Abstract
As shallow onshore and offshore oil fields mature, new discoveries will occur in deeper reservoirs with higher temperatures and velocities that could present severe materials corrosion problems. There are several systems made of mild steel where the flow rates of gas, water and oil are high and the systems experience high velocity corrosion, such as electrical submersible pump (ESP) systems. For these systems, a high shear corrosion inhibitor with high-temperature stability is needed to prevent corrosion. Often, the high shear corrosion inhibitors have a negative impact on produced water quality. In this paper, the development and field trial of a new high shear corrosion inhibitor is described. The new product demonstrates improved water quality relative to traditional corrosion inhibitors that work under high shear conditions up to 176 °C (350 °F). Therefore, operators are under increasing demand to limit the oil content in discharged produced water. The new corrosion inhibitor allows an operator to protect his system against high shear, high temperature (HSHT) corrosion while reducing oil carryover in the discharged water. In this paper, test results are presented that demonstrate the high shear, high temperature corrosion inhibition properties of the new product and its compatibility with different metals and elastomers. Field trial results are presented that compare the inhibitor performance with other high shear corrosion inhibitors.
