Welcome to our second iteration of the biweekly Corrosionpedia news roundup! For this roundup we take a look at pipelines. Not just oil and gas pipelines, but also corrosion inhibitors for water lines! Awards given to companies for improvements in the nondestructive testing (NDT) corrosion monitoring and corrosion prevention fields are also featured. We couldn’t forget about the furniture industry either, so we highlighted a new coating that is definitely worth taking a look at!
The Corrosion Innovation of the Year award has been given to Rockwool Technical Insulation for a breakthrough water-repelling technology. WR-Tech, the product for which Rockwell received the award, is an additive that is mixed with the stone fibers that Rockwool used to build its core business. Mixed with the stone fibers, WR-Tech forces water away better than traditional stone wool insulation at elevated temperatures. Winners of the award are selected from a highly competitive pool of impressive, emerging technologies that show great promise at creating a substantial contribution to the corrosion control industry.
New Specification for Corrosion in the Oil & Gas Industry
The Energy Institute has recently released additional guidance for oil and gas operating companies. The updated specification is the 2nd edition of “Guidance for Corrosion Management in Oil and Gas Production and Processing.”
The Energy Institute understands that corrosion presents a serious threat to the industry, and the group uses the 2nd edition to stay current as more and more research and development is completed. People gathered in Aberdeen, Scotland to listen to speakers and commemorate the release of the new standard. The Energy Institute, headquartered in London, is a professional membership group that promotes the understanding and technical management of various sectors within energy industry.
Professors Receive Grant to Determine Environmental Effects of Anti-Corrosives
Two professors at the University of Pittsburgh secured a grant to determine the effect of anti-corrosion materials in the environment. The city of Pittsburgh has a complex water delivery system. Portions of it are dated and contain pipes with lead in their composition. Over time, the lead pipes can corrode and the lead can be incorporated in the water being delivered if left untreated. The city currently uses additives to prevent this corrosion from occurring, keeping the population using the water safe. However, there are potential unidentified environmental concerns that could arise from the use of these additives. Sarah Haig, PhD and Emily Elliiott, PhD will use the grant to evaluate water samples provided to them by Pittsburgh’s water and sewer department.
Pipeline Corrosion Suit Leads to Settlement
A suit filed by the Pennsylvania Public Utility Commission against Sunoco and parent company Energy Transfer, which involved corrosion concerns on the Mariner East 1 pipeline, has reached a settlement. The settlement includes Sunoco paying a $200,000 fine and providing an action plan to determine the expected service life of the Mariner East 1 pipeline.
Sunoco has corrosion prevention methods in place known as cathodic protection (CP). Cathodic protection is performed by making the metal that needs to be protected the cathode, thus eliminating its potential to oxidize. This can be done by placing the metallic cathode in contact with a more reactive metal or by using electrical currents. Sunoco stated that its agreement to the settlement does not mean it is guilty of the alleged violations.
New Furniture Coating Helps Manufacturers
Bayhydrol eco UV 2877 is a coating cured by ultraviolet light that is showing great promise in the furniture industry. The coating is made by Covestro. The “eco” in the name of the coating was put in place because its composition consists of 35% biomass. It is also water-based. While Bayhydrol eco UV 2877 can be final-cured by high amounts of ultraviolet light, it also has good mechanical properties without it. This allows furniture companies and other applicators to have flexibility in their manufacturing processes.
Coating Breakthrough Combats Ice
Research performed at the University of Illinois at Chicago has found that a new coating can be used to prevent ice formation. The coating is comprised of phase-switching liquids. These phase-switching liquids, or PSL’s, absorb heat from water. This in turn repels the water away from the PSL’s. The PSL’s have a melting temperature higher than that of ice, so even when ice begins to turn into water, the PSL’s remain solid. The application of a solid coating is beneficial because it can last much longer than liquid deicers.
Stanford Researchers Use Coating to Generate Energy
Creating energy from seawater has the potential to be a huge source of electricity for mankind. One way to extract energy is by turning the seawater into hydrogen and oxygen atoms, then collecting the hydrogen atoms for fuel. This can be done through the use of an electrolytic cell; however, the chlorine rapidly corrodes the anode. A new coating system involving nickel sulfide developed by a team at Stanford extends the life of the anode greatly. During the electrolysis process, the nickel sulfide becomes a negatively charged coating layer that repels the chlorine, thus saving the anode from rapid corrosion.
Award Received for Breakthrough Offshore NDT Method
Oceaneering, a Houston-based offshore oil and gas engineering services firm, recently received acclaim during the Offshore Achievement Awards held by the Society of Petroleum Engineers for its new radiographic testing method for pressure vessels. Historically, one of the most common methods to observe corrosion on offshore pressure vessels was through the use of gamma radiation. However, the gamma radiation has been attributed to interfering with pressure vessel's monitoring equipment. The new trip avoidance x-ray inspection (TAXI) method uses x-rays instead, allowing for in-service corrosion inspection to be performed.