Institute News
The 63rd Corrosion Science Symposium (CSS) again joined the Electrochem meeting, which was hosted by the University of Edinburgh between the 4th and 6th September. Electrochem is an annual meeting organised jointly by the RSC Electrochemistry Group and the SCI Electrochemical Technology Group. There were 21 oral talks and the UR Evans award plenary talk, plus a dozen posters over the two days.
The U.R. Evans award for 2022 was presented to Prof Alison Davenport (University of Birmingham, UK) by Stephen Tate (ICorr Vice President) at the 63rd CSS. In her plenary talk entitled ‘Passivation vs. Active Dissolution’, Alison explored how the shape and stability of localised corrosion sites are determined by the delicate balance between passive film growth and metal dissolution. The plenary focused on the nature of passive films and localised corrosion sites, and how they can be successfully explored in situ using a variety of synchrotron-based characterisation methods.
The Lionel Shreir Award is given to the best student presenter at the annual Corrosion Science Symposium, and this year was presented to Alyshia Keogh (University of Manchester). Alyshia gave a fascinating and insightful talk entitled ‘effect of microstructure on localised corrosion and atmospheric stress corrosion cracking of 15-5 precipitation hardened stainless steels, linked to understanding of pitting and atmospheric chloride-induced degradation associated with microstructural features effected by the ageing temperature (see summary of Alyshia’s presentation below). Alyshia commented that she enjoyed the interaction between academics, industry specialists and students at the CSS, and thought the symposium was especially stimulating with an excellent range of presentations and posters from many Universities, and she hoped to attend next year!
Effect of Microstructure on Localised Corrosion and Atmospheric Stress Corrosion Cracking of 15-5 PH Stainless Steels
Alyshia Keogh, Anthony Cook, Emily Aradi, Alex Wilson, Fabio Scenini, Phil Prangnell, University of Manchester, and Zacharie Obadia, Airbus, Toulouse, France.
This work aimed to enhance mechanistic understanding of pitting and atmospheric Cl-Induced Stress Corrosion Cracking (AISCC) in 15-5 Precipitation Hardened (PH) Stainless Steels (SS) by establishing links between microstructural features affected by varying ageing temperature (here, 450 C, 540 C and 650 C) and susceptibility to such phenomena. This microstructural evolution, as a function of ageing temperature, was investigated via scanning TEM energy dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (STEM EDS), and differences in environmental behaviours assessed using both electrochemical and environmental testing under controlled conditions of temperature and Relative Humidity (RH). Statistical scatter in pitting potential determined via potentiodynamic polarisation was too high to determine any trend in localised corrosion resistance with confidence. However, useful information was obtained via Double Loop Electrochemical Potentiokinetic Reactivation (DL-EPR) and Electrochemical Noise (EN) measurements. DL-EPR revealed a linear trend between the degree of sensitisation and ageing temperature which correlated with an increase in number density of Cr carbides. EN measured by galvanically coupling dissimilar microstructures suggests that the highest temperature ageing treatment (650 C) was most susceptible to metastable pitting events and, hence, has a higher probability of transitioning to stable pitting.
AISCC tests (four-point bend specimens with Cl-salt deposits exposed to controlled temperature and RH) revealed that over-aged specimens (ageing temperature 650 C) were most resistant to cracking, whilst EN indicated they had greatest susceptibility to pitting. The opposite was found for under-aged specimens (ageing temperature 450 C). The mode of AISCC transitioned from an intergranular (IG) pathway in under-aged specimens (450 C) to mixed IG and transgranular (TG) for those peak-aged (540 C), no cracks were observed under the same testing conditions in over-aged specimens. Overall, these results are consistent with the theory that AISCC, like conventional SCC, only occurs under conditions of slow and stable localised corrosion.
Institute News
Over the last quarter, the branch has held three technical meetings. On Thursday 22nd September, there was the annual joint meeting with TWI, and Neil Gallon, Principal Engineer of Rosen, gave a talk on ‘Repurposing of Pipelines in the Energy Transition’.
There are many integrity challenges and differences between hydrogen, CO2 and hydrocarbon pipelines, and a pragmatic phased approach is required to enable safe and economic conversion of existing infrastructure.
Hydrogen is the lightest and most abundant element, and has the highest energy content of any common fuel by weight. It is found in water or hydrocarbons and can be produced without carbon footprint through electrolysis, steam methane reforming (SMR) and Carbon Capture (CC). It can be transported over long distances, stored like traditional fuels, but produces clean power and heat so it has advantages over fossil fuels in the drive towards net zero emissions.
The European hydrogen backbone will continue to grow with more connections across member states to about 26,000km by 2035 with a plan to double again by 2040, this will be approximately 69% of retrofitted infrastructure and 31% of new hydrogen pipelines. This emphasis on the re-use of existing infrastructure, while obviously attractive, places heavy demands on inspection and integrity engineering in order to ensure that assets remain fit for purpose.
