In oil and gas production environments, one of the techniques utilized for the corrosion control of carbon steel is the application of corrosion inhibitors. The corrosion itilbitors, which are formulated specifically for given field conditions, undergo rigorous qualification and performance evaluations at the laboratory before being submitted for a field application. At the field, the selected chemicals are evaluated in stages, at various production locations before being applied in the main production lines. The corrosion monitoring programs implemented in the
production field provide not only the evaluations of chemicals in use but also the overall success of the corrosion control program. Successful corrosion control programs demand cost effective corrosion inhibitors with optimized performance. This paper describes the selection process of a performance optimized cost effective corrosion inhibitor. Various chemical evaluation techniques utilized in the laboratory and the field are discussed and the correlation of these data is presented.
Key words: corrosion inhibitors, CO2 corrosion, shear stress, flow loop, autoclave, rotating cylinder, electrochemical polarization resistance