Erosion-Corrosion Analysis and Prediction Methods in Gas Plant Facilities

One of the most critical challenges of modern gas facilities integrity programs is the development of engineering methods focused on metal loss prediction, fitness for service evaluation and overall risk assessment, focused on critical time dependent hazards, such as corrosion and erosion-corrosion.

In recent years, Pan American Energy initiated a systematic process involving the use of engineering prediction models, applicable for integrity assessment of equipment exposed to erosive and corrosive media, resulting from production gas treatment and compression. This initiative, complementary to a long term strategy based on continuous and cyclic monitoring, inspection and mitigation programs, was designed with two specific objectives:

• To optimize the use of engineering correlations by means of field data feedback.
• To apply these customized models for material selection, corrosion thickness specification, remaining life prediction and risk assessment.

The aim of this work is to present both development and results of this particular program, comprising the following elements:

• Process simulation for detailed quantification of corrosion and erosion tendency and propagation parameters.
• Corrosion and erosion tendency and propagation analysis, conducted by means of empirical correlations, customized with collected field data.
• Preemptive fitness for service analysis and evaluation, based on metal loss prediction curves and stress analysis.
• Risk assessment and mitigation strategies development, for corrosive and erosive mechanisms, considering both potential leak and mechanical failures scenarios.

Key Words: Corrosion – Erosion – Gas - Risk.