The Practical Aspects of Handling -
High-pressure Sour Gas t
J. R. MOTTLEYand W. C. PFISTER*
ABSTRACT
Sour gas-condensate production was discovered In
the Smackover lime of New Hope Field, Frankhn
County, Texas, in 1953. The g a s contains 13 percent
hydrogen sulfide and 5 percent carbon d ~ o x ~ dwhich e 1960 with a plant inlet volume of 50 MMcf/D From this
results in a very corrosive environment. I n addition
to corrosion, equipment is especially susceptible to
failure from hydrogen embrittlelnent because of the
relatively high operating pressures
Experience has shown t h a t this combination of
conditions can be controlled econon~icallyand safely.
With a well-planned corrosion-lnh~bitionprogram stand-
ard, r e a d ~ l yavailable lnaterials can be used f o r lnost
applications. Procedures can be establised f o r monltor-
lng the condition of equipment that will forewarn of
lmpendlng failure. Thls, In conjunction with a good
safety program, will afford effective protection to
operating personnel.
INTRODUCTION
I n 1953, when the first well penetrated the Sinackover
lime In the New Hope Field, two important quest~ons
came to the tnincls of those involved. The first was:
Will ~t produce? The second was: If i t does produce,
how severe will be the operational problems? Core
analysis showed the foi-ination was very tlght, with
porosity ranging between 5 and 8 percent and a
conlposite average permeability of 0.13 md. The
reservoir fluid containecl 1 3 percent hydrogen sulfide
and 5 percent carbon dioxide a t a pressure of 6,000
p s ~ancl a temperature of 275 F. The questlon of
productlvlty was partially answered when acidizing
Indicated that the meager flow rates from the initial
drill-stem test could be improved. A t the time there was
very little industry experience to draw from to answer
whether sour gas, a t these pressures, could be safely
and economically produced and processed. Thls would
have to be determined by experimental work and In the
field itself.
Developnient drilling proceeded; and by 1957 the
productive llnuts were substantially defined, covering
some 3,200 acres. The structure 1s a n anticline wlth
a water level a t approximately 12,400 ft. Maximum
productive thickness a t the crest 1s 600 ft.
While drllllilg was golng on, studies were made to
determine the best n~ethoclof recovery. These indicated
t h a t cycling would be necessary. In mid-1957 a pilot
plant was constructed to evaluate the cycling possl-
billtles and lnethods f o r controlling the sour gas. A t
this time, no provisions were made f o r renloving the
hydrogen sulfide. After stripping the condensate, the
sour g a s was Injected Into the reservoir. This plant
'T~dewater 011Company. Wlnnsboro and Kllgore. Texas, respectively
tPresented by J . R Mottley at the sprlng meeting of the South-
western Dlstr~ct.API D ~ v ~ s ~ofo nProduct~on, March 1963.
operated until 1960. The data and experience received
from ~t were justification f o r building a large-scale
processing plant and gas-cycling facilities.
The expanded facilltles were put in operation in late
1s recovered 6,700 bbl of condensate, 1,000 bbl of pro-
pane, 600 bbl of butane, and 200 long tons of sulfur.
A residue g a s volume of 30 MMcf/D remalns, whlch 1s
compressed to 6,000 psi and returned to the formation.
The combination of sour gas, hlgh pressures, deep
wells, and thick productive section found by the
discovery well in 1953 has presented some intriguing
problems t h a t s t a r t with the well conlpletion and
continue on to the ~njectlonof the sweet residue gas.
BASIC CONCEPTS O F SOUR-GAS REACTIONS
AND THEIR CONTROL
Hydrogen sulfide mixed with well-streanl fluids a t
high pressure results In reactions that can be exceed-
ingly difficult to work wlth. Hydrogen sulfide IS, f o r
example, soluble 111 water, forlning very corrosive aclds
Other gases, such a s carbon dioxide, will also go Into
solution along with hydrogen sulfide and result in a
highly corrosive environment.
