Chemical & Petroleum Engineering

School of Engineering and Physical Science

Summer Internship Report

2017

Name: Tapdigzade Azer

Place of practice: Oil and Gas Research and Project Institute

Date of Practice: 06.06.2018-29.06.2018

Supervisor: Sevda Fatullayeva

Date of Submission: 06.07.2018

Contents
Synopsis.......................................................................................................................................................3
General Overview........................................................................................................................................3
Corrosion.....................................................................................................................................................4
Protection Methods.....................................................................................................................................5
COATINGS................................................................................................................................................5
PAINTING................................................................................................................................................5
INHIBITORS..............................................................................................................................................5
Cathodic Protection.....................................................................................................................................6
Special Topic: Underground Gas Pipeline....................................................................................................8
Appendix A- Mass Calculation.....................................................................................................................9
Appendix B- Resistance Calculation...........................................................................................................10
Reference..................................................................................................................................................14

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Synopsis
The key purpose by writing this report is examination of the whole data that highlights
approximately one month internship program (6 June- 29 June) in “Corrosion” Department
which is part of “Oil and Gas Research and Projects Institute”. Thus, at beginning of the summer
practice 15 students of 4th year chemical engineering faculty were subdivided into 3 different
departments as “Analytical Research”, “Paraffin and salt sediments treatment” and finally
“Corrosion”. As mentioned above, the paper is constituted by crucial theoretical and practical
knowledge accomplished within this time frame. Hence, following sections will demonstrate the
overview of Institute: history, purposes, working principles, hierarchy, parts, and laboratories. In
addition to that it will be deeply analyzed what corrosion is, types, causes that may lead to,
protection methods etc. Some conclusion will be draw on the project of “Cathodic Protection of
Underground Gas Pipeline System” and whole calculation path will be illustrated at the end of
the report- “Appendix” part.

General Overview
“Oil-Gas Research and Project Institute” is based on the №95 Decree of the Azerbaijan
Republic President dated July 21, 2009, No 126, dated July 20, 2009 of the President "On
Improvement of the SOCAR Structure" by two institutions of the Company which are "Scientific
Researches" and "Oil-Gas Projects". The Institute carries out large-scale work on the
development and improvement of oil-gas fields, designing of petrochemicals drilling and
exploitation of wells, and oil-gas processing facilities. The Institute has over 80 laboratories and
departments involved in scientific research, design and construction works. As it is known the
students were divided into three groups-three departments which are “Analytical Research”,
“Paraffin”, “Corrosion”. In our case, “Corrosion” section is constituted by three main
laboratories-“Electrochemical protection”, “Inhibitors” and “Painting” which analyze and
investigate factors that influence the corrosion, protection methods etc. and one project team
that are responsible for designing the protected materials such as gas or oil pipelines,
constructions, devices and so on.

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Corrosion
Corrosion can be described as deterioration of some material which can be caused by a
reaction between component and its environment. For instance, in case of a metal that is in
contact with an aqueous solution (environment), the reaction is classified as an electrochemical
one that carries the electrical charge transfer (electrons) throughout the surface between metal
and solution. Additionally, corrosion is a widely known issue faced mostly in the oil and gas
industry, thus, pipeline systems contains oil and gas, petrochemical plants, refineries, oil wells
and so on always subject to serious corrosion problems. Corrosion can be subdivided into two
groups as internal and external in term of affecting nuances. Hence, the reasons that may lead
to internal type of corrosion in oil-gas industry are carbon dioxide (CO2), water, and hydrogen
sulfide (H2S), and what is more some microbiological activity can also be influencing factors[1].
Crucially, the corrosion rate can be impacted by the flow regimes of multiphase fluids as well.
For example, at high flow rates, flow-induced corrosion and erosion-corrosion may occur,
whereas at low flow rates, pitting corrosion is more
common. Corrosion is generally related to the amount
and nature of the sediments. High-velocity flow tends to
sweep sediments out of the pipeline, whereas low velocity
allows sediments to settle at the bottom, providing sites
for pitting corrosion [2]. Hence, the widely spread type of
corrosion is electrochemical one in which difference in
electrical potentials between any two material, for
example environment and pipe, leads to electron transfer
between them in other words oxidation reactions. Thus,
anode in the system that provides its electrons accepts
other types of electron, for instance, hydrogen ions from Figure 1.0 Material subjected
to corrosion
the soil and as a consequence, the crystal cage is
destructed and corrosion occurs.

