Mapping erosion-corrosion of carbon steel in oil exploration conditions: Some new approaches to characterizing mechanisms and synergies

Erosion by solid particles in oil/water slurries is a technologically important area. In such conditions, it is necessary to distinguish between the effects of the sand, aqueous environment, and the oil. Erosion-corrosion maps provide a means of identification between erosion-corrosion regimes as a function of erosion and corrosion parameters. However, there has been no work carried out to map the effects of parameters in oil/water slurries. This paper investigates the effect of erosion-corrosion on carbon steel in oil field production and maps the results. Distinctions between “synergistic” and “additive” erosion-corrosion behaviour are superimposed on the maps in the various environments.