Abstract
Accurate monitoring of corrosion is an integral part of an effective corrosion control strategy. This paper will document several recent advances in the continuous monitoring and control of process-side corrosion in the oil refining industry. First, a review of the history of refinery corrosion monitoring is presented with specific references to several pertinent articles. Two current monitoring trends are identified; the movement towards automation, and a desire to measure more predictive variables.
Several innovative, continuous monitoring tools are described. Included is a device that measures the total strong acid content of a process water stream. This strong acid analyzer can also be utilized to control a neutralizer feed pump. The recently introduced corrosion probe data loggers are also discussed. These units can be programmed to sample corrosion probes as frequently as every 5 minutes and store the information for downloading into a personal computer at a later date. Coupling these data loggers with improved overhead corrosion slipstream exchangers provides great insight into the round-the-clock factors affecting corrosion in condensing systems. Specific field application case histories are provided for both the strong acid analyzer and the pH monitor.
