Tuesday, March 18, 2008 - 3:50 PM
Convention Center, Second Level, R09 (Ernest N. Morial Convention Center)
08641

Managing Sour Gas Corrosion: Testing, Design, Implementation and Field Results

Sergio D. Kapusta and Damodaran Raghu, Shell Global Solutions US Inc; Johnny Richards, Shell Exploration and Production Company

This paper describes 16 years of experience in the design, implementation and verification of the corrosion control program for the Fairway Field pipelines. The field was brought on-stream in 1991. The gas composition used for design contained approximately 1% H2S and 3% CO2. Two parallel pipelines transmit the produced fluids (water and gas) a distance of about 23 miles to the Yellowhammer Gas Plant. The anticipated inlet gas temperature was relatively high, around 95 C (200 F). Corrosion inhibition has been continuously used to protect the pipelines. Intelligent pig inspections conducted after 16 years of operation showed that the gas pipeline was in remarkable good condition, but the water pipeline had suffered some significant corrosion. The corrosion was most likely caused by the introduction of additional streams into the water line. Modification of the operating procedures is expected to resolve the corrosion problem.