In the transportation of hydrogen and “rich” CO2 by pipelines, there are key integrity challenges to be addressed for long-term safe operations. However, the major points of interest are the same as any pipeline integrity management system:
• Pipeline condition – What are the time-dependent threats? Which type of defects should I tackle? Where are they located? How severe are they?
• Integrity Remaining Life – How safe is my pipeline operations? How long can l operate it?
• Consequences – What are the consequences of loss of containment?
• Management – Can I safely manage pipeline operations going forwards?
Nonetheless, there are differences between the different modes of transportation which derive from the specific physicochemical behaviour of the fluid, and its interaction with the pipeline materials. For instance, internal corrosion is not a major concern for hydrogen service, while it is a key consideration for CO2 (and hydrocarbon) infrastructures. On the other end of the spectrum, ‘crack management’, broadly speaking, is a more critical topic for hydrogen pipelines than for other services.
While CO2 and hydrogen pipelines could be purpose-built to address the range of applicable integrity concerns, it is very likely that a major proportion of the future transmission network will revolve around the integration of existing Natural Gas (NG) or other hydrocarbon infrastructures. Hydrogen and CO2 pipeline design codes tend to be more constraining or restrictive than that for hydrocarbons. For example, typical hydrogen standards will limit the use of steels up to API 5L X52 (L360) to tackle hydrogen embrittlement issues, while over 45% of the European NG system is designed with higher steel grades.
The fundamental feature, which drives much of the integrity concerns and challenges in gaseous hydrogen pipelines, is the absorption of atomic hydrogen within the steel microstructure. The interactions of hydrogen lead to major degradation of mechanical properties, such as strength, ductility, fracture toughness and fatigue crack growth rate, and have been studied by various researchers of material types used in repurposed pipelines such as, API Series 5L X42, X52, X65, X80 and X100.The data are not yet fully comprehensive but all show that all properties are reduced by increasing levels of hydrogen.
A key reason for this is that the magnitude of interaction of hydrogen and steel is determined by the specific nature of the steel microstructures and chemistries not just the grade. This important facet puts a greater emphasis on the understanding of materials ‘DNA’ and on testing. These aspects are at the core of conversion and integrity management strategies. Crack detection technologies such as Electro-Magnetic Acoustic Transducer (EMAT) and materials properties in-line inspection (ILI), such as ROSEN’s RoMat PGS and DMG services, are likely to be integral to the inspection and conversion of hydrogen pipelines.
In many respects, the management of time-dependent threats in CO2 pipelines is an extension of the knowledge and the experience gained through the traditional oil and gas industry. The main key difference is that in “traditional” gas production, CO2 is mainly an unwanted by-product or impurity, while for CCUS, CO2 will be the primary fluid being transported, and hence will likely be at a higher partial pressure (i.e. presents a greater corrosion risk) and may have its own inherent impurities. Nonetheless, internal time-dependent threats will remain negligible, so as long as no free (separated) liquid water is present in the pipeline. This means that inspection of a CO2 line with ultrasonic technologies, which generally rely on a water couple, can be challenging and other methods must be considered.
Neil summarised by saying, the conversion of existing infrastructure to hydrogen or CO2 service brings unique integrity management challenges. It is unreasonable to expect that facilities designed specifically for hydrocarbon service can be directly converted to hydrogen or CO2 service without due diligence being applied. Management strategies will revolve around understanding material “DNA” and testing, and the deployment of in-line inspections to address pipeline and pipework fitness-for-service.
For hydrogen lines some of the major time dependent integrity threats are associated with potential hydrogen embrittlement of the pipeline steel, and the consequent threat of cracking. ILI of hydrogen pipelines can also be challenging due to the different physical and flow characteristics of hydrogen compared to natural gas, despite this it can be achieved.
For CO2 lines, ILI is necessary to understand the materials and presence of any time dependent threats such as metal loss corrosion or cracking. ILI of dense phase CO2 pipelines is challenging due to the nature of the fluid being transported.
On Tuesday 25th October, the branch welcomed Vinay Tripurana, Applications Engineering, Manager, Flexitallic UK Ltd., to talk on “Flange Face Corrosion in seawater and hydrocarbon environments, related to gasket material selection”.
Vinay oversees the company’s UK Applications Engineering Team. He is a Chartered Mechanical Engineer with Masters’ degree in Manufacturing Systems and has several years’ experience in providing engineered solutions to a wide range of industries including automotive, fabrication and sealing technology.
