Improved Asset Management of a Gas Processing Facility

By an Automated Corrosion Management System

Neal McGarry
Westcoast Energy Inc
Pine River, British Columbia
Canada

Allan Perkins
Rohrback Cosasco Systems
A Corrpro Company
Santa Fe Springs, California
USA

ABSTRACT

A case study is presented of a complete corrosion management system installation at a Western

Canadian gas processing facility. This system provides on-line input of corrosion monitoring probes,
process parameters, coupon data, ultrasonic measurements, and laboratory analysis data all in one
integrated system. Examples are presented of some of the corrosion problems that were exposed by the
system and the remedies that were taken. Major economic savings were achieved through analysis of
the data, and consequential changes that were made to the operation of the plant. Many aspects of
operation are still under investigation as further operational data is gathered. Based on just these early
examples of corrosion control, the cost of the system has been quickly recovered.

Keywords: gas processing, amine contactor, amine solution, on-line monitoring, corrosion monitoring,
corrosion monitoring with computers, corrosion management systems, corrosion economics.

1
 INTRODUCTION

The cost impact of corrosion in process plants is often only understood as significant in a very general
sense. Beyond this point, it is not always easy to identify the specific plant operating conditions that
give rise to the worst corrosion conditions, so that a real impact is not made on the problem. On-line
corrosion monitoring can identify the periods of highest corrosion, but without direct correlation with
process parameters it can be difficult to identify the cause of the corrosion upsets. An additional
problem is that most process plant Distributed Control Systems (DCS) are designed for fast response to
suit process control. To view several days or weeks of data quickly and easily, or data that is more two
days old often requires extracting data from an historian file. This tends to be slow and cumbersome
and usually does not make correlation between parameters very easy. With this in mind, the corrosion
management system described below integrates data collection of corrosion and process parameters to
address these problems, and makes the information easily available over the network to all concerned
parties.

Gas processing facilities are a good example of a process that can have major swings in corrosion rates.
The mechanism(s) of corrosion in gas processing plants is in most cases understood and well
documented. Even with this knowledge the vast majority of gas processing plants will still encounter
severe corrosion problems. Often there is a fine line between an acceptable and unacceptable corrosion
rate. To maintain an acceptable corrosion rate all process variables need to be monitored and
maintained. Many documented cases exist of how small process changes result in severe corrosion.
Unfortunately in many corrosion events the problem is acknowledged with the appearance of a pin hole
leak or worse. In the absence of on-line corrosion data the residue or sales gas quality dictate where the
process variables should be maintained.

An on-line corrosion monitoring system will allow early detection of corrosion events and the ability to
manage the corrosion rates by fine-tuning of the process.

CORROSION MANAGEMENT SYSTEM

The system comprises a corrosion monitoring DCS system interlinked to the main process control
computer and the company's system-wide network.

On-Line
On-LineCorrosion
Corrosion Process
Monitoring Process
Monitoring Control
ControlSSyystem
stem
Hardware
Hardware (DCS
(DCS) )

Data
DataLoggin
Loggingg
Corrosion
Corrosion
Hardware
Hardware
Corrosion
Corrosion Customer’s
Customer’s
Managemen
Management t Network
Network
Serv
Server
er System
System
Coupon
Coupon
Data
Data

Ultrasonic
Ultrasonic
Measurement
Measurement Remote
Remote
Data
Data System
System
Support
Support

Figure 1 Corrosion Management Block Diagram

2
The Corrosion Management server is the heart of the system, and typically located adjacent to the
Process Control Computer near the main control room. A typical server is shown in Figure 2.

It is an industrial computer running Windows NT(1) and

ICMS3(2)/Amulet(3) Corrosion Management Software. The main
software program comprises a database and an operator interface. Input
into the database from all of the various sources, such as the on-line
corrosion monitoring hardware, and a Modicon Modbus interface to the
DCS system, are controlled by independent drivers. The Corrosion
Server is set up on the Network of the Site, which is usually accessible
companywide. Client versions of the software allow viewing of all of
the data from anywhere on the Network. Remote operation of the
server for administration and software support is possible over the
Network or via dial-up modem.

