Corrosion of steel in a CO2-containing solution droplet generated in wet gas pipelines studied by scanning Kelvin probe

•Measured and discussed the Volta potential of X52 steel under a CO2-containing solution droplet.•Analyzed the relationship between Volta potential and corrosion potential.•Discussed the corrosion mechanism of gas pipelines under a solution droplet. A scanning Kelvin probe (SKP) was used to study corrosion of X52 pipeline steel under a CO2-containing solution droplet simulating the water condensate generated in interior of wet gas pipelines. The Volta potential measured by SKP was indicative of the feature of corrosion occurring under the droplet. Three potential zones were observed from the droplet center towards the transition and the side of the droplet, which were -0.1 V, -0.4 V and 0.1 V (Kelvin probe, kp), respectively, after 4 h of testing. The droplet side had the highest Volta potential, which was attributed to corrosion scale generation and precipitation due to a limited solution volume and achieved solubility limit of FeCO3 scale. The transition zone possessed the most negative Volta potential due to a higher corrosion activity than the droplet center with more supply and dissolution of CO2, while the droplet center had the thickest solution. The SKP measurements could estimate the volume evolution of the solution droplet with time at a relatively accurate scale. The solution droplet could maintain its topographic feature, i.e., a spherical cap shape, within 4 h of testing in this work. The increase in droplet concentration due to solution evaporation during testing affected the Volta potential, but slightly only.