A study of corrosion in the mixing zone at the front of slugs has been carried out in a 10 cm internal diameter, horizontal, three-phase flow system using a light condensate oil and saltwater as liquids and carbon dioxide as the gas phase. Visual observations show that stratified water layers are apparent at the bottom of the pipe at oil compositions up to 60%. Pulses of gas bubbles are formed at high Froude numbers which impinge on the lower surfaces of the pipe. The corrosion rate increased with an increase in Froude number. This is due to the increases in wall shear stress, turbulence, and gas present at the bottom of the pipe as the Froude number increases. The presence of gas at the bottom of the pipe has a significant effect on the corrosion rate. It provides an erosion component to the corrosion processes. The corrosion rate can be related to pressure drop across the slug but average wall shear stress does not seem to be appropriate.

Subject
Water, Piping, Froude number, Composition, Corrosion rate, Turbulent flow, Slug flow, Wall shear stress, Liquids, Bubbling, Mixing, Voids, Oil
Keywords:
multiphase flow, slug flow, horizontal pipes, corrosion, shear stress, void fraction, pressure drop
© 1994 Association for Materials Protection and Performance (AMPP). All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means (electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise) without the prior written permission of AMPP. Positions and opinions advanced in this work are those of the author(s) and not necessarily those of AMPP. Responsibility for the content of the work lies solely with the author(s).
1994
Association for Materials Protection and Performance (AMPP)
You do not currently have access to this content.