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Laboratory Evaluation of an Electrochemical Noise System for Detection of Localized and General Corrosion of Natural Gas Transmission Pipelines

Conference ·
OSTI ID:821881
Gas transmission pipelines are susceptible to both internal (gas side) and external (soil side) corrosion attack. Internal corrosion is caused by the presence of salt laden moisture, CO{sub 2}, H{sub 2}S, and perhaps O{sub 2} in the natural gas. Internal corrosion usually manifests itself as general corrosion. However, the presence of chlorides in entrained water also can lead to pitting corrosion damage. The electrochemical noise technique can differentiate general from localized corrosion and provide estimates of corrosion rates without external perturbation of the corroding system. It is increasingly being applied to field and industrial installations for in situ corrosion monitoring. It has been used here to determine its suitability for monitoring internal and external corrosion damage on gas transmission pipelines. Corrosion measurements were made in three types of environments: (1) aqueous solutions typical of those found within gas pipelines in equilibrium with th e corrosive components of natural gas; (2) biologically-active soils typical of wetlands; and (3) a simulated, unpressurized, internal gas/liquid gas pipeline environment. Multiple sensor designs were evaluated in the simulated pipe environment. Gravimetric measurements were conducted in parallel with the electrochemical noise measurements to validate the results.
Research Organization:
Albany Research Center, OR (US)
Sponsoring Organization:
National Energy Technology Laboratory; USDOE Office of Fossil Energy (FE) (US)
OSTI ID:
821881
Report Number(s):
DOE/ARC-2003-002; Work package AE-FY-03-11
Country of Publication:
United States
Language:
English