Electrical Resistance probes (ER) and Linear Polarization probes (LPR)

Figure 2 Corrosion
are the most commonly used for on-line monitoring on these process
Management Server plant systems, but the software also supports many other technologies
such as corrosion coupons, ultrasonics thickness measurements, and
electrochemical noise. In this gas processing facility, the amine plant gives the main corrosion
problems. A diagram of the layout of one of the trains, as displayed in the mimic diagram of the
corrosion management software, is shown in figure 3. Since the Amine system is water-based with
around a 25% water content, electrochemical methods such as LPR probes are well suited to on-line
monitoring in the liquid phase areas of the plant. However, in areas of the re-boiler continued presence
of a liquid phase is not so obvious. It
is not always appreciated that for any Sales
Gas
Westcoast Energy
Pine Riv er Gas Plant
PSI

electrochemical measurements to be
Flow
"A" Process Lean
Lean Coolers Level
Surge Tank
Tem p
Flow

quantitative, the electrodes need to be

fully wetted, and there needs to be a
Inlet
Contactor
Gas
Flow Flash Tank
Tem p

continuous liquid phase between the MLOS

LPR
Level
Tem p Level

electrodes. In vapor areas this may H2S CO2

not be the case, so initially tests were Tem p LPR Superheater

made with LPR probes in these areas

Superheat Tem p
Still MLOS
Flow

with both flush and projecting Reflux

Accumulator

electrodes. The flush electrodes are

Vapourize

Lean
Tem p
Feed

more likely to be fully covered with a Vapourizer

continuous liquid film in areas of the

LPR

Veloci
MLOS
ty

boiling liquid, than with projecting W Reboiler

E Reboiler
Select the Still for
electrodes. If the monitoring extends more de tail
Reclaimer

even further into the vapor area, then

the electrochemical probes can become Figure 3 Amine Plant
very erratic and essentially non-
functional. In these cases, it is necessary to move over to electrical resistance probes. However, where
LPR probes can be used it is preferable because of the immediate response to corrosion rate changes that
these probes will show over the electrical resistance probes. In this instance, at the chosen locations
(1)
Windows NT is a registered trademark of Microsoft Corporation
(2)
ICMS3 is a registered trademark of Rohrback Cosasco Systems Inc, a Corrpro Company.
(3)
Amulet is a registered trademark of Corrosion and Condition Control Ltd

3
projecting electrode LPR probes were found to be effective. Correlation of integrated corrosion rates
from the instrumentation to actual mass loss on the electrodes showed greater than 80%. It is suprising
how often electrochemical measurements are made in the laboratory or in the field, without validating
the results against actual material loss. Some operators will measure the B value from Tafel slope
measurements. This is less effective than continuing to repeat these mass loss measurements on the
electrodes, whenever they are replaced, to ensure the continuing validity of the LPR to corrosion rate
conversion constants. This can only be done, of course, on probes with replaceable electrodes.

The LPR monitoring electronics used in this system also incorporated patented Solution Resistance
Compensation to correct for any low conductivity in the solution that would otherwise reflect in lower
corrosion rates than were present.

One of the most important aspects of corrosion probe monitoring is the need for the probe to be
representative of what is happening on the actual plant. The measurement of actual metal loss on the
probe electrodes gives the first stage of auditing the measured corrosion rate to actual corrosion rate on
the probe. The second stage of the auditing process is to compare the integrated metal loss from the
probe with actual metal loss on the plant. For this purpose, ultrasonic measurements on the plant
adjacent to the probe locations are being taken every six months, and automatically transferred to the
Corrosion Management software from the hand-held measurement instrument.

Corrosion monitoring inputs may be from several different instrument configurations depending on the
plant layout. The configuration applied here was a series of 4-channel Probe Interface Modules (PIM's),
that are connected to the corrosion server over an RS 485 multi-drop communication line. This helps
reduce the cabling required for many applications. The PIM's are available for either Electrical
Resistance probes or Linear Polarization Resistance probes for systems where the requirements are
mixed. A diagram of this arrangement is shown in figure 4. For other systems, where the probe
locations are more widely spaced transmitters may be used on the system as shown in figure 5.