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Protection Methods
Combating corrosion in the oil and gas industry has to be considered as a paramount
[3]
issue since the economic loss in these fields of industry owing to corrosion is extremely high .
Thus, some methods in order to preclude corrosion process in all types of structures are exist. It
is known that the most of the pipelines, structures etc. are made by stainless steel and mainly
three types of protection methods that are corrosion inhibitors, coatings and electrochemical
protection against corrosion in that can be stated.

COATINGS- create physical barriers. With the help of this layer the contact between
protected metal and corrosive compounds is prevented. Apparently, coating materials are
utilized to secure the external, outer side of the pipelines and they are not the solution for CO 2
corrosion in the systems. The widely used coating types are platting and painting that may form
aesthetic appearance that has the crucial impact on the corrosion.

PAINTING- is an effective method to preclude oil and gas pipelines from external
environmental factors that lead to outer corrosion. However, painting as mentioned cannot be
the way to protect inner parts of pipelines, in other words carbon dioxide corrosion. It is clear
that painting interior of the pipes is not practical since painting materials can be easily
breakdown as time passes due to erosion (transient and turbulent flow) and also chemical
reactions via fluids flow through the pipeline. Thus, breakdown of painting leads to unprotected
parts on pipelines and as a result localized corrosion will take place. However, in some
circumstances, painting materials cannot be utilized due to higher temperatures or some other
conditions and in that case isolation layers such as polymers have to be applied.

INHIBITORS- are one of the economical and effective method amongst the various
[4] [5]
techniques in fighting against corrosion in oil and gas industry . A huge number of inhibitor
types can be categorized as cathodic, anodic and finally mixed by both type. Apart from that in
terms of chemical nature of inhibitors they are subdivided as inorganic and organic ones.
Generally, no matter which type of inhibitor is used the working principle of inhibition mechanism
is forming protective thin layer by chemically adsorption (chemisorption) of an inhibitor on metal
surface in order to prevent underlying material from corrosion. Apart from that an inhibitor may
also lead to increase in the metal surface potential, namely the metal goes to the passivation

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region in which film of a natural protective oxide forms and what is more, the inhibitor may
remove the corrosive components from the media by reacting with them [6].

Cathodic Protection
It has been already analyzed that external side of structures can be protected against
corrosion with the help of coating, painting and insulation layers. Thus, they form some layer
between protected material and corrosive environment and by cutting the contact between them
corrosion can be stopped. Moreover, the role of inhibitors in internal protection by forming thin
layer between corrosive compounds such as hydrogen sulfide, carbon dioxide etc. and main
material cannot be exaggerated. However, it is known that the most significant type of corrosion-
outer side of pipelines cannot be secured by inhibitors and painting materials will be breakdown
after some years. Thus, in an attempt to protect crucial steel system over decades, the other
technique called electrochemical protection has to be applied. In a simple way, the mechanism
[7]
of the protection method is making the protected material cathode in the electrochemical cell .
Thus, as mentioned in upper sections, the
fundamental factor leads to corrosion is
difference in potentials of key material and
electrolyte environment, for instance. As a
result, pipelines or steel structure becomes
anode in electrochemical cell and starts to
provide its electrons and may accepts
hydrogen, oxygen and some other ions,
hence, crystal structure is destructed that
result in change in physical properties as
being fragile instead of being durable.
Consequently, corrosion, holes in pipes, Figure 1.1 Electrochemical corrosion

pores becomes inevitable. İt is also stated above that some breakdown in any place of structure
may result in difference in electrode potentials and corrosion, thus, after some years the break
of painting and coating cannot be evitable and repainting cannot be practical for structures
which are under ground, sea or longer. These are reasons why additional technique to protect
the system in a more effective way and for a long time. So, the way to reduce the rate of
electrochemical corrosion is based on activity of metals. Thus, the protected metal has to be
connected with more active

