Effect of shear stress on the wall of technological pipelines at a gas condensate field on the intensity of carbon dioxide corrosion

Abstract

The object of the study is a section of the gas and gas condensate collection system, consisting of an angle throttle installed on a xmas tree and a well piping located after the angle throttle. The aim of the study is to assess the impact of the flow velocity and wall shear stress (WSS) on the carbon dioxide corrosion rate in the area of interest and to come up with substantiated recommendations for the rational operation of the angle throttle in order to reduce the corrosion intensity. In the course of solving this problem, a technique was developed and subsequently applied to assess the influence of various factors on the rate of carbon dioxide corrosion. The technique is based on a sequence of different modeling methods: modeling the phase states of the extracted product, three-dimensional (solid) modeling of the investigated section, hydrodynamic flow modeling of the extracted product using the finite volume method, etc. The developed technique has broad possibilities for visualization of the obtained results, which allow identifying the sections most susceptible to the effects of carbon dioxide corrosion. The article shows that the average flow velocity and its local values are not the factors by which it is possible to predict the occurrence of carbon dioxide corrosion in the pipeline section after the angle throttle. The paper proves that WSS has prevailing effect on the corrosion intensity in the section after the angle choke. The zones of corrosion localization predicted according to the technique are compared with the real picture of corrosion propagation on the inner surface of the pipe, as a result of which recommendations for the rational operation of the angle throttle are formed.