pipe geometry can be imported
from MS Excel as .XLS file or
from any text editor as .CSV files
• Import format supported
• Distance, Elevation
• Length, Angle
• Results generated after Pipe
geometry successfully imported
Pipeline Profile - 28 inch Fuel Gas Pipeline - Region-I (MM 88.8 to MM 22.2)

80 Inclination Angle

70 Elevation 150
Inclination Angle (degrees)

60
140
50

Elevation (feet)
40 130
30
120
20

10
110
0

-10 100
3931+25
3929+17

3924+97

3918+49

3913+69

3907+42

3902+43
3898+17
3949+88
3947+65
3944+79
3942+54
3939+29
3938+02
3935+72
3933+45

3926+07

3922+74
3920+53

3916+36

3911+98
3909+70

3905+36

3893+15
3890+31

3889+60
3887+04

Station Number

6
 Case Study - Result Screen

7
 Summary of Case Study

• With water carryover, 3 segments were identified as most

susceptible to water accumulation

• Computed Critical angle was 3.2 degrees

• Computed water holdup, water phase distribution, CO2

dissolution, temperature and hydrodynamic parameters
were utilized to generate a corrosion rate profile

• A worst case corrosion rate of up to 18.5 mpy (0.47 mm/y)

was predicted for these critical segments during upsets

8
 ICDA and Online Real-time Monitoring

• Where to monitor?
- ICDA identifies critical segments along the pipeline
- Inspection of these regions is performed
- These locations can be used to monitor corrosion rates
in real time

• Benefits of real-time monitoring of corrosion rates

- Instant identification of process upsets
- Quantification of such upsets in terms of corrosion
- Better asset management and inspection resource
allocation insight
- Can be tied into process knowledge management for
asset protection
- Few monitoring points can provide insight into health of
entire pipeline

9
 Conclusions

• Internal corrosion in pipelines is a serious and significant

problem
• ICDA methodology aimed towards dry gas, liquid petroleum
and wet gas applications
• Various parameters need to accounted for in multiphase
flowing systems
• Software System described enhances utility of ICDA by
- Quantifying water hold up
- Analyzing fluid dynamics
- Characterizing electrochemical behavior
- Quantifying severity of corrosion in critical areas through corrosion
prediction
• Proper application of this system can lead to substantial cost
savings and development of a rigorous, consistent program
for safe operation of pipelines