This study has been made of the effectiveness of corrosion inhibitors and coatings relating to protecting from the sulfide corrosion cracking of high strength steel used in H
2S-containing LP gas systems.
In order to select the effective inhibitors, at first, the corrosion rates by means of weight loss measurements and by polarization resistance measurements were determined on specimens of a high strength steel exposed to aqueous solutions and 0.5 percent acetic acid solutions containing several inorganic and organic inhibitors under the conditions that the solutions were saturated with nitrogen and with hydrogen sulfide, and it was found that oleyl amine-type and commercial organic inhibitors could effectively protect the steel from the sulfide corrosion. Then, the influence of inhibitor concentration upon the protective effect and durability of these selected inhibitors was examined in H
2S-saturated environments.
The specimens treated with these inhibitors at a concentration of 0.5 percent were exposed to liquid propane containing hydrogen sulfide with and without water for 168 hours, and also the specimens coated with zinc-inorganic and polyurethane paints were exposed to the similar environments for periods up to 1, 000 hours, and the hydrogen absorption which is responsible for the sulfide corrosion was examined for these specimens. It was found that the volume of hydrogen absorbed in the specimens treated with amine-type inhibitor and coated with zinc-inorganic paint decreased to considerably small amount.
On the basis of these observations, it is assumed that the sulfide corrosion cracking of high strength steel used in LP gas containing hydrogen sulfide can be prevented by the use of the effective corrosion inhibitors or coatings.
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