Although conventional corrosion reactions a r e abnor-
mally severe where hydrogen sulfide is involved, there
is another aspect t h a t 1s of even inore serious con-
sequence than gradual nietal loss. This 1s the sudden
failure of the metal resulting from hydrogen embrittle-
ment. This occurs when atomlc hydrogen, which is a
product of corrosion, diffuses into the lattice of the
nletal and strains it so t h a t when subsequent forces a r e
applied to the metal it cannot deform, and ruptures
instead Under most corrosive conditions the amount
of hydrogen diffusing into the metal llloves out again
a t about the same rate it goes in and there are no
hal-mful effects Since the rate, o r alnount, o r hydrogen
diffusion is not proportional to the corrosion rate, corro-
sion can be extrenlely severe without einbrittlement
belng a problem Conversely, failures by hydrogen
enlbr~ttlementmay occur with little o r no ~ndicatlonof
surface corrosion o r p l t t ~ n g .
The degree to which different types of steels a r e
susceptible to hydrogen einbrittlement v a n e s widely. I n
general, the susceptibil~ty to fallure increases with
increased hardness o r strength ancl with increased
applied unit stress The very process of producing hard,
hlgh-strength steels places them lattice in a straln so
t h a t relatively llttle hydrogen cliffus~onwill cause these
metals to fail. However, laboratory and field tests
have indicated that t h e lower-strength m a t e r ~ a l scan
generally be stressed closer to t h e yleld strength
without fallure than the harder, high-strength materials.
The discussion so f a r has referred to the penetration
of t h e inetal by atonuc hydrogen only. If, beneath t h e
metal surface, there are nilnute fissures resulting
from lalninatlons or other irregularities, the atomic
hydrogen can collect and become nlolecular hydrogen.
Molecular hydrogen, unllke atomic hydrogen, cannot
dlffuse out agaln; and, as ~t continues t o accumulate, ~t
subjects the metal t o Increasing stresses u n t ~ lfallure
occurs. I f the collect~ngpoints are near the surface,
flakes o f metal vnll be forced o f f . I f they are down
deeper, cracks or a rupture will occur.
From the foregoing, ~tis apparent t h a t the possibility
o f hydrogen ernbrittleinent can be reduced b y uslng
low-strength materials and b y iilalntainlng applled unit
stresses a t the lowest practical level. However, thls
is only a partlal solution as ~t I S still necessary t o
control the severe corrosion attack inherent i n any
hydrogen-sulfide-laden well stream. There are several
posslble ways t o accomphsh thls. Among these are
1 , removal o f the water t o prevent the forlnatlon o f
corrosive acids; 2, the use o f corrosion-resistant metals,
or 3, the more common metals properly protected b y
special coatings; 4, the use o f ~nhlbltors;and 5, control
o f the pH o f the system.
There are serlous object~onsto the first three o f these.
It I S usually ~mpractlcalto remove all o f the water since
condensation occurs at a number o f places stai'ting
down hole 111 the tubing, and cont~nuingon through
the processlng plant as pressures and temperatures
change. The corrosion-resistant metals are too expen-
sive for wide-scale use Speclal coatlngs were ruled out
i n the early l ~ f oe f thls field when testlng showed there
was no coat~ngava~lablethat would perform s a t ~ s f a c -
torlly under field conclitions
Results o f the pilot-plant operation showed that
inhlbltors could e f f e c t ~ v e l ycontrol both corrosion and
hydrogen embrlttlement except for those places In the
process system where glycol solut~onswere i n contact
with steel Laboratory work indicated that these loca-
t ~ o n scould be protected b y a combinat~ono f pH control
and the use of a film-forming nih~bitor
T h e decision was then made t o proceed with a full-
scale processlng and cycling plant clependlng upon three
main requisites t o overcome the effects o f the sour
gas These are.
1. T h e use o f low-strength steels and malntalnlng
applied u n ~ stresses
t a t the lowest practical level.
2 The use o f ~nhlbltors.
3. pH control o f the water 111 the syste~n.
A f t e r two years o f full-scale operation the results
o f this program have been very satisfactory.
