Development of a New High Shear Corrosion Inhibitor With Beneficial Water Quality Attributes

There are several systems, especially those that involve gas lift with gas that contains carbon dioxide where the flow rates of gas, water and oil keep the system in slug flow and the systems experience high velocity corrosion. For these systems a high shear corrosion inhibitor is needed to prevent corrosion. Often the corrosion inhibitor has negative impacts on produced water quality. In this paper, the development and field trial of a new high shear corrosion inhibitor is described. The new product demonstrates vastly improved impact on water quality relative to traditional corrosion inhibitors that work under high shear conditions.  Test results are presented that demonstrate the high shear corrosion inhibitive properties of this new product and its compatibility with different metals and elastomers. The product is currently being tested in a field trial that compares its performance with other high shear corrosion inhibitors. The new product is compatible with umbilical applications and is approved for use in deepwater applications. Operators are under increasing demands to limit the oil content in discharged produced water.  This new corrosion inhibitor allows an operator to protect his system against high shear corrosion while maintaining low amounts of oil in the discharged water.