Corrosion Behaviour of Low Carbon Steel used in Oil and Gas aboveground Storage Tanks

Abstract

The cost and losses associated with corrosion annually is approximately $ 276 billion or 3.1% of the GDP in the USA, 3 - 4% of GNP in Australia, Great Britain, Japan and other countries. The associated cost and losses include aboveground storage tanks for petroleum products. For example, Liberia Petroleum Refining Company (L.P.R.C.) is the national refining company in Liberia. It imports all petroleum products such as lightweight cooking gas, kerosene, diesel, petrol, jet fuel, gasoline, etc. Above-ground storage tanks are used to store these petroleum products. The storage tanks corrode, which leads to wall thinning and possible fuel leakage/losses. This research focuses on the corrosion behaviour of low carbon steel used in oil and gas above-ground storage tanks that may lead to leakages, failure and possible contaminations. The proposed work includes experiments on coated and uncoated carbon steel used in oil and gas storage tanks for storing petroleum products in understanding corrosion rate and how the low carbon steel corrodes when exposed to such environments. The petroleum products used as corrosive media are diesel and gasoline. The experiments will include corrosion weight loss measurements, pH measurement, surface analysis, etc.