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metal that can be easily corroded (provides its electrons). In this system, more active one acts
as an anode of electrochemical cell by scarifying itself, in other words giving its electrons before
the protected metal (cathode). As a result, “sacrificial anodes” will corrode instead of the pipeline
by making the metal cathode of the system. In the industry, as a sacrificial anodes Aluminum,
Magnesium and Zinc can be utilized. However, according to researches, pure-unalloyed metals
cannot be applied to system, so that pure aluminum can result in forming stable oxygen films
that shift electrochemical potential to very noble potential. Additionally, pure magnesium self-
corrosion rate is so higher due to its excessive electrochemical potential, that`s why, some
additives such as zinc plus cadmium or indium to aluminum, small concentrations of copper,
nickel, silicon and iron to magnesium and finally, 0.5% aluminum and 0.15% cadmium to zinc
anodes make them less self-corrosive and reduce their electrochemical potentials. It has to be
highlighted that the galvanic anodes are placed in special backfill which may be comprised by
calcium sulfate or bentonite. As mentioned anode of the system provide its electron and
becomes positive, thus polarization occurs and positive anodes have to be reduced by
accepting negative ions from the backfill which has abundance of conductive ions such as
hydrogen or sulfate etc. Thus, the purpose of backfill is minimizing the polarization and also
earth contact resistance of anodes. This method called “Galvanic Cathodic Protection”
sometimes may be inconvenient for long pipelines, in that case, external electrical power source
(direct current)-rectifier is needed to supply required current to the system. In this kind of
system, all anodes are connected to the rectifier via thin wires and by means of thick wire the
direct electrical current that comes from anodes is transferred to the pipeline. Apart from that on
top of the ground one control panel has to be located in order to measure the conditions of
system. Thus, one reference anode is placed under the ground and by including potentiometer
into the control panel electrode potential of the system can be recorded based on reference
anode.

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 Figure 1.2 Impressed Current Cathodic Protection

Special Topic: Underground Gas Pipeline

By taking into consideration all above mentioned theoretical knowledge it is needed to
investigate all reasons that lead to corrosion in underground gas pipeline system and design
2500m long and 630 mm diameter underground highway gas pipe. The whole pipeline is divided
into 25 regions by 100 m distance called Pk1-Pk25 to make calculations and measurements
easier. And it is known that pipe system is intersected with air electric line between Pk3-Pk4,
asphalt way between Pk10-Pk11, in Pk15-Pk16 irrigation ditch and finally between Pk20-Pk21
main oil and water pipes with diameters of 273 mm and 377 mm, respectively. Obviously, this
intersection points with electrical line, other pipes may result in difference in electrode
potentials, namely corrosion of
pipeline. Additionally, when pipelines
are placed under the highway roads
destruction and damage of them
cannot be evitable. In that cases, joint
protection devices are located for
electrical lines, other water or oil
pipelines to reduce the electrode
potential of electrochemical cell. But in
case of highways and railways, the
protected pipes are included inside of
Figure 1.3 Casing pipe, insulator and carrier pipe

Page 8 of 15
casing pipes that have higer diameters and fixed with
casing insulators to isolate the carrier pipe

[9]
from the casing one electrically . Thus, generally the protection system of pipelines is
considered as effective for 30 years. So that 15 years the insulation or painting protects the
system effectively but after 15 years the coating will break down and then cathodic protection
system starts its function as an alternative protection technique. Hence, a number of anodes
required for securing the pipelines over 30 years has to be found out with the help of
international standards such as ISO, NACE and DNV by two- mass and resistance ways of
calculation. After conducting whole estimations and calculations it has been achieved that
resistance method gives us 4 and mass technique shows 8 anodes are needed. By taking 20%
additional anodes for making guarantee 10 anodes are required in an attempt to protect our
pipeline system over 3 decade. 10 anodes will be divided into five groups (each with two
anodes) and one control panel for each group will be installed on top of the ground. All
calculation path will be demonstrated in the following parts-“Appendix A” and “Appendix B”.