T Y P E OF METALS U S E D
Because of the hydrogen-embnttlement problem, 5-55
grade tubing was used i n all producing wells. However,
because o f the produc~ngdepth, a tapered strlng deslgn
was used t o reduce the applied unit stress. N-80 grade
tubing was placed In Injection wells, although the
minimum yield strength was controlled between 70,000
and 90,000 P S I . Because of the depth it was necessary
t o use the stronger N-80 grade caslng for the comple-
tlon string o f all wells. However, thls strlng 1s normally
not exposed t o the sour gas ancl, In most o f the wells,
I S protected b y the mh~blted d~esel oil b e ~ n ginjected
down the tublng-caslng annulus
Approslnlately half o f the wellhead valves 111 the field
have NACE-recommended t r ~ i nfor sour-gas servlce.
T h e others are standard stock valves. Thls does not
inp ply, however, that any stock valve is suitable. W h e n
maklng a selection, the composltlon o f each ~ntegralpart,
and the condltlons to w l ~ ~ cthat l l part wlll be subjected,
should be considered For example, valves utillzlng a
wedge action for a seal necessarily place the stem under
cons~derable stress T h e stem is therefore very sus-
ceptlble t o fallure due t o hydrogen enlbrittlement and
should be made o f Monel. The gate segments o f valves
utilizing a secondary grease seal can withstand some-
what more plttlng, without leaking, than those without
the secondary seal. In these the select1011o f gate t r n n
I S more flesible Access o f ~nhlbltor fro111 the well
streanl t o the various parts o f the valve 1s also a
factor There are many others. Experience at New Hope
has shown that standard stock valves can be used, but
careful consideration should be given t o the deslgn
o f the valve and the coniposition o f every part i n it
before a cholce 1s iilade.
Flow lines and inject~onlines are standard carbon-
steel line plpe and are welded Vessels and plping within
the processlng plant are also made fro111 carboa steel.
However, all welds wlthln the plant area operating
above 1,500 psl are stress-relieved.
For special equipment, such as springs, Bourdon
tubes, e t c , illonel or Inconel I S used Serles 400 stall>-
less was trled for sprmgs but proved unsatisfactory.
I f the service is not critical, 316 stainless-which IS
somewhat cheaper - can be used for Bourdon tubes
All adjustable choke stems are Monel I t was found
that, even though the choke m a y be controlling Inhibited
flulds, that part o f the stem lrislde the packing area
does not receive proper inhibltlon and eventually
corrodes.
Stelllte t r l m I S used for all control valves i n abrasive
servlce. T h e alloy 11-13 chrome was founcl t o be
unsatisfactory because o f embrlttlement.
COMPLETION A N D PRODUCING PRACTICES
Because o f the low porosity and permeability of this
limestone for~natlon,a c l d l z ~ i ~1s
g necessary t o obtaln
the deslred clehverabll~ty. T h e great t h ~ c k n e s so f t h e
section to be treated along with the need t o have the
completed well equipped for ~nhibitorinjection, without
exposing the formation t o drilling mud a f t e r acidlzing,
requlred that a speclal completion techn~quebe evolved,
whlch 1s as follows
A f t e r casing has been cemented, and with lnud i n the
hole, the fornlatlon I S perforated wlth four shots per
foot. Several obviously non-pernleable streaks are not
perforated leaving blank sections o f caslng In which t o
set pack-off tools durlng future renled~alwork, should
~t becolne necessary t o plug o f f zones where water
has encroached o r to selectively stimulate specific
sections, etc.
A wire-line packer is then set, the tublng is r u n
and the Christmas tree made u p Sufficient tail pipe 1s
r u n below the packer-seal section so that it will extend
to within a few feet of the bottom of the hole. The
tail pipe, wjl~ich is solid except f o r a 6-ft perforated
nipple near the bottoin, lnsures that all of the mud can
be circulated froin the hole If the tail pipe was not
extended to the bottoin, mud would be left below it,
which would prevent acid from reaching all of the
perforated interval.