Bolted flange joints in seawater and hydrocarbon services can be vulnerable to gasket degradation and flange face corrosion. In its guidance document on corrosion management, the UK’s Energy Institute ranks corrosion as the second most frequent cause in initiating loss of hydrocarbon containment in offshore platforms, and highlights corrosion as a major threat to asset integrity and plant efficiency. Flange face corrosion can be extremely difficult to detect prior to leakage leading to considerable loss of valuable resources. The impact on the environment can also be a major concern, as can the immediate safety of plant personnel. Replacement or remedial works often means unscheduled downtime, additional costs, and reduced asset efficiency.
A holistic approach must be taken to a flanged assembly as there are several aspects which are critical to good integrity, and the gasket alone cannot solve all issues. Junctions differ in that there are process parameters of pressure, temperature and carried media, and the hardware differs in design of bolting, support, insulation, and types of flanges. Finally, the installation must be well supervised by competent personnel and correct lubricants and tools used in a controlled and safe manner to give good integrity of a pipe junction.
Unfortunately, gaskets that brought us through the ‘oil boom’ years were traditionally made of asbestos which was a fire-proof material, could deal with most chemicals, and had excellent sealing and corrosion prevention properties, but the material fell from use due to health and safety issues. Traditional alternative materials such as Graphite, Mica and PTFE have characteristics that can be, or appear to be, very useful to flange applications, but they do not have the qualities to offer optimum performance in the area of corrosion prevention. Graphite is naturally an electrical conductor and its ‘noble’ nature promotes corrosion, Mica exhibits very poor sealing characteristics and PTFE is not fire safe and exhibits poor sealing characteristics. This has led to further research into alternative materials to mitigate this issue. For example, Flexitallic went in search of a new material that would:
– Mitigate flange face corrosion – electrically neutral and clean
– Significantly improve connection tightness (Net Zero)
– Be fully compliant with current gasket standards – ASME B16.20
– Meet industry service envelope requirements (-196 to 260oC & B16.5 #150 thru #2500)
– Meet fire safe requirements
– Be easy to use and require no change to established installation procedures
– Economically viable compared with graphite
The solution was a new composite material now known as Corriculite – a spiral wound gasket material based on vermiculite with filler materials and enhancements. It is electrically inert, high purity spiral wound with good tightness properties, that is both fire safe and compliant with the requirements of ASME B16.20. It offers a direct and cost-effective, replacement for conventional, graphite filled gaskets. (Editor: more information can be found in the May/June issue of the magazine).
Once the fundamental gasket property criteria had been fulfilled, the material was tested to validate it for flange face corrosion and in order to prove this, corrosion testing was conducted to ISO 9227, which is simple 600 hour salt spray test (90 mins spray, then 90 mins dry with 170 cycles in total) for M20 Stainless steel bolts, with material to be tested sandwiched between SS washers with PTFE isolator. Multiple rings were placed in series and bolts torqued to 20 MPa.
Other required testing involved flange face corrosion sensitivity testing. Potentiostatic polarisation techniques were used with an impressed current to accelerate the likely corrosion reactions, comparing older graphite performance with the new material. The voltage required to initiate corrosion in graphite was found to be nearly half as much as for the new Corriculite material. Seal tightness was also assessed using a cyclic pressure test to EN13555, whereby 4” diameter sample gaskets were loaded and unloaded to increasing levels of pressure up to 40 bar of helium, and the leakage measured. Quick comparison showed that there is superior performance at the 3 main stress ranges tested when compared with graphite.
A validation test for thermal cycling was also conducted to demonstrate the gasket’s ability to seal when exposed to thermal fluctuations. For the ‘ambient’ test, the gasket was pressurised to 51 bar for 1 hour, a ‘fail’ being drop > 1 bar. A further high temperature test was conducted at 42.5bar pressure at 260°C for 1 hour then cooled for, for 10 cycles in total. These independent results showed max 4 bar loss over the thermal cycling.
Cryogenic testing was also conducted, which is a’ Blowdown’ qualification for between -110C and -196C. Again, this was a pressurised, hold 1 hour, depressurise, but for 3 cycles on ASME Class 150 & 900 grp2.2 flanges. The leakage test showed tight seal and high performance. Fire safety tests were also passed for the new material at 650C 30min cyclic test with forced cool and pressurised cycles.
Vinay then concluded his talk by stating, the Corriculite gasket development is proving to be an innovative spiral wound filler material that mitigates flange face corrosion in up-stream environments. It is fully compliant with current gasket standards and meets industry service envelope requirements fire safe complaint. It can be used as a direct replacement for graphite using existing assembly procedures and is seen as a viable economic alternative to conventional graphite sealing technology.
For its final technical meeting, the branch held a joint event with The Mining Institute of Scotland (an Affiliated Local Society of IOM3) on Wednesday 16th November, with Dr Prafull Sharma as the speaker. Prafull currently serves as the Chief Technology Officer of UK based CorrosionRADAR Ltd which is bringing innovative corrosion monitoring technologies to the Energy Sector using Industrial Internet of Things (IIoT). As a Technologist, he has brought vast industrial experience to Corrosion Management, especially in the area of digitalisation of on which there are several inventions to his credit.
