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, CO2, H2S, and perhaps O2 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 the 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.
Keywords: Corrosion, pitting, electrochemical noise, gas pipeline, soil