With the tubing seals still out of the packer, the
mud is displaced with salt water which, in turn, is
displaced wlth fresh water I t h a s been found t h a t this
combination of water does a better job of cleaning
out the mud than either one alone Then 1,000 gal of
mud acid is circulated down the annulus and up the
tubing f o r removal of a n y remaining mud film Next,
1,000 gal of regular acid is pui~lpedinto the forinatlon,
a f t e r which the well fluid is coinpletely displaced with
inhlblted diesel 011. During the displacing processes,
which a r e all clown the annulus and u p the tubing, a n
adjustable choke is used to hold sufficient back pressure
on the tubing to prevent sour fornlation g a s from feed-
lng into the well bore.
With the hole full of ~nhiblted diesel oil the seals
a r e lowered into the packer and the tree is bolted down.
After cleaning to the pit the well is ready f o r acidizing.
The first few wells completed were treated with
10,000 gal of acid In one stage However, thls did not
result in satisfactory proclucing rates Subsequent work
resulted in a treatment conslst~ngof a total of 40,000
gal of acid puinped in stages, with gelled acid plugs
between stages. Although there a r e slight variations,
depending upon the thickness of the formation, the
acldlzlng procedure IS generally as follows
A 5,000-gal batch of 15-percent HC1 acid is puinped
in and followed with sufficient gelled plug to fill the
ralculated void, plus a 2-bbl excess This staging is
repeated until, depending upon the pumping tlme
required, the first gelled plug begins to break down.
This is usually about the fifth stage when 25,000 gal
of acid have been pumped in By this time the amount
of void dissolved by the acid is too large to attempt to
seal it with more gelled plugs The final stage consists
of 15,000 gal of retarded acid puinped 111 a t the highest
rate posslble wlthln the pressure llmitations of t h e
tubing. This further cleans out t h e sections already
treated -which a r e the more permeable ones - and
the pressure differential created forces acid into the
less-permeable zones. After the job IS complete?, the
well is cleaned to a pit f o r 48 to 72 hours and placed on
production.
The only equipment used between the wells and the
plant a r e flow-hne heaters that a r e installed a s needed
to prevent formation of hydrates When designing
line-heater installations, it should be kept in mind t h a t
the hydrate point f o r sour-gas well streams differs
from t h a t f o r sweet g a s under comparable conditions.
I t has been found t h a t the hydrate point of this partic-
ular well stream is about 10 F above published values
f o r sweet gas.
IVorkovers
To date six workovers have been performed. Other
than pumping 100 bbl of ~nhibiteddiesel oil into t h e
forinat~onbefore killing the well with mud, the work
is done 111 a n o r n ~ a l manner. The purpose of the
inhibited oil is to assist In cleaning mud froin the
formation face when the well is placed back on
production.
It has been found t h a t the type of mud used has a n
appreciable effect on the well's deliverability. Water-
base mud was used in the first four jobs. However, two
of these either had not been fully perforated a t
initial coinpletion or had not received the large-volume
acid treatment. Since perforating o r acidizing was per-
formed during the workover, the deliverability before
and after could not be compared.
Workovers on two other wells were conducted merely
to change out the tubing In order to convert them
fro111 producing to lnjectloil wells. Both suffered mud
daniage and had to be re-acidized.
Inverted einulsion mud w a s used on the last two
workovers without impairing the deliverability of
either well.
Inhibition of Wells and Flow Lines
A typical producing-well setting is shown in Fig.
1 An injection-well setting is similar, except t h a t no
injection valve is run. The landing nipple near the
11ottonl of the tail pipe is used to hold a bottom-hole
pressure gage whenever recordings f o r a n extended
time, o r with the well flowing, a r e required. The
landing nipple just above the packer is used to plug
the t u b ~ n gin the event ~t is necessary to check f o r
tubing leaks o r a leak i n the lnjectlon valve. The
reinainlng three landing nipples a r e used to plug the
tubing whenever the Christmas tree is to be removed
for inspection o r repalr Because of the high bottonl-
hole pressure, regulators a r e placed in these landing
nipples to stage-reduce the pressure and thereby limit
the differential pressure across any one regulator.
