MRC Oil and Gas helps with H2S related corrosion

In the MRC Oil and Gas, two projects are always ongoing, one focusing on stainless steels and the other on carbon steels. The aim of these projects can be to develop a new test method, to make a literature survey on a dedicated topic or to evaluate the material acceptability in harsh environments. These projects are selected by the members, often after a proposal of a participant or of RISE. 

Projects to determine the criticality  

The projects currently in progress within the MRC are: 

• Criticality of groove formation on unfailed carbon steel specimens after sulfide stress cracking (SSC) tests: the project aims at evaluating if the micro-grooves (see photograph) sometimes observed on non-broken specimens after SSC tests must be considered as crack initiation and thus as critical.
• Criticality of selective dissolution during SCC test of duplex stainless steels in H2S containing media: when duplex stainless steels are tested in borderline conditions superficial selective corrosion (see photograph) can be observed on the specimen after test without associated crack initiation. The objective of the work is to define if such patterns are critical.

Some recent projects focussed on test method comparison for H2S testing, on developing a test method to measure critical pitting temperature in H2S containing environment and a literature review on the detrimental effect of elemental sulfur in the oil and gas industry.

When agreed by the members, the results are published. For example Corrosion Science 142 (2018, p. 56) can be cited. The ongoing work on carbon steel will be published or presented at a conference.