Mass loss measurements on the electrodes are made whenever the probe electrodes are replaced,
typically every three to six months. This information is treated like any other coupon data, and
manually loaded into the corrosion management software for on-going logging and correlation with the
on-line corrosion rate measurements.

ICMS3
ICMS3
ICMS3
ICMS3 Corrosion
Model 4020 Corrosion
Corrosion
Corrosion Management
4104T PIM Management
Management
Management Server
Server
Server
Server 19” Equipment
Model 9020
4104 PIM Cabinet
RS 485
4-20mAto
4-20mAtoRSRS232
232
AAto
toDDConverter
Converter
9134 PIM
Multi-Channel
Multi-Channel
Starnet
StarnetRepeater Safety
Repeater Safety 2424VDC
VDC
Barriers
Barriers Supply
Supply

PIM
PIM PIM
PIM PIM
PIM PIM
PIM PIM
PIM

TX TX

RS 485
Com
Lines TX TX

PIM
PIM PIM
PIM PIM
PIM PIM
PIM PIM
PIM
TX TX

TX TX

TX TX

Figure 4 PIM's with RS485 Communications Figure 5 Transmitter System

4
The ultrasonic measurements are made with a Panametrics 36DL data-logging unit. The collected data
is then transferred directly to the corrosion management software through an RS 232 connection.

Laboratory analysis information, such as water analysis, or the concentration of the amine solution
constituents, that are typically recorded in spreadsheet format, may also be imported into the corrosion
management software. This provides a convenient storage place and allows immediate correlation with
corrosion parameters.

Perhaps one of the most important parts of the system is the Modicon Modbus link to the distributed
control system (DCS) for transfer of process parameters. The simultaneous logging of corrosion and
process data every five minutes greatly simplifies correlation of corrosion upsets with process
conditions. In principle, it would be possible to do this by taking the corrosion data directly into the
DCS system, and this is done on many occasions. The difficulty with this approach is that DCS systems
in general are naturally designed primarily for process control. As such the system must respond in
fractions of a second for control of pressure, flow or temperature. Consequently, logging of data over
days and weeks is less important and is typically archived onto backup recording after more than two
days. Recall of data for days and weeks is then consequently rather slow and cumbersome. In addition
add-on programs to improve this performance and allow easy correlation of data over longer periods of
time tend to be significantly more expensive than this system. In addition, these systems do not also
allow the entry of other important corrosion related data such as coupon measurements, ultrasonic
measurements, and laboratory data. For the corrosion engineer, he needs all of this data to be effective,
and having this information immediately available saves a considerable amount of time.

Since the system is connected to the network, access can be readily be provided to anyone on the
system. A dial-up modem is also used for remote access and software support by the use of
pcAnywhere(4) software, which allows trouble-shooting if required.

THE PLANT

The Pine River Gas Plant is located in the foothills of the Canadian Rockies, just west of the town
Chetwynd in Northeast British Columbia. Feed to the plant is dry (4lbs/mmscf) sour gas (12.5% H2S,
10% CO2) from the Monkman area 150 km to the southeast. The plant comprises three Sulfinol(5) ‘D’
gas processing trains, three MCRC sulfur plants and associated utilities systems. Design through put is
560 MMSCF/D raw gas at 9.27 mole % H2S and 7.52 mole % CO2 with a sulfur capacity of 1999
tonnes/day

Like many gas processing plants Pine River has at times experienced severe corrosion in the low
pressure lean piping, Still, Lean Coolers and Reboilers. The original monitoring methods of coupons
and ultrasonic thickness measurements are effective in determining long term corrosion rates, however
correlation of process parameters and long term corrosion rates proved to be impossible.

A system expansion in 1994 changed the inlet acid gas composition from 17% (9% H2S, 8% CO2) to an
average of 22.5% (12.5% H2S, 10% CO2). After a year or more of the increased acid gas concentration
corrosion, related problems appeared in the amine trains. Problems such as pinholes in the lean piping
and fouled lean/rich plate frame exchangers.

