Corrosion and Corrosion Control of the Steel in Acidizing Oil Wells Processes: An Overview of Organic Inhibitors

Abstract

The research topic deals with one of the important problems that the oil and gas sector suffers from, which is represented by corrosion, as the corrosion of metals annually causes large losses in production as a result of stimulating oil wells using hot HCl solutions, which causes the occurrence of corrosion phenomenon in the well bottom tools, pipes and casing. In addition, a group of organic and inorganic acids and surfactants are used in well stimulation processes. In order to reduce the violent attack of the acid solution on the N80 mild steel casing materials and pipes, during the pickling process inhibitors are added to the acid medium, and to avoid the complexity of the inhibition process in the oil and gas fields, which requires organic inhibitors within the green chemistry depending on the nature of the work field such as pipelines and equipment, recovery wells, refineries, etc. Organic acids and acidic gases such as carbon dioxide and hydrogen sulfide complicate the well inhibition problem. Corrosion problems in the oil industry must be dealt with by considering various factors. Acids used in stimulation, the nature and type of reservoir rocks, and oil well equipment, whose operating conditions include casings and tubes, and these form part of the factors affecting corrosion. Thus, it needs to study each case as it is before determining the final opinion regarding the alternative materials. No suitable material can be found to survive the attack of corrosion. The designers and operators of the oil industry must take into account many serious economic and technical problems, the most important and most dangerous of which is the phenomenon of corrosion that is characteristic of the oil industry that deals with highly volatile and sometimes toxic materials and transported by pipelines over long distances and stored in huge warehouses in addition to because it requires a complex operational process that requires high heat and pressure, so if this equipment is so worn out that it is unable to withstand these harsh conditions, then there is no doubt that explosions may occur, which may be accompanied by fires, and sometimes their effect reaches the neighboring equipment and sometimes the entire production unit.