Predictive maintenance and Industry seems to have been talked about for at least a decade now, but in his talk, Prafull considered what this means on a ‘day-to-day’ basis to asset integrity professionals. New advancements in technologies including sensors, battery powered devices, wireless connectivity, remote data analytics are enabling creation of Industrial Internet of Things (IIoT).
Corrosion Management is now emerging as a big user for applications of digitalisation tools. CorrosionRADAR invented a predictive CUI monitoring system that combines corrosion and moisture sensors, which is gaining increasing global traction, addressing a major issue for the industry.
CorrosionRADAR currently have a number of site trials ongoing with both UK and overseas Energy Operators. They continue to have many have many high-profile Investors including – Net Zero Technology Centre (NZTC), and Saudi Aramco Energy Ventures (SAEV).
Certificates of Appreciation were issued to all our branch presenters. The branch also held its AGM at the October meeting, during which a new committee was elected.
Abstracts of potential papers for the Aberdeen Technical Programme are always welcome, and anyone wishing to join committee should correspond with the Aberdeen Chair: Dr Muhammad Ejaz itsejaz@yahoo.com
Further Information about the Aberdeen Branch, and past presentations, may be found on their website page: Aberdeen Branch – Institute of Corrosion (icorr.org), and to join the Aberdeen Branch mailing list, please contact: icorrabz@gmail.com
TABLE:
Dr Muhammad Ejaz Chair Hooman Takhtechian YEP 2022 Coordinator and Past Chair
Adesiji Anjorin Vice-Chair Leela Ramachandran University Liaison & CPD Officer
Dr Nigel Owen Secretary External Steve Paterson YEP Mentors and Case Study Co-ordinator
Lian Ling Beh Secretary Internal Dr Olubayo Latinwo Branch Sponsorship Officer
Bryn Roberts Financial Officer Dr Yunnan Gao Website Officer and Past Chair
Mei Ling Cheah Event Co-ordinator and Young ICorr Officer Stephen Tate Observer and Past Chair
Aberdeen Branch Positions for 2022-2023 Session.
Planned expansion of hydrogen pipeline network in Europe.
Influence of hydrogen on ‘Fitness for Service’ assessment.
Influence of hydrogen on ‘Fitness for Service’ assessment.
New sealing material – materials selection and the galvanic series.
New sealing material – induced corrosion evaluation.
Fire safe testing for flanged assemblies.
Process of CUI and impact on industry.
Example of installation to vessel with cyclic temperature operation.
New Aberdeen Committee 2022-2023 with retiring Branch Members (circled) – Dr Olubayo Latinwo
(last Vice Chair) and Hooman Takhtechian (last Chair).
Institute News
John Thirkettle was a Professional Member the Institute of Corrosion from 1982 and later a Fellow of ICorr. He was an active member of the ICorr Midland Branch between 1983 and 1993 and later Aberdeen Branch from 1993. He was Chair of the Scottish Branch of the Pipeline Industries Guild 2000-2021. He was active in the Energy Institute (previously the Institute of Petroleum and was a member of NACE (now AMPP). John sadly passed on 13th August 2022, and his funeral was 1st September in Bedford, where a strong group from the Institute of Corrosion attended to honour his contribution to ICorr, and to the corrosion engineering profession in which he worked since 1962.
John began his career in corrosion engineering with Spencer and Partners in London, where he met Kathy, later his wife. His boss was initially Ken Spencer, the firm’s founder, and then David Lewis, who was to become President of ICorr. He worked with David Harvey at that time. Spencer and Partners were one of a select few companies in corrosion engineering and cathodic protection at the time – they were the only Consulting Engineering firm in the sector.
John left after 7 years, joining another specialist company in the CP industry, Roxby, in 1969, and was eventually Manager of their Cathodic Protection Engineering Division (they were also NDT Engineers) for their entire operations in corrosion and CP in the UK and overseas.
In 1983 John joined Global Cathodic Protection first as Manager for all the CP engineering, installation and commissioning of all onshore and offshore projects. In 1987 he was promoted to Operations Director and in 1989 to Managing Director. To those who worked with him, through his entire career, he was acknowledged as always steady, honest competent and reliable.
John then moved his work to Aberdeen in 1993, firstly as Director of the Corrosion Engineering Division of ACEL and then as Operations Manager of North East Corrosion Engineers. During this time John trained and developed many of the colleagues who are active in CP today.
