Estimating the Size of Corrosion Holes in Oil/Gas Pipelines, Theoretical Analysis

At present time, pipelines have become the most important transportation artery in the oil and gas industry and the number of corrosion failures in onshore and offshore pipelines caused by corrosion is alarming. Since corrosion leads to great loss in field operation, it is important for pipeline maintenance to require early and accurate detection of corrosion. But, there are many drawbacks in most known corrosion measurement methods and equipment. We must provide methods for corrosion measurement with greater precision, accuracy and speed than the existing methods. New automatic corrosion measurement methods were proposed to satisfy the need for rapid measurement and evaluation of corrosion on significant portions of straight and curved pipe sections with related cost savings. However, it is necessary to improve the effectiveness and efficiency of the corrosion measurement system. The size of corrosion hole is an essential component in corrosion studies. The writers discuss a unique method of using fluid mechanics principles (Bernoulli’s and Branched Flow equations) to estimate the size of corrosion hole. It can be incorporated in the automatic corrosion measurement system to improve the measurement results and provide further cost savings.