Project News: Monitoring Systems Saves Pipeline from Severely Corrosive Environment
Released March 21, 2008
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Installed Corrosion Monitoring System |
Enviroline's latest advancement in corrosion protection, the Enviroline Hydrogen Corrosion Monitor, was recently the first and only technology to alert a pipeline operator in Western Canada of a problem with its pipeline process, thereby allowing the company ample time to fix the problem before destructive corrosion and wall loss could occur.
After pigging one of its gathering lines as part of its regular maintenance, this major Oil & Gas Pipeline Company became concerned about wall loss in one section. Though not immediately in jeopardy of rupturing, the company understood it needed to replace the section of pipe. To keep the pipeline operational until the section could be replaced, the company installed two Field Signature Method (FSM) units and an Enviroline Hydrogen Monitoring System to the section of pipe, to monitor for additional corrosion and wall loss.
Initially, the pipeline remained stable, each unit reported no additional corrosion or wall loss. The company was confident their inhibitor process was protecting the pipe from further deterioration.
However, in August of 2007, the Enviroline monitor readings began to fluctuate, though the two FSM units reported no changes. The company had not made any changes to their inhibitor process and did not feel the corrosive environment inside the pipe had worsened, so they contacted Enviroline believing the Enviroline monitor was malfunctioning.
Enviroline visited the site to check the system but found nothing wrong with its unit. After several weeks, the readings from the Enviroline monitor indicated a gradual increase in corrosive activity, yet the two FSM units continued to show no change.
To understand what was happening inside the pipe, the pipeline operator performed additional testing and reviewed previous process data. The company discovered a highly corrosive environment may have resulted from the acidization (chemical flooding) of an upstream well in June that releases 18 times the normal amount of water into the pipeline. This water produced a highly corrosive environment, yet several unusual circumstances prevented the pipeline company from realizing the change until 2 months later, when the Enviroline Monitor System first alerted them. As a result of their findings, the pipeline operator pigged the line and increased the inhibitor rate to stabilize the environment. After testing for additional wall loss, the company was pleased to report no significant deterioration in the pipe, thanks to the Enviroline Hydrogen Monitoring System's early notification!
The Enviroline Monitoring System is based on the principal of hydrogen flux - as corrosion occurs and metal dissolves on the inside of a tank or pipe, atomic hydrogen is formed and, because of its small size, permeates through the metal wall. Such movement of hydrogen atoms through a tank or pipe is often the first sign that a corrosive environment exists. Additionally, hydrogen in the metal wall can cause Hydrogen Embrittlement, Hydrogen Induced Cranking (HIC), Hydrogen Blistering, and Stress Corrosion Cracking (SCC), all potentially devastating conditions for a tank or pipe.
This major Oil & Gas Pipeline Company expects to add many more Hydrogen Corrosion Monitors to its pipeline network as a result of the fast and accurate performance of the Enviroline system.
For more information on the Enviroline Corrosion Monitor, click here.
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