Syncrude Canada Ltd.'s process cooling tower water is subjected to hydrogen sulfide (H2S) leaks. The substantial surface area (80,000m2) of Admiralty brass heat exchanger tubing in the circuit, when exposed to H2S, contributes copper ions which stimulate corrosion of carbon steel. The resultant broad area tubercles create under-deposit pitting corrosion. Several techniques have been introduced to detect when an H2S leak has occurred, to trace its source and to alleviate the resultant corrosion and fouling. The application of the recognized treatment chemical, tolyl triazole (TTA) has failed to prevent the five fold increase in copper levels, and system conditions take over 30 days to return to normal. The application of a sequestrant now makes it possible to recover from system upsets in 10 days.

Subject
Corrosion prevention, Water, Ions, Corrosion rate, Leaks, Phosphates, Pitting, Chlorine, Passivation, Carbon steel, Sulfides, Copper, Cooling water
© 1987 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).
1987
Association for Materials Protection and Performance (AMPP)
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