Appendix A- Mass Calculation

All given parameter such as length and diameter of pipeline, design life, characteristics of
anode and etc. have been tabulated as below and constants have been taken from DNV
references provided by engineers.

Table 1.0 Given parameters

Parameters Values
Length (m) 2500
Diameter (m) 0.63
tf (year) 30
Mass of anode (kg) 20
2
Current density (A/m ) 0.0002
k (constant) 1.25
Utilization factor (u) 0.9
ε (current capacity) (A/kg) 2200
The first aim in designing the cathodic protection system is to calculate total area of the
gas pipeline as below:

2
A=π∗d∗l=3.14∗0.63 m∗2500 m=4948.008m

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 The next step is finding total current needed to
secure our pipeline via following formula:

m2∗1.25∗0.0002 A
I =S∗k∗ j c =4948.008 =1.237002 A
m2

Now, it is known that the total demand of electrical current for protecting pipeline is nearly
1.237A and by knowing each anode may supply 2200 A per kg the total mass of anode that can
provide this current can be estimated. In this way, design life (30 years) is converted into hours
(8760 hours in a year) and it is also considered that the utilization factor of each anode is 90%
which means that after being utilized 0.9 of each anode they will be useless and cannot be
provide any electron to the system:

I∗t f ∗8760 hr 1.237002 A∗30∗8760 hr

Mass= = =164.1839 kg
ε∗u 2200 A
∗0.9
kg

After calculating the required mass for anodes the number of anodes can be obtained by
dividing total mass to mass of one anode:

M 164.1839 kg
N= = ≈ 8( Anodes)
m 20 kg

Thus, with help of calculating mass the number of anodes has been found as 8 that can
protect the system.

Appendix B- Resistance Calculation

Before starting the calculations all resistance in the system which is soil resistivity,
resistances of all anodes, backfill, thick and thin wires have to be estimated and summed to
determine the current of anodes. Thus, it is planned to use 8 m wire with 10mm 2 thickness for
joint protection devices (air electrical line, asphalt way and irrigation ditch, totally 24m) and for
all anodes to connect them with control panel, 12m wire for joint protection devices with water
and oil pipes and finally 8m (4 red and 4 black) thick wire (with 50mm 2) that provides direct
electric from rectifier to pipeline. Now, the resistances can be calculated by means of proper
equations as below:

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 ln ( 8∗L
D )−1+
2∗L
S
∗ln ⁡( 0.656∗N )

ρ
Rsoil = ∗¿
2∗pi∗N∗L

Where,

ρ - specific soil resistivity- 5000Om*m,

N- number of anodes,

L-length of an anode corpus (0.71m),

D-diameter of an anode corpus (0.27m),

S-distance between anodes (500m according to mass method)

ln ( 8∗0.71m ) 2∗0.71 m
−1+ ∗ln ( 0.656∗10 )=2.2994825 Om
0.27 m 500 m
5000 Om∗m
(
Rsoil =
2∗3.14∗8∗0.71m )
∗¿

Then individual anode resistance has to be estimated by taking into account backfill
resistance as well:

ρ ln 8∗h
Ra=
2∗π∗h
{
D
-1}

Where,

ρ- resistance of anode environment (1.6Om*m),

h-height of anode (0.525m),

D-anode diameter (0.181m).

1.6 Om∗m 8∗0.525 m

2∗3.14∗0.525 m
∗ ln((0.181 m ) )
−1 =1.0400998Om

R a=¿

Page 11 of 15
 It has been already calculated by mass method that
8 anodes are needed, thus according to parallel
combination system, the overall anode resistance can be calculated by means of division:

R a 1.0400998 Om
Rta = = =0.10401 Om
N 8

Now, resistances of each wire have to be calculated by knowing that resistance of 1 m anode
thin wire is 0.00183Om/m and by multiplying the length of wire by that value the total resistance
can be estimated:

Ranode =R air =Rasphalt =Rirr =8 m∗0.00183 Om/m=0.01464 Om

Roil∧wat =0.00183 Om/m∗12 m=0.02196 Om

1 1
Rtotal= = =0.0010712Om
1 1 1 1 1 1 1
( + + + + ) ( ∗4+ )
Ranode R air R asphalt Rirr Roil∧wat 0.01464 Om 0.0196 Om

Then resistance of 8m long thick wire with 50mm 2 has to be calculated by knowing the
resistance of one meter is 0.000387Om/m. And the number of thick wire is 5 as one group
needs one thick wire:

m∗5∗0.000387 Om
Rth =8 =0.01548 Om
m

After getting all the resistance values the total one can be obtained by summing all above
figures as below:

Roverall =Rsoil + R ta + R total+ R th=2.2994825Om+ 0.10401Om+0.0010712 Om+0.01548 Om=2.4200437 Om

In order to find out anode current the driving force which is difference between electrode
potentials that are taken from DNV references divided to overall resistance:

Page 12 of 15
 E
(¿ ¿ c−E a)/(Roverall )=(−0.85−(−1.6))V /2.4200437Om=0.3099118 A
I =¿

And dividing total current calculated above (1.237002A) to anode current the number of
anodes required to protect our system can be accomplished:

I tota 1.237002 A
N= = ≈ 4 Anodes
I anode 0.3099118 A

Hence, resistance calculation method gives that 4 anodes are enough to secure the
system from corrosion but mass technique says that it has to be 8. In an attempt to protect our
system in a more guaranteed way higher value has to be preferred and by adding 20% extra
number of anodes, it may be stated that to prevent the underground gas pipeline system from
corrosion 10

anodes are adequately enough. All these anodes will be divided into 5 group (each with 2
anode) and placed 500 meter apart from each other.
Each two anode group will be equipped with one
control panel on top of the ground and one reference
anode. As a painting the pipeline will be abrasive
cleaned via steel and then coated by one layer of
primer polycene (919S) and two layer of polycene
ribbon 980-25 and finally one layer of cover polycene
ribbon 955-25. Apparently, all anodes are welded to
the pipelines and this welding zones lead to potential
difference and corrosion, that`s why, all welding Figure 1.4 Handy Cap
regions are covered by Royston Handy Caps to close
the surface of welding.

Page 13 of 15
Reference
1. Ahmad I, Rahuma MN (2013) Corrosion mitigation and inspection strategy for pipeline
integrity management: An experience of Sarir Oilfield. NACE International, Corrosion
Conference and Expo.
2. Papavinasam S (2000) Corrosion Handbook. (2nd edn), John Wiley & Sons, Inc.
3. Santhana PS, Joseph RR, Dorothy R, Brindha G, Pandiarajan M, et al. (2014) Corrosion
problems in petroleum industry and their solution. Eur Chem Bull 3: 300-307.
4. Miksic BM, Furman AY, Kharshan MA (2009) Effectiveness of the corrosion inhibitors for
the petroleum industry under various flow conditions. NACE International, Corrosion
Conference and Expo.
5. Rahuma MN, EL-Sabbah MB, Hamad IM (2013) Effect of serine and methionine on
electrochemical behavior of the corrosion of mild steel in aqueous solutions. Hindawi
Publishing Corporation, ISRN, Corrosion 2013:1-7.
6. Popoola LT, Grema AS, Latinwo GK, Gutti B, Balogun AS (2013) Corrosion problems
during oil and gas production and its mitigation. International Journal of Industrial
Chemistry, Springer Open Journal 4: 1-15.

Page 14 of 15
7. A.W. Peabody, Peabody's Control of Pipeline
Corrosion, 2nd Ed., 2001, NACE
International. ISBN 1-57590-092-0

8. CP 3-Cathodic Protection Technologist Course Manual, Version 1.01, NACE

international 2005, page 246-259

9. "Recommended Practice for Liquid Petroleum Pipelines Crossing Railroads and

Highways." API Recommended Practice 1102, Fifth Edition, American Petroleum
Institute (Nov. 1981).

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