The iilh~bitorinjection valve is a wire-line retrievable
type containing a double check, and is spring-loaded
so t h a t a 1,500-psi d~fferentlalis required to admit the
inhibitor into the tubing. A diaphragm-driven, plunger-
type injection pump 1s permanently ~nstalleda t each
well. It operates on the field low-pressure g a s system
and continually pumps the inhibitor mixture into t h e
casing whenever the well is producing. A filming
amine inhibitor is used and is mixed 1 p a r t inhibitor
to 40 parts diesel oil, by volume. Quantities needed
f o r control range between 0.15 and 0 60 gal per MMcf,
depending upon producing rates.
There a r e three wells in the field with mud in the
annulus instead of inhibited diesel oil. These a r e pro-
tected by a semi-annual fori~lationsqueeze treatment
consisting of 55 gal of inhibitor mixed with 550 gal of
diesel. The m ~ x t u r eIS pumped in a t the well head and

NIPPLE -ADJUSTABLE
-
PI1
I b
~ A ~ E T VALVE
V
REMOTE CONTROL
INHIBITOR STORAOE
TANKS
lNHlllTOR INJECTION VALVE
PACKER
Fig. 1 -Typical Well Completion
displaced down the tubing and Into the formation with
111gIl-pressure g a s from the field injection system.
Thls tubing treatment also serves to protect the
flow lines, except f o r those wells w ~ t hlow clellverabillty.
I n these, the veloclty of the g a s through the flow lines
IS low enough to permlt proclucecl water to acculnulate
in low spots. To overcome this, a neutralizing arnine
inhibitor 1s continually injected a t the well head with
the same type pump t h a t is used to Inject inhibitor into
the casing The feed rate is set to maintain a p H of
8 In the proclucecl water entering the plant.
The degree of protection being obta~neclis checked
by means of tublng calipers and the Iron content of
produced flulds. Both show t h a t corrosion control is
excellent. Fro111 tnne to tlme, durlng routlne operat~ons,
it has been necessary to cut into the gathering and
~njectionllnes Vlsual observation a t these points has
also shown the lines to be 111 excellent condit~on
Injection wells a r e not treated slnce corrosive com-
l~onents,and water, a r e removed from the g a s a t the
processing plant.
Wire-l~neWork
Shortly a f t e r cllscovery of the field ~t was realized
t h a t accurate bottom-hole pressures and temperatures
would be needed to initially select, and thereafter eval-
uate, a recovery inechanism. It would also be necessary
to r u n tubing cahpers to check the effectiveness of t h e
corrosion-control program. Since wire hnes a r e very
susceptible t o failure In sour gas, ~t was necessary
to devise a specla1 program. This program is a s follows.
An improved plow-steel wlre llne was puchased f o r
work ~n Smackover wells only. While golng ln o r out
of a well, ~nhlbltor1s continually applied to the line.
T h ~ 1s s done by means of a specla1 nipple t h a t IS made
CHORE
u p on the lubricator just under the stuffing-box assem-
- PLANT
bly. Thls nlpple has a coi~nection to whlcll a 111gh-
pressure flexible hose can be attached, wlth the other
end of thls hose connected to the lnhibitor pump a t
the well With thls arrangement the ~nhibitoris applied
to the line a f t e r ~t passes through the pack-off rubber.
Bottom-hole pressure gages ancl other mstruments a r e
protected by coatlng them with ml~ibited cllesel oil
~mmedlatelybefore running them In the well.
