Evaluation of the susceptibility to pitting corrosion of steel api 5l x42 exposed to solutions containing chloride ions and CO2 by electrochemical noise measurements

The concentration of chloride ions and the partial pressure of CO2 play an important role in the degradation of low-carbon steels used for the construction of pipelines in oil and gas industry. In order to evaluate the susceptibility of carbon steel API 5L X42 to pitting corrosion electrochemical noise and linear polarization resistance measurements were carried out in aqueous solutions containing chloride ions and CO2. The concentration of chloride ions was varied between, 10000 and 18000 ppm, and the CO2 partial pressure between 10 psi and 18 psi. Experimental results pointed out that the formation of protective layer, consisting mainly of FeCO3, depends on the partial pressure of CO2 in the system. Nevertheless, the stability of this layer was considerably affected by increasing the concentration of chloride ions causing that localized corrosion has taken place in some areas of the surface of API 5L X42, which were detected by electrochemical noise technique. (Author) 10 refs.