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EvaluationofCorrosionInhibitors
Inchoosingbetweenpossibleinhibitors,thesimplesttestsshouldbedonefirsttoscreenout
unsuitablecandidates.Thephilosophyofinitialscreeningtestsshouldbethatpoorlyperforming
candidatesarenotcarriedforward.Aninhibitorthatdoespoorlyinearlyscreeningtestsmight
actuallydowellintheactualsystem,buttheuserseldomhastheresourcestotestallpossible
inhibitors.Theinhibitorusermustemploytestproceduresthatrigorouslyexcludeinferiorinhibitors
eventhoughsomegoodinhibitorsareexcluded.(reference)
Inhibitorselectionbeginswiththechoiceofphysicalproperties.Musttheinhibitorbeasolidor
liquid?Aremeltingandfreezingpointsofimportance?Isdegradationwithtimeandtemperature
critical?Mustitbecompatiblewithothersystemadditives?Arespecificsolubilitycharacteristics
required?Thislistcanbeextensive,butisimportantbecauseitdefinesthedomainofpossible
inhibitors.Itmustbethefirststepoftheinhibitorevaluationforanynewsystem.Thesephysical
measurementsarethoseroutinelydoneaspartofminimalqualityacceptancetesting.
Thechallengeininhibitorevaluationisdesignofexperimentsthatsimulatetheconditionsofthereal
worldsystem.Thevariablesthatmustbeconsideredincludetemperature,pressure,andvelocityas
wellasmetalpropertiesandcorrosiveenvironmentchemistry.Systemcorrosionfailuresareusually
localizedandattributedtomicroconditionsatthefailuresite.Adequatetestingmustincludethemost
severeconditionsthatcanoccurinthesystemandnotbelimitedtomacrooraverageconditions.
Examplesofmicroenvironmentsarehotspotsinheatexchangersandhighlyturbulentflowatweld
beads.

TestMaterials
TestMetal
Testspecimensshouldbethesamemetalasthattobeprotectedevenverysmalldifferencesinmetal
chemistrycanmakemajordifferencesininhibitorperformance.Inhibitorperformancecanvary
greatlyondifferentmetalsandthusinhibitorrankingsbasedononemetalarenotuniversal.Muchless
obviousaredifferencesbetweenthe"same"metal.Thesenonchemicaldifferencesincludegrainsize
andorientation,residualstresses,andsurfacecondition.Surfacepreparationshould,totheextent
possible,provideasurfacecomparabletothatinthesystemthatisbeingmodeled.Exceptinspecial
tests,minimalcleaningincludesasolventwashtodegreasethesample.Morevigorouscleaningsuch
asbeadblastingoracidactivationcanmarkedlyaffectinhibitorresponseevenwhileimproving
reproducibilityoftests.Manyexperimentersactivatetestspecimensinacidwhendoing
electrochemicalmeasurements.Thepurposeistoremoveanyprotectiveorpassiveoxidelayersothat
metalsolutionequilibriumisreachedrapidly.Methodsforpreparingspecimenscanbefoundin
ASTMG1,PracticeforPreparing,Cleaning,andEvaluatingCorrosionTestSpecimens.

TransportabilityofInhibitor
Corrosioninhibitorsaregenerallydescribedbytermssuchasoilsoluble,watersoluble,oilsoluble
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waterdispersible,etc.Suchtermsaregeneralizations,notrigorousdescriptions.Anoilsoluble
inhibitor,forexample,inrealitypartitionsbetweentheliquidhydrocarbonphaseandthewaterphase
asdoallotherinhibitorsallthatcanbeassumedisthatitlikelypartitionsmoretotheoilphase.
Partitioningofasinglecompoundbetweentwophasesisclearlydefined.Manycommercialcorrosion
inhibitors,however,arenotsinglecompoundsbutcomplexmixturesofmanycompounds,eachwith
itsownuniquepartitioningcoefficient.Thusacommercialcorrosioninhibitorhasnounique
partitioningcoefficientbutratheroneforeachofthemultiplecomponents.Organicinhibitorsare
generallymoresolubleinaromatichydrocarbonsthanaliphaticonesandmoresolubleinlongchain
aliphaticsthanshortchainones.Theresultisthatpartitioncoefficientsmustbemeasuredforeach
"oil"ofinterest.

CorrosionProtectionTests
Corrosionratesaremostcommonlyreportedaspenetrationrates.Theusualwayofreporting
protectionefficiencyisintermsofpercentprotection.Althoughthisreportingmethodisusefulfor
comparinginhibitorperformance,itobscurestheactualnumberofinteresttheinhibitedcorrosion
rate.
Filmpersistencytestsaremorecomplexthanconstantconcentrationexperiments.Thetestmetalis
exposedtoaninhibitedtestsolutionforafixedperiodoftime,thenthecorrosionrateisdeterminedin
asimilarsolutioncontainingnoinhibitor.Testvariablesincludeinhibitorconcentrationintheinitial
filmingsolutionandthenumberofrinsesolutionrepetitions.Atypicalexperimentmightfilmforone
hourwith1000ppminhibitor,rinseonetimeforanhour,andfinallymeasurethecorrosionrateina
thirdsolution.Film,rinse,andcorrodesolutionarethesamecompositionexceptforinhibitorinthe
filmingstep.

MetalLossMethods
Metallosscanbedeterminedgravimetrically,volumetrically,orradiometricallyallareadirect
measureofcorrosion.Ofthese,gravimetricorweightlossmethodsaremostusedforinhibitortesting.
Volumetricmethodsareassociatedwithinspectionormonitoringtechniquessuchasultrasonic
inspectionandelectricresistance(ER)probemonitoring,althoughbotharesometimesusedinlong
terminhibitorevaluations.Radiometricmethodsareusedasmonitoringmethodssuchasinthinlayer
activationbutcouldbeusedforinhibitorevaluation.Thecorrosionwheeltestusedtoevaluateoilfield
inhibitorsisanexampleofweightlosstesting.
Couponsfromweightlossexperimentshouldbeexaminedvisuallyforlocalizedcorrosionseenaspits
oredgeattack.Analysiscanbeassimpleas"none,some,orlots"orasdetailedascountinganddepth
measurement.ASTMG46(PracticeforExaminationandEvaluationofPittingCorrosion)providesa
completeprocedureforevaluatingpittingattack.

ElectrochemicalMethods
Electrochemicaltestinghastwomajorbenefits,onemajorlimitation,andonelesserlimitation.The
benefitsareshortmeasurementtimeandmechanisticinformation.Theseverelimitationisthe
requirementforaconductivecorrosiveenvironment.Lesstroublesomefromatestingperspectiveis
therequirementforacorrosionmodel.Rapidityofmeasurementmakesthesetechniquesusefulin
characterizinginhibitorperformance.Corrosionratescanbedeterminedelectrochemicallyinminutes
whileweightlossmethodscantakedays.Withthenearinstantaneousnessofelectrochemical
methods,changesofinhibitorperformancewithtimearereadilymeasurable.Questionsabout
inhibitorpersistenceandincubationtimearethusexperimentallyaccessibleandexperiments
concernedwithvelocityeffectsbecomelesscumbersome.
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Potentiodynamicpolarizationmethods
Linearpolarizationresistance(LPR)
Electrochemicalimpedancespectroscopy(EIS)
Electrochemicalnoise(EN)

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