The Salton Sea KGRA has long been known for its power generating potential, however, the corrosivity of the hypersaline fluid has limited power generation as well as the production casing material choices. In the 1990's UNS R56404 (titanium Grade 29) was utilized very successfully to line nearly all of the energy producing wells in this field. The material proved to be an excellent choice and has given 20-25 years' service life to date. Despite its excellent performance, Grade 29 is a high strength titanium alloy that is expensive to manufacture and finish. Recent wells (2012 and beyond) have utilized other (non-titanium) materials that were less expensive upfront, but appear to be degrading at a much faster rate than the Grade 29 titanium alloy. To date, these newer wells have required repairs in as little as 2-3 years after start-up. Several new alloys that will address both the cost and performance issues seen in this geothermal field have recently been developed. This paper will highlight the corrosion performance of these new alloys, along with their more cost effective manufacturing processes.

Subject
New alloys, Test methods, Geothermal energy, Materials, Piping, Corrosion resistant alloys, Composition, Manufacturing, Materials performance, Brines, Titanium, Titanium alloys, Yield strength
Keywords:
Geothermal, titanium, casing, brine, Salton Sea, Grade 12, extrusion
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2019
Association for Materials Protection and Performance (AMPP)
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