Corrosion problem under scrutiny

Preferential corrosion of welds in steels in various media is well known but over the past 12 months Industrial Members have been contacting TWI asking for help with a new problem.

In the 1980s galvanic corrosion of weldmetal in seawater injection lines was overcome by using consumables with small additions of nickel or nickel with copper. However in the past year production facilities in the UK sector of theNorth Sea and, more recently the Gulf of Mexico, have suffered significant unplanned maintenance and inspection costs. This is due to preferential corrosion of welds and localised attack in tees, valves and flowlines in CO ₂-containing production environments. It is not possible to predict occurrence or rate of attack.

Earlier this year TWI met industry members at an open forum in the UK and recently discussed the issue in the USA. As a result, and in response to our Members' request, TWI is launching a focused Joint Industry Project (JIP) toaddress this costly problem.

If your company is encountering corrosion problems of this kind, please contact Stuart Bond to receive further details of the proposed study. E-mail: stuart.bond@twi.co.uk