An Erosion-Corrosion Investigation of Coated Steel for Applications in the Oil and Gas Field, Based on Bipolar Electrochemistry

Abstract

In this research, a simple experimental apparatus based on a bipolar electrode (BPE) configuration was set up, in order to tackle erosion-corrosion problems of materials of interest in the oil and gas field. As a case study, the resistance to erosion and corrosion of carbon steel samples coated by Electroless Nickel Plating and by thermo-sprayed coating with the high velocity oxy fuel (HVOF) process was investigated. The main objective was to demonstrate if this simple, contactless technique could be applied to effectively discriminate the erosion-corrosion behavior of different materials in a vast range of experimental conditions. In fact, by means of polarization curves, visual inspection and morphological analysis by scanning electron microscope (SEM), the effects due to erosion-corrosion by solid particles, by fluid and those due to simple erosion were evaluated.