PREDICTIVE MODEL FOR CORROSION CONTROL IN CRUDE OIL AND GAS PRODUCTION FACILITIES

Abstract

Corrosion is a major problem in the global oil and gas industry, as crude oil and gas production operations are shut down on daily basis, because of facility failure, due to the deterioration and the loss of a facility and its critical properties due to chemical, electrochemical and other reactions of the exposed facility surface with the surrounding environment. Efforts have been made to eliminate corrosion in crude oil and gas facilities as various corrosion control measures have been explored. This research work is on the design, construction, testing and monitoring of a cathodic protection system for corrosion control in crude oil and gas production facilities. The research work is focused on using a predictive model to for corrosion control in crude oil and gas production facilities. Our case study was the Agbani Floating Production Facility (FPF), were Ultrasonic Thickness Measurement (UTM) was used to determine the Thickness Loss of the Starboard Hull Side Plating and the Fore Peak Section Plating. The measurement was carried out over a period of time (20 years), with readings showing the material degradation of the Starboard Hull Side Plating and the Fore Peak Section Plating. The result of the data analysis, indicated that the Starboard Hull Side Plating had a Thickness Loss of 7.3 mm (Corrosion Rate of 0.001 mm/day), while the Fore Peak Section Plating had a Thickness Loss of 9.1 mm (Corrosion Rate of 0.0006 mm/day. The result showed that the corrosion rate of the Starboard Hull Side Plating is higher than that of the Fore Peak Section Plating. The following recommendations should be carried out to ensure that the Starboard Hull Side Plating and the Fore Peak Section Plating are protected from further degradation; these includes, carrying out routine ultrasonic thickness measurement to determine the corrosion rate, application of corrosion preventive coating and installation of cathodic protection.