In 2004 John left the NE and formed Thor Corrosion, becoming, like many senior CP personnel, an Independent Consultant. It is a measure of the man that John continued to assist and work with all many of his past colleagues throughout the following decades. During these many years of friendship, professional contact and project collaboration, John was a leading light and an example to our profession, especially in the training and nurturing of Corrosion Engineers. He wrote the first Institute of Corrosion training programme for Buried Pipeline Cathodic Protection Technicians and Engineers, which he and Chris Lynch presented many years. This has developed into the very successful ICorr CP Training Scheme.
John put a lot into our industry, mostly by voluntary activity, as well as strong activity for ICorr, nationally and in Aberdeen, he was active in the Pipeline Industries Guild and the Energy Institute in Aberdeen. He always ‘put back’ his skills and knowledge to the benefit of others. John was Chair of the committee which produced the 2nd Edition of the Energy Institute’s publication, “Design and Operational Guidance on Cathodic Protection of Offshore Structures, Subsea Installations and Pipelines” published in January 2022.
He was a very competent CP specialist, and one of the first in the UK to recognise the importance of soil potential gradient errors in potential measurements, particularly for buried pipelines (so called IR drop errors).
He was an early user of accurately time interlinked CP power supply switching and data logging to make these Instant OFF surveys more accurate, faster and able to be used as ‘close interval surveys’ to collect data at 1-3m intervals over buried pipelines, these are now ‘normal practice’.
One of his clients sent a note from Dubai on hearing of John’s departure: “I will always remember my time working with John with fondness; he always was willing to share his wisdom, he was patient and always wanted to do what was right” This is typical of many messages received by his family and colleagues about John; unstinting praise for a very well respected and decent colleague.
John was a great collaborator and because of his sincerity and honest character, he gained the trust and confidence of many of his colleagues and clients. To this end his personal touch was key to establishing Corrosion Management Forums at St Fergus, Shetland and Bacton, where the first large scale cross plant CP surveys were performed that not only provided data that were essential and accurate, but largely unique and critically important. These are all running today and they have become a platform for improved collaboration between owner/operators for yet more shared development works and understanding in corrosion. One of the more prominent of these was the investigation and improved understanding of Corrosion Under Insulation (CUI). John progressed this, coordinating and managing the UK CUI Forum. This culminated in a shared state of the art understanding and provided a key contribution to the EFC publication Corrosion-Under-Insulation (CUI).
Let us remember this man who gave so much in example and knowledge to our industry and was liked and respected by all. Our sympathy goes to his wife, Kathy, Emma and James, and their daughter and son.
BS Wyatt and C Lynch
ICorr colleagues of John at the funeral on 1st September 2022. From left to right,
Chris Lynch, Steve Reid, David Harvey, Bill Whittaker, John Rae, Brian Wyatt and Stephen Tate
Institute News, Uncategorized
The branch held its Annual Corrosion Forum (ACF) on 30th August, on the subject of “Energy Transition – Corrosion and Material Challenges.” This was a hybrid presentation at the Palm Court Hotel, Aberdeen. There was a series of in-person and video presentations to a live audience, with a similar number of attendees registered for online viewing of the event, with 71 registered attendees in total.
The delegates.
The event programme consisted of a Keynote address by Dr Bill Hedges ICorr President, followed by nine talks on four topic groups, Competency and training, Pipelines, Offshore wind plus solar, nuclear and fusion energy sources, together with practical coating demonstrations run by Presserv Ltd, the key sponsor for the event.
A welcome was given by Hooman Takhtechian – ICorr Aberdeen chair, and Stuart Rennie –Manager (Presserv Ltd).
Bill Hedges then presented on the Institute of Corrosion’s approach to the energy transition landscape, which highlighted a structural materials degradation study conducted by the Henry Royce Institute in collaboration with ICorr and the Frazer-Nash Consultancy. This study looked at the degradation issues affecting structural materials and those critical to delivering the UK’s goal of net-zero greenhouse gas emissions by 2050, a primary objective of which was to identify key R&D opportunities for investment by UK, viz:
• Identify issues which could slow or prevent the transition.
• Ensure the transition occurs in a safe, timely and efficient manner.
• Highlight topics that are common to several industries.
The talk focused on five industries critical for the transition,1. Wind power generation (onshore and offshore). 2. Nuclear fission (not fusion).3. Hydrogen production and usage.4. Transportation (Air, Road, Rail and Sea), and 5. Carbon Capture and storage (CCS).
Of 41 respondents from multiple sectors to the study, 123 inputs (see heat map) gave corrosion as the most dominant topic affecting infrastructure, and slowing the transition to new technologies, closely followed by fatigue.
Bill Hedges, ICorr President.
Heat Map of Royce Institute survey responses.
NPL – Carbon capture and storage.
Wood Thilsted – Offshore
wind monopile foundation.
Offshore wind coating challenges (Safinah).
ACF Dinner with Bill Hedges.
