The Effect of Jet Flow Impingement on the Corrosion Products Formed on a Pipeline Steel in Naturally Aerated Sour Brine

Corrosion was generated by the action of a jet impingement flow of sour brine on pipeline steel samples of X70. Flow-assisted corrosion affected nature, number and peak intensity of the chemical species formed as corrosion products. Iron sulfides predominated in static and low flow rate conditions (1.1 m/s), whereas at 2.4 m/s iron oxides were mainly formed, which led to higher corrosion rates and suggested that oxides are less protective than sulfides. On inhibition, imidazoline seems to mitigate oxide formation and support sulfide formation balancing both species on steel surface. Ferrite phase in laminar pearlite was preferentially dissolved with/without inhibitor, and mackinawite (FeS₂) was formed at every flow rate, angle with and without inhibitor. Theoretical stresses determined by computational flow dynamics for corrosion product removal showed a fair approximation to those proposed in the literature.