Design and Development of real time Corrosion Metallic Monitoring System for metallic Pipelines in Flowing Conditions

Abstract

Corrosion is an electrochemical phenomenon which occurs mainly due to undesirable interaction of the metal with its environment. It is a pronounced degradation mechanism affecting a wide range of industrial processes. It is capable of directly impacting the economy as well as may lead to catastrophic situations. The pipelines in industries are often subject to aggressive environments, making corrosion process inevitable. Repairs, replacements and material loss are often very costly. Since corrosion is an insidious process and often the damage is identified when it is too late, therefore a mechanism to study corrosion rate in real time is necessary. The project aims to develop an in-situ technique that gives real time corrosion rate in pipelines using a probe inserted in the pipeline. The probe is designed based on the principle of linear polarization resistance and uses the setup provided by GAMRY®. To support the experiment a flow loop was created using PPRC pipes to provide flow conditions like that in industries. This can help analyze life time of a pipeline in service conditions and keep a check on the integrity of the pipe line. The probe was studies on three pipeline materials with increasing flow rates in aerated NaCl solution with either increasing salt content or varying pH. The working electrodes used were AISI 1020 Steel, Grate 702 Zirconium, Grade 3004 Aluminum. A relationship between pipeline material, salt content, flow rate and pH was effectively developed, and the probe system design was tested to be suitable to monitor corrosion rate of pipelines.