ICorr members and engineers are important to the energy transition process, and the majority of members are involved in day-to-day work in Oil &Gas, Hydrogen & Carbon Capture, Wind, Nuclear, and Battery industries.
In the subsequent competency and training session, Muhsen Elhaddad, MSc, CEng, MICorr gave a virtual presentation on the
“Roles of corrosion professionals during energy transition.”
Corrosion is still a major concern to all sectors of the economy. Losses due to corrosion are exorbitant when compared to a country’s GDP (ranges from 1 to 5% in some cases with global average of 3.4%). It is estimated that losses in fresh water supply due to damaged “corroded” infrastructure is higher than 30%. The AWWA (American Water Works Association) estimated that the cost of replacement of corroded pipe will be $325 Billion over the next 20 years. A significant part of these losses is avoidable (15 – 35%) if current knowledge is fully utilised to design, mitigate, monitor and inspect, to control or prevent corrosion.
This of course cannot happen unless there is competent and engaging corrosion and materials professionals involved at all levels of the asset cycle, from conception of the project to decommissioning. People are known to be the heart of effective asset integrity management and can make effective asset integrity happen with their proactive approach, flexibility and a quick response. They must be knowledgeable, have the right competency, and the authority to act on their knowledge, expertise and experience. They should have the means to collaborate, share and communicate at all levels of their organisation and take pride in their profession. This also requires a change in mind set and understanding that a job is not for a salary it is a profession that a corrosion professional needs to embrace and practice fully.
Muhsen’s presentation was very thought provoking and generated many questions from the audience.
For the pipeline session, Frank Cheng, University of Calgary, joined online and spoke informatively on materials constraints and safety assessment in conversion of existing natural gas pipelines for hydrogen transport.
Energy transition and realisation of new energy technologies at full scale are critical to achieving the 2050 net-zero target. Hydrogen, as a green and zero-emission fuel, has received wide attentions recently. Hydrogen delivery is integral to the entire value chain of hydrogen economy, where pipelines provide an economic and efficient means to transport. Particularly, repurposing existing natural gas pipelines is “a low-cost option for delivering large volumes of hydrogen, and similarly for CO2 transport discussed below.
There is an extensive pipeline network throughout the world, effectively transporting energy over several decades. Safety
is paramount for hydrogen transport by pipelines. Particularly, hydrogen embrittlement (HE) has been a major concern for the integrity of hydrogen pipelines. Different from “cathodic” hydrogen generated in aqueous environments where extensive investigations have been conducted, the environment potentially causing HE
of hydrogen pipelines is high-pressure hydrogen gas, in such circumstances hydrogen atom generation and permeation can occur with a mechanism totally different from the “cathodic” hydrogen.
The talk provided technical background about the HE, detailing unique features of the problem associated with high-pressure gaseous environments. Additional challenges with the conversion of existing “aged” gas pipelines for hydrogen service were discussed. These include corrosion and mechanical defects serving as hydrogen traps, pre-strain induced by pipe-soil interaction to increase the
HE susceptibility, competitive adsorption of impurity gases with hydrogen gas on steel surfaces, and preferential accumulation
of hydrogen atoms and the resulting cracking at pipeline welds. Technical gaps are being analysed, and recommendations provided for both the research community and industry to develop a technical assessment programme on the suitability of existing pipelines for hydrogen transport.
In a complimentary way and in person, Shravan Kairy – NPL continued with a discussion on the ‘Challenges in assessing corrosion resistance of pipeline steels in dense phase CO2 .”
Transportation of carbon dioxide (CO2) is essential for the storage of captured anthropogenic CO2 at dedicated locations, such as depleted oilfields. The whole process of capturing, transporting, and storing CO2 is referred to as carbon capture and storage
(CCS). CCS technology has the potential to decarbonise industrial sectors by capturing CO2 prior to its release into the atmosphere. The successful implementation of CCS technology would enable the continued use of available fossil fuels for the world’s energy needs. Pipeline transport of dense phase CO2, i.e., in the liquid
or supercritical phase, enables cost effective high throughput transport. American Petroleum Institute (API) grade pipeline steels that are employed for the pipeline transport of oil and gas are often considered for the transport of dense phase CO2 because of their reliability and low cost.
In general, pure CO2 is inert, stable, and non-corrosive. However, anthropogenic CO2 contains various impurities, such as water, sulphur oxides, nitrogen oxides, hydrogen sulphide, and carbon monoxide. If local pipeline conditions (e.g., temperature/pressure) decrease the solubility of water in CO2, condensation can take place and subsequently CO2 and gaseous impurities can dissolve in the condensed water, resulting in an acidic corrosive medium with pH less than 3.5. This leads to corrosion of many pipeline steels and the integrity of the pipeline can be compromised, potentially resulting in leakage or explosion. Understanding the factors controlling corrosion of pipeline steels in the dense phase CO2 environment is essential for qualifying pipeline materials for service and establishing reliable and cost-effective impurity threshold specifications.