After each job the wlre line 1s removed from the
truck and the pull r e q u ~ r e dto break the end of the llne
1s determ~ned If the strength meets manufacturers
standards, the hne 1s submerged in nlh~bltecl cllesel
untll the next job
Approslmately 8 hours 1s the longest time a hne
1s allowed to relnaln ln a well. If, for esample, a n
extended pressure recording 1s needed, the pressure
gage 1s left in a landing nipple ancl tlle wlre line
retrieved. T h ~ sprocedure is also followed whenever
~ n s t r u m e n t sa r e to r e ~ n a l nIn the tubing while a well
1s flowlng Continuous recordings f o r periods u p to 7
days have been made without harm to the instrument
With this program the only line breaks have been
w ~ t hnew 11nes o r when the lnhibitor pump failed One
of the pressure gages has been ln use slnce 19.55
PLANT OPERATIONS
Process~ng
As the well stream enters the plant area the sour
condensate is removed in the Inlet separators. The ~ n l e t -
separator residue g a s then passes to a Girbotol-type
sweetenlng plant where hydrogen sulfide ancl other acid
gases are removed. The sweetened g a s is processed
through conventlonal absorptlon and fractionation facll-
ities The acid gases a r e charged to a Claus-process
plant where free sulfur is recovered. The resldue gas
from the absorptlon and fractionation plant IS dehy-
drated, compressed, and returned to the procluc~ng
format~on.
The only major ~ i l n o v a t ~ oof
n a n y consecluence made
slnce start-up of the plant have been the ~nstallatlon
of a condensate water-wash system and a conversion
from a caustic wash to a molecular sleve f o r final
sweetenlng of the propane and butane products
After only a short operatmg time the heat exchangers
ancl reboiler tubes of the condensate stabilizers began
plugging wlth salt. I t was found that, even after
removal of free water a t the Inlet separator, sufficient
salt remalned to cause a serious salt-deposit~onp r o l ~ l e n ~
In equipment The water-wash systein ~nstalledmlses
600 bl11 of fresh water with the 8,000 B/D of con-
densate procluctlon. The nllslng is done through a serles
of baffles a f t e r whicl~ water 1s separated froin the
condensate in a 200-bbl setthng tank. This procedure
removes all salt from the condensate.
The orlglnal caustic wash was unsatisfactory s ~ n c e
it failed to renlove all of the mercaptans Molecular
46 J. R. MOTTLEYAND
sleve units were Installed in December 1961 and have
effectively sweetened both streams, a s well a s dehydrat-
ing the propane to speclficatlons Regeneyatlon of the
sieves is done with fuel g a s heated to 550 F.
Inhibition
The four areas of t h e plant where inhibitor is
~njecteda r e the condensate stablllzers, the anllne sys-
tem, the dehydrators a t the compressor station inlet,
and the cooling-water system.
The absorption and fractlonat~onfacllit~esa r e belng
protected by the alnlne carrled over In the vapor phase
from t h e amlne contractors and absorbed in the
oil absorbers.
The sulfur-extract~onfaclllties requlre no measures
f o r corrosion control.
A filmlng amine inhibitor, containing a n emulsion
breaker, 1s lnjected dally ~ n t othe vapor llne from the
condensate stab~lizers Thls vapor 1s approxlmately
40 percent hydrogen sulfide. A neutralizing amlne inhib-
itor IS injected continuously into the stabilizer reflux
line In sufficient quantities to malntaln a sllghtly
alklline p H in the water condensing In the reflux
condenser.
Although corroslon control 111 the amlne system was
not particularly difficult during the operatloll of the
pilot plant it did become a serious problem a t the
hlgher rates of the expanded plant. A corrosion r a t e
of 1 nu1 per year was set a s optimum. A few months
a f t e r full-scale c y c l ~ n goperations the rate in the amlne
reboller was up to 42 mpy. An inhlbitor t h a t had been
developed to functlon In lnonoethanola~nlne solutions
was then used.' Thls was only p a r t of the answer and
considerable experlmentatlon and innovat~ngwas neces-
sary to reduce corroslon to reasonably acceptable
llmlts.2 The desired control has still not been achieved
and further work is belng done.
A t the dehydrators a neutralizing amlne lnhlbitor
is used to maintaln the p H of the condensed water In
the regeneration g a s coolers between 7 and 8. Control
here has not been particularly troubleson~e.
The coollng-water system, on the other hand, has
been very troubleson~e. The first ~nhibltor used was
a zinc-organic phosphate type which d ~ dnot achieve
the necessary degree of protection. I n September 1962,
a chronlate-phosphate treatment was started. There
was some apprehension about converting to thls type
of inhibitor because the sour atmosphere in the plant
area, to whlch the coollng towers a r e exposed, nllght
reduce the chromate to trl-valent chromium. Thls would
not only not afford a n y protection but could also
cause insoluble precipitates to form in the heat
exchangers. However, to date thls has not occurred to
any appreciable degree.
