Field experience shows that localized corrosion is the most significant cause of failures in oil and gas production facilities. Several optical profilometric techniques have been developed over the years which allow a very precise imaging of the surface topography, and quantification of the localized corrosion attack on samples obtained from the field and laboratory tests. Among these techniques can be mentioned white light interferometry, focus variation microscopy, white axial chromatism microscopy, confocal laser microscopy, atomic force microscopy and others. The use of white light interferometry was recently even extended for film thickness and uniformity measurements of thin batch corrosion inhibitors films. This paper provides a review of the principles and applications of optical profilometric techniques for corrosion monitoring and localized corrosion quantification.

Subject
Pits, Steel surfaces, Objectives, Microscopy, Atomic force microscopy, Profilometry, Corrosion inhibitors, Lasers, Pitting, White light interferometry, Immersion, Localized corrosion, Samples
Keywords:
optical profilometry, corrosion monitoring, localized corrosion quantification
© 2013 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).
2013
Association for Materials Protection and Performance (AMPP)
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