Research Paper
Year: 2019 | Month: June | Volume: 6 | Issue: 6 | Pages: 397-401
Investigation of Corrosion Induced Degradation in Oil Pipelines
Beneth C. Chukwudi, Martins B. Ogunedo
Department of Mechanical Engineering, Imo State University, Owerri, Nigeria.
Corresponding Author: Beneth C. Chukwudi
ABSTRACT
Corrosion has been identified as a major concern in the oil and gas industry. To this end, the study investigated the corrosion induced degradation in oil pipelines within the South-South geo-political region of Nigeria. To achieve this, Direct Field Assessment Method (DFAM) was used to obtain field data because it helps ascertain which corrosion type prevails in the selected regions, since pipelines are susceptible to various kinds of corrosion depending on the potential difference between the pipe and the ground surface within a corrosive environment. The reliability and the failure rate of these pipelines in the Niger Delta regions due to corrosion were determined. Results reveal that 70.83% of the pipeline corrosion that occurs in the South-South geo-political region of Nigeria from 1999 – 2015 is due to Stress Corrosion Cracking (SCC) and that there is a seemingly correlation between the 3rd party activity (vandalism) and corrosion. This is because the areas with higher 3rd party activity have corresponding higher failure rate and corrosion occurrence. However, despite the effect of 3rd party activities and corrosion activities, the reliability result suggests that the oil pipelines are still within their useful life stage.
Key words: Corrosion, Pipelines, Failure, Reliability, Degradation.
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