Sulfidation Corrosion is a main issue and cause for leaks in piping and pressure vessels in the crude oil and refinery industry. Sulfidation Corrosion can lead to unplanned outages, large property losses and even injuries due to the naturally occurring sulfur compounds found in crude oil.
Sulfidation Corrosion (also known as sulfidic corrosion) is a result of naturally occurring sulfur compounds found in crude oil. In the absence of hydrogen, corrosion due to sulfur compounds in the crude is thought to occur at temperatures above 500°F (260 °C). Up to that temperature, corrosion rates due to sulfidation are relatively low, even for carbon steels, unless there is naphthenic acid present in the crude. High temperature sulfidation is one of the most well-known corrosion mechanisms in the oil refining industry because it can occur in multiple sections of the refinery.
Sulfidation corrosion results in the thinning of the pressure containment envelope, affecting components such as piping and pipe fittings, heater tubes, and pressure vessels. Most industry incidents have occurred in piping, due to lower nominal wall thicknesses compared to other equipment types. Sulfidation can be localized or general in nature for a given component; although the majority of cases exhibit general thinning. When the damage is general and thinning occurs over a large area, ruptures are possible and can lead to the potential release of large quantities of hydrocarbon streams.
Corrosive thinning of piping walls and equipment due to sulfidation depends on many factors, such as materials of construction, sulfur concentration of the oil, temperature, flow rate, and H2 concentration, making it hard to predict accurately. However, one predictor of higher sulfidation rates is low silicon concentration in carbon steel components.
When exposed to hydrogen-free sulfidation corrosion conditions, carbon steels with low-silicon (<0.10%) concentration can corrode at an accelerated rate.
It is estimated that 30% of high-temperature sulfidic corrosion failures are caused by low silicon concentration.
Silicon analysis of this kind of equipment and piping using portable X-ray fluorescence (XRF) is an ideal choice to assist in the prevention of these incidents from occurring. Precise, accurate and fast analysis of silicon and other elements in for the crude oil and refinery field is enabled by AXR Scientific Handheld XRF Analyzer Terra900S.
The AXR Terra900 series analyzer has a lower element detection limit, which solves the problem that traditional methods are difficult to quickly and accurately analyze trace and trace elements in samples; while the instrument has high accuracy, it also has the following advantages:
(a) The instrument is portable and easy to use in different occasions
(b) No sample preparation required for non-destructive testing
(c) Short time required for quantitative analysis and reliable results
Terra900S series analyzers provide a relatively complete solution for the composition analysis and reliability identification of alloy materials. The instrument is equipped with a high-performance X-ray tube and SDD detector to provide users with fast and accurate element concentration analysis; an optional large-area silicon drift detector is provided to further improve the resolution of the instrument and reduce the time required for analysis. And it has proved that Terra900S is the suitable solution for analysis of silicon in steel to prevent sulfidic corrosion failures.
AXR Scientific is a high-tech manufacturer focusing on the development and application of X-ray technology products. It is committed to becoming a world-class supplier of X-ray industrial inspection solutions.AXR Scientific currently offer handheld XRF analyzer, handheld alloy analyzer, handheld soil analyzer, handheld lithium battery analyzer, precious metal analyzer, coating analyzer, gold analyzer and online XRF analyzer etc. to global customers. We keep serving global customers in the fields of machinery manufacturing, metal processing, aerospace, petrochemical, mining and geology, food safety, environmental protection, scientific research and etc. AXR Scientific keeps improving product performance and user experience with R&D advantages and innovative designs, and continues to provide global users with reliable X-ray measure solutions to solve various challenges from routine testing tasks to complex customized measure requirements. To contact us, please send email to market@axr-scientific.com
