Experimental results on initiation and growth of mesa attack at 100 - 150 °C are presented and compared to previously published results at 80 °C. The risk for mesa attack is reduced at temperatures above 100 °C, and this is caused by improved protectiveness of iron carbonate corrosion films. Experiments have demonstrated that mesa attack can develop during CO2 corrosion of carbon steel by localized corrosion beneath an iron carbonate corrosion film and subsequent removal of the remaining iron carbonate film by flow forces. It is important to take account of the understanding of this mechanism during development of prediction models for localized CO2 corrosion.
Keywords: CO2 corrosion, mesa attack, carbon steel, sweet corrosion