NPL’s presentation gave a comprehensive overview of the most common experimental methodologies used to assess corrosion of pipeline steels in dense phase CO2. The current understanding of the corrosion of pipeline steels in dense phase CO2 and recommendations on future directions were also provided.
The Offshore Wind Session commenced with an online presentation by Anthony Setiadi, Wood Thilsted Partners, on the ongoing challenges in corrosion protection of foundations for offshore wind technologies.
he offshore wind industry growth is rapidly accelerating as the world is pushing towards renewable energy sources. Wind turbines often need to be installed on foundations which are in aggressive environments that are prone to corrosion if not protected and / or designed with corrosion in mind. There are various offshore wind foundation types, such as, monopiles, jackets, tetrabases, gravity bases and floating structures, often grouped in vast arrays for reasons of economy.
The presentation was primarily focused on monopile foundations and the design considerations that would need to be taken onboard. Monopiles have both internal and external surfaces needing protection. Coating requirements and different cathodic protection systems (i.e. galvanic and ICCP) were discussed for the internal
and external of the MP. Challenges regarding positioning of the CP system and installation concerns need to be considered along with any simultaneous operations that need to happen offshore during the installation phases e.g. piling operations that limit placement of anodes on the primary structure.
The main consideration is how the structure would behave with and without corrosion protection, especially the fatigue critical components such as the girth welds. The other consideration would be the site condition which will vary across the wind farm location and in some cases, a clustering strategy for varying sets of marine and geological conditions may be needed.
A corrosion protection plan must be developed and agreed well in advance, which then needs to be followed through to completion, including input to operation and maintenance strategies to ensure that the structure integrity is not compromised throughout design life.
Continuing on the corrosion protection theme, and presenting in person, Simon Daly Consultant – Energy & Infrastructure, (Safinah Group) discussed the many challenges for selecting protective coatings for fixed and floating wind industry.
Offshore wind turbine structures are exposed to environments with high salinity, high levels of UV radiation, the presence of cathodic protection and other factors. As well as the offshore turbines themselves, larger offshore structures such as transformer stations may have more extensive coating requirements including the need for passive fire protection. As the industry transitions to floating structures, designs may also have the challenges associated with marine fouling as well as more extensive coating work scopes.
With longer design lives required for current and future renewable type assets, more dedicated specifications are being developed, however some challenges exist ensuring proper execution of the specification during aggressive construction schedules. Given the costly nature of offshore recertification, this is also an area which requires constant attention to detail to minimise future expenditure.
Corrosion issues within existing fixed wind turbine facilities have highlighted coating requirements more extensive than previously foreseen. Different long term performance requirements, coupled with increased productivity to meet offshore renewables targets, means that coating selection must be carefully considered. Furthermore, with an increased focus on floating wind structures which have additional coating requirements and challenges to consider, the presentation discussed, the types of offshore structures used in wind power generation, different corrosive categories found internally and externally, an overview of corrosion protection issues experienced in fixed bottom structures, existing specifications used in coating selection, and how they differ between fixed and floating wind structures. A comparison of specifications currently used in offshore wind such as NORSOK M-501, DNV, NACE, VGB/BAW as well as development of future specifications, was explained.
This comprehensive presentation concluded with suggestions on how better integration of coating planning and activities throughout the lifecycle of an asset can help to reduce costs associated with coating and related activities.
In the Solar, Nuclear and Fusion Energy Session, Joven Lim – UK Atomic Energy Authority, dealt in great detail with the corrosion challenges in developing a Tokamak-type Fusion Reactor.
With the increase of national interest in developing and deploying clean energy and ensuring a good energy mix for the future, a fusion power plant is one of the ideal candidates. Fusion does not release carbon dioxide or other greenhouse gases into the atmosphere.
Its major by-product is helium gas. Nuclear fusion reactors do not produce high activity, long-lived nuclear waste. The recent record-breaking 59 megajoules of sustained fusion energy demonstrated potential of fusion to be part of the future energy mix at the world-leading Joint European Torus facility, a Tokamak-type fusion reactor design, in Oxford, UK [https://www.euro-fusion.org/news/2022/european-researchers-achieve-fusion-energy-record/].
Like any other thermal power plant, coolant(s) will be used to transfer heat energy generated from fusion reactions and converted to electrical energy. With the knowledge gained from other power plants, and research studies performed in the past, it is feasible to predict and identify the potential corrosion challenges in a Tokamak-type fusion reactor.