SAFETY
To protect personnel, rigid safety precautions a r e con-
stantly adhered to. All men a r e t r a ~ n e d ln the use
of g a s ninsks and a resuscitator. Gas masks, incorpo-
rating a compressed-alr bottle good f o r 30 mln, a r e
1References are at the end of the paper.
installed In packs of two throughout the plant area.
If a man should be overcome, another can put on one
mask to enter the area and place the other on the
stricken nlan before removlng him to a safe place A
g a s inask 1s also standard equlpnient f o r all cars and
trucks. A t two locations In the field a surplus supply
of compressed a l r 1s stored f o r recharging the a i r
bottles of the gas masks. These a r e f o r use in case
of a n extended emergency. One of them 1s skid-
mounted so t h a t ~tcan be moved about on a truck. The
safety valve on each well head can be closed by means
of a tank of compressed nitrogen located 300 f t from
the well. A g a s mask, In protective case, is attached
to each nitrogen bottle Naturally t h e need f o r safety
1s cont~nually stressed a t monthly safety meet~ngs.
There 1s no doubt but thls program is very effective
since there has not been one senous injury resulting
from the sour g a s In the 10 years of operatlon.
CORROSION MONITORING METHODS
The objective of the corrosion-control program 1s to
reduce corrosion to a r a t e of approxlmately 1 mpy.
The following methods o r dev~cesa r e used to evaluate
the program: Tublng calipers
Water a n a l y s ~ s
Corrosion probes
Coupons
Audgage
Vlsual Inspections
A base-hne callper survey was r u n In two injection
and five producing wells shortly a f t e r con~pletion.
Subsequent runs a r e compared with thls base. All have
shown excellent corrosion control.
Water analyses a r e used to control inhlbitor feed
rates to well flow lines and process streams and to
deterinlne treatment f o r the coollng-water system
Standard Iron counts a r e also used a s lndlcators of
trouble spots.
Resistance-type probes a r e ~nstalleda t critlcal points
(32 in all) witlun the plant area. I n these, resistance
to a n electrical current applled across the elenlent 1s a
functlon of the corroslon the elenlent has experienced.
The accuracy of the probe data IS periodically checked
against coupon-exposure tests.
Audlgage readings (metal thickness) a r e taken a t
various p o ~ n t s~n the plant equlpmeat to monitor t h e
corrosion there and to correlate ~twlth t h e results from
the other methods.
Visual inspection of equipment interiors is made
durlng shut-down periods o r a t a n y other time one of
the foregoing check measures lndlcates t h a t proper
protection 1s not belng achieved.
CONCLUSIONS
Producing and processing sour g a s a t high pressures
presents a multitude of problems, but they can be
overcome. Some of t h e more Important requirements
f o r a successful operatlon are:
1. Low-strength, d u c t ~ l esteels should be used where-
ever possible.
2. Equlpinent should be des~gnedto achieve the low-
est unit stress practicable.
3. Inh~bitorscan control the corrosion, but the inh~bl-
t ~ o nprogram must be well-planned i n ~ t i a l l yand
constantly evaluated thereafter.
4. Water should be removed from the system. If this
is impractical, pH control to prevent fornlation
of acids is necessary.
6 . An effective and continuing safety program is
necessary f o r the protection of personnel.
ACKNOWLEDGMENT
The writers express appreciation to the management
of Tidewater 011 Company f o r permlsslon to publlsh
this paper.
REFERENCES
'Sudbury, J. D; Rlggs, 0. L; and Leterle, J. F: Lab
Inhibitor Stops DEA Corrosion, The Pet~olezrmRefiner,
37, 183, May (1958).
ZMottley, J. R. and Fincher, D. R: Inhib~tionof Mono-
ethanolanilne Solut~ons,paper presented a t the NACE
South Central Regional Conference, San Antonio, Texas,
October 1962.