Effect of Temperature on Corrosion Rate and to Encapsulate Tertiary Amine Corrosion Inhibitors

In the oil and gas industry among others, corrosion of metals is of great concern as it disintegrates and potentially destructs the metal-based infrastructure resulting in an increase in the operating costs because of associated expenses of repairs and replacements. Corrosion compromises the structure and integrity of metals. Protection against corrosion is therefore very crucial in many engineering applications in multitude of industries and particularly in oil and gas field operations. There are different methods of corrosion protection, and chemical protection is the predominant and more economical in the oil and gas industry. Corrosion Inhibitors (CI) are mostly tertiary amines that adsorb into the metal surfaces and reduce the electrochemical reactions that cause the corrosion by forming an organic protection film. Some common CIs in the oil and gas industry include imidazolines, dodecyl benzene sulfonic acids, benzylcoco alkyldimethyl chloride, dimer-trimer acids, and phosphate esters. Corrosion monitoring experiments using the method of Linear Polarization Resistance (LPR) were set up to study the efficiency of common CIs under different temperatures and in the presence of carbon dioxide gas by collecting data and estimating corrosion rates in Milli-inches per Year (MPY). In the next phase of this research, we will examine ways to encapsulate a CI so its delivery to target surfaces and hence its protection is enhanced.