Corrosion can be defined as the destruction or deterioration of a material because of reaction with its environment. Corrosion is a natural occurance and inevitable. Especially in seawater environment, corrosion is a threat for carbon steel pipe (offshore pipeline). Corrosion will damage pipeline and leads to pipe leak in which will be dangerous for the circumstances surround. Petroleum industry spends a million dollars per day to protect its pipelines. And so, there is urgency to protect and prevent pipeline from corrosion.
There are several methods that can be used to prevent and decrease the rate of corrosion on offshore pipeline. These methods are:
MATERIAL SELECTION
This method is just simply selecting the best and appropriate alloy carbon steel to a particular environment. For instance, the use of nickel-based alloy steel allows pipeline to withstand seawater environment without putting additional sacrificial anodes or impressed current, yet it’s far more expensive than having ordinary carbon steel with cathodic protected.
USE OF INHIBITOR
Sometimes corrosion in offshore pipeline attacked from inside (compounds brought by the fluid inside pipe e.g. sulphate). This can be helped by adding inhibitor. Inhibitor is a substance that when added in small concentrations to an environment, decreases the corrosion rate, such as chromate and nitrate.
CATHODIC PROTECTION
Cathodic protection is achieved by supplying electrons to the metal structure to be protected. Basically, cathodic protection has the pipeline become cathode, instead of anode, that way it won’t be corroded. There are two ways to cathodically protect a stucture. Firstly, Impressed Current Cathodic Protection (ICCP) and Sacrificial Anode Cathodic Protection (SACP).
1. Impressed Current Cathodic Protection (ICCP)
ICCP supplies electron by flowing electrical current from a power supply. This method is suitable for large structures regarding cost.
For pipelines, anodes are arranged in groundbeds either distributed or in a deep vertical holes depending on several design and field condition factors including current distribution requirements.
2. Sacrificial Anode Cathodic Protection (SACP)
This method is also known as Galvanic Coupling. In the usual application, a galvanic anode, a piece of a more electrochemically “active” metal, is attached to the vulnerable metal surface where it is exposed to the corrosive liquid. Galvanic anodes are designed and selected to have a more “active” voltage (more negative electrochemical potential) than the metal of the target structure.
COATING
Relatively thin coatings of metallic and inorganic materials can provide a satisfactory barrier between metal and its environment. The chief function of such coatings is to provide an effective barrier.
Coating can be in the form of, for example, cladding. Cladding involves a surface layer of sheet metal put on by rolling two sheets of metal together. For instance, a nickel and a steel sheet are hot-rolled together to produce a composite sheet with, say, 1/8 inch of nickel and 1 inch of steel. This way the steel are protected with its environment since nickel is layered on the surface. Moreover, in the application for offshore pipeline, high density polyethylene(HDPE) and polypropylene layer can be coated on pipe bare surface. Both HDPE and polypropylene coating have low water permeation which will improve isolation of the pipe from seawater surrounds. Coating for pipeline is illustrated as below:
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