In his presentation, the speaker gave a thorough overview of the Tokamak-type fusion reactor design, the potential list of coolants that can be used and why, and the expected corrosion challenges from the extreme environment in the reactor. The speaker also provided some insights on the criteria used for materials selection, corrosion management and mitigation strategy currently being developed for UK STEP fusion programme that aims to deliver a prototype fusion energy plant, by 2040 (https://step.ukaea.uk/).
Bringing the proceedings to a close, after an excellent and well-rounded full day event, Dr Frederick Pessu, University of Leeds, neatly summarised the corrosion challenges and related opportunities in arduous next generation low carbon energy systems (solar and nuclear energy).
Solar and nuclear energy sources have shown the greatest promise overall in worldwide efforts to meet the global climate change target. Electricity generation from solar and nuclear irradiation can be achieved using concentrated solar power (CSP) technologies and Gen IV molten salt nuclear reactors (MSR). Central to both CSP and MSR technologies is the use of high boiling point molten salts (MS) as heat transfer fluid, thermal energy storage and coolants (particularly for MSRs). Thus far, CSPs has played a significant role in delivering large-scale solar thermal electricity generation from photothermal conversion, due to its potential high efficiency, low operation cost and low environmental impact. CSPs promise to contribute up to 27% of global energy by 2050. Gen IV MSRs which are due for commercialisation in 2030 aim to deliver nuclear electricity at about 700°C by 2030, particularly as nuclear electricity is likely to see a 25% contribution to the UK energy mix.
The extreme conditions, high temperature (about 700°C) and aggressive corrosion media in MS systems do however pose complex material degradation issues related to corrosion, chemical speciation kinetics, high temperature fatigue and irradiation induced creep to conventional alloys. The need for advanced material systems/interfaces is timely, especially as the UK’s “green economic revolution” aims to increase nuclear electricity fourfold, achieve net-zero greenhouse gas emissions and fully decarbonise by 2050. The presentation highlighted the corrosion challenges in the new frontier of low carbon and renewable energy generation, solar and nuclear energy, and state – of – the – art understanding of the underpinning mechanisms. Opportunities for research-led development of new material system, interfaces, and technologies for UK businesses were fully discussed.
Presserv Ltd, the sponsor of this Net-Zero event, gave a demonstration of STOPAQ environmentally friendly products and their application on a pipe section, in the reception area.
There are bonus online pre-recorded presentations included as part of the programme which can be viewed online in the ICorr Members site,
• Selection of coating material in oil and gas industries and use of advanced coating processes for corrosion protection in present industrial scenario. Urvesh Vala, Chiyoda Ltd India.
• The use of magnetic probe couple to augment existing equipment and technology. Jonathan Francis, Trac Energy Presentation.
This most successful event, which raised nearly £3,000 for ICorr training funds, was followed by an evening event with the President – Bill Hedges.
ACF Dinner with Bill Hedges.
The branch gratefully acknowledges the support of all the ACF participants and the ICorr HQ Admin Team.
Event photos and slides can be viewed at: https://1drv.ms/u/s!Ajj3m1kM8SgPrj_TTl_bylOPF1LB?e=EfsRMM.
The Aberdeen Branch has now formed a new committee for 2022-2023 session under the chair of Dr Muhammad Ejaz. Supporting him in the Vice Chair role will be Adesiji Anjorin, the previous events co-ordinator. The full committee are their responsibilities can be found on the branch page of the website.
Institute News
The branch is hosting a presentation on advancements in PFP technology at the IMME offices in Newcastle at 18.00 hrs on the 15th of December. The speaker will Britt Gevaert, project engineer, Acotec NV, Belgium, and who are also sponsoring the event.
The presentation will feature the new Humidur Char range of PFP from Acotec NV, who have made some exceptional and innovative, technological advances.
Institute News
The branch welcomes four new committee members to help the running and organising of meetings/events to improve what is offered for members.
Jessica Tjandra, a PhD student at Imperial College, London, who will be supporting the events officer, Paul Brooks. Kabir Raheem, bp, who will be acting as engagement officer, and two overseas members, Gani Sultanov, Oceaneering, Oman, and Doaa Sallam, bp, Egypt, who will be on a working group looking at web-based involvement and marketing.
The November presentation is by Roland Anderson, Axcess Corrosion, who will focus on new solutions to problems related to intrusive corrosion monitoring systems. This will be an opportunity to learn about and to evaluate innovations relating to the safety of intrusive corrosion monitoring devices.
The talk will cover some examples of incidents ranging in severity from loss of containment to fatality and look at the design changes that can provide new layers of protection and prevent reoccurrence. The specific products covered includes retrieval equipment for monitoring devices changeouts under pressure as well as the access fittings that house the devices. The potential for repurposing access fittings and how to deal with them if they are no longer required for a monitoring programme will also be discussed.
This will be an in-person event at the usual venue, the Lancaster Hall Hotel, Bayswater, London.