(4)
pcAnywhere is a registered Trademark of Symantec Corporation
(5)
Sulfinol is a licensed process of Shell Oil Company

5
 Figure 6 British Columbia System Map

These problems in turn resulted into more scheduled and unscheduled shutdowns and early retirement of
some equipment. The need for improved corrosion monitoring was very apparent, a decision to move
from the dark ages of coupons to a real time corrosion monitoring system was required to improve plant
reliability and reduce costs.

Figure 7 Pine River Gas Plant

6
 THE SYSTEM

The corrosion monitoring system at Pine River Gas Plant consists of eight Linear Polarization
Resistance (LPR) probes per process train for a total of twenty-four for the site. Each probe will supply
corrosion rate, pitting index, cumulative metal loss, and coupon corrosion data. Probe locations are as
follows:

1) Still bottom ( in piping from Still to Reboiler ).

2) Still tray 1 ( in the liquid area ).
3) Still tray 3 ( in the liquid area ).
4) Lean piping down stream of the Reboilers.
5) Reboiler #1 shell liquid area.
6) Reboiler #2 shell liquid area.
7) Hot rich line to Still.
8) Contactor surge area.

The above locations were chosen based on local inspection, local process history and industry process
history.

The system has been designed to allow probe movement within each process train, as the probes are
retractable they can easily be moved to any 1 inch full port fitting.

Figure 8 Typical Probe Location

The power of this on-line corrosion monitoring system is the ability to correlate corrosion rates and
process variables in real time. Raw inlet gas flow and Contactor corrosion rate is a good example of a
direct correlation of a process variable and a corrosion rate.

7
The trends indicate the negative effects that an overloaded Amine solution can have on Contactor
corrosion rates. In this case, the Amine solution concentration was increased with a DIPA addition
lowering both the rich loading and corrosion rate.

Figure 9 Contactor corrosion rate (Before DIPA addition)

Figure 10 Inlet gas flow

Figure 11 Rich mole loading before DIPA addition

From the on-line corrosion data, it was clear we were maintaining too low a concentration of
Diisopropanolamine (DIPA) in our amine solution. By increasing the concentration, we were able to
reduce the Contactor corrosion rates by a factor of four, from 20 mpy to 5 mpy. Without on-line
corrosion data, the effects of the overloaded amine solution are not so apparent. If this situation had
been allowed to proceed, the results, at the very least, would have been unnecessary metal loss in the
Contactor, and could possibly result in future Contactor repairs. The above correlation between rich
loading and corrosion rates is an illustration of a known fact.

8
 Figure 12 Daily Contactor corrosion rate after Sept. DIPA addition

Figure 13 Contactor corrosion rate after DIPA addition

Figure 14 Inlet gas flow

Figure 15 Rich loading after DIPA addition

A fact that is not so widely known is how a slip-stream Reclaimer can effect the corrosion rates in the
Still. The ‘A’ and ‘B’ process trains each operate a slipstream Amine Reclaimer where 1.54 usgpm of
lean amine flow down through a packed column. Heated Still reflux (420 F) flows up through the

9
column and contacts the lean amine flowing down. Steam and reclaimed amine vapor leave the top of
the column and enter at the sixth tray of the Amine Still. During normal operation, the steam and
reclaimed vapors will elevate the Still top temperature. To compensate for this Still top temperature
rise, Reboiler steam flow would be reduced. The result as seen by figure 16 is a dramatic increase in the
Still corrosion rate.

Figure 16 Reclaimer Super Heater outlet temp.

Figure 17 Still bottom corrosion rate.

In this on-line example the added heat at tray 6 combined with the Reboiler steam flow decrease has had
a negative effect on the amine regeneration resulting in higher corrosion rates at the bottom of the still.
Currently the Reclaimer operation in our A & B process units have been shutdown and their operation is
under review. We have had Reclaiming success with a portable vacuum batch unit operated by CCR
Industries.

Without the on-line corrosion data, this event would have carried on undetected for some time most
likely resulting in Still damage. Because from a process point a view all things appear to be fine, Still
top temperature is with in design limits, the Reclaimer is running and thought to be removing corrosive
degradation product. However, with the addition of on-line corrosion data, the picture is much different.
Instead of improving the process we find that the Reclaimer can be a direct source of higher corrosion
rates in the Still.

With the help of the on-line corrosion system, we have fine-tuned the water concentration in the
circulating amine solution. The original design at Pine River Gas Plant called for an amine solution with
a concentration of 50% DIPA, 25% Water, 25% Sulfolane. Over time the actual amine solution
averages concentrations of 38% DIPA, 25% water, 19% Sulfolane, 12% DIPA-OX (DIPA degradation
products) and 6% other degradation products. Therefore, the original 2:1 design ratio of DIPA to water
becomes over time 1.5:1.

10
 Figure 18 Still corrosion rate.

Figure 19 Water make-up to system

In the absence of on-line corrosion data the water concentration can be an overlooked minor process
detail. However, comparing the Still bottom corrosion rate with water concentration, the effects from a
corrosion perspective are anything but minor. The importance of maintaining the correct water
concentration in a circulating amine solution is common knowledge for proper adsorption and
regeneration.

Usually the water maintenance number is the original design number, which in our case is 25%. As
most gas processors know there can be a discrepancy between design numbers and actual process
variables. Based on information from the on-line corrosion monitoring system we have found that a
water number of 22% reduces the overall corrosion rate in the amine solution based on our actual DIPA
concentration.

Often the active alkalinity (DIPA concentration) of the amine solution is based on the ability to process
specification gas and a rich-loading value. Usually over time the actual DIPA concentration seems to
become a lower value instead of higher value, as the negative effects of maintaining lower DIPA
concentrations (although well documented), are not visible on a daily basis. With on-line corrosion data
the negative effects of maintaining a low DIPA concentration become visible on a daily basis.

As seen by figures 19,20 & 21 the gas cut on July 15 corresponds to a drop in the lean pipe corrosion
rate. As the gas cut was relatively short in duration the solution flow was not reduced, resulting in a
drop in the rich loading (see figure 10). It is also interesting to note how the lower rich loading effect
the lean pipe pitting tendency (figure 22).

11
 Figure 20 Gas cut July 15

Figure 21 Lean piping corrosion rate July 15

Figure 22 Lean pipe pitting index (note decrease on July 15 )

The fact that higher rich loading can lead to higher corrosion rates is not surprising or new. The ability
to observe corrosion rates and rich loading in real time is very powerful and useful information.

THE SAVINGS

If we look at the example in figure 17, where the Still bottom corrosion rate increased from 7 mpy to 75
mpy due to poor Reclaimer operation, savings based on early vessel retirement can be calculated. Had
the corrosion rate been allowed to continue at 75 mpy the time to tmin. (retirement thickness) would be
3.3 years. Fortunately, the event was detected and corrected. Therefore, the retirement date of the Still
based on a 7 mpy corrosion rate, is 36 years.

One could say that in this case the savings were equal to the replacement cost of the Still, which could
amount to $3 million. However, in reality, this corrosion event would eventually be detected by

12
ultrasonic or internal inspection. Unfortunately, by this time, considerable damage would have already
taken place. A more realistic savings amount in this case would be the cost of a Still repair, and perhaps
an unplanned shutdown, an amount of $300,000 to $500,000. This is a substantial saving, which more
than pays for the $250,000 (Canadian) total cost of the on-line system. The savings will probably be
considerably higher as the knowledge gained from this corrosion event can be applied to the other
process units.

Savings have also been achieved in the Contactor as show by figure 10. Using a Contactor corrosion
rate of 20 mpy (Fig.9) the 0.125” corrosion allowance would be consumed in 6.25 years. By reducing
the corrosion rate to 5 mpy (figures 12,13) the corrosion allowance of 0.125” will remain for 25 years.

The actual amount of dollars saved as a result of the installation of the on-line corrosion monitoring
system at Pine River Gas Plant range from $3,000,000 to $300,000 depending on how you treat the data.
Based on the two examples above from just one process unit, the dollars saved have more than paid for
the original system cost of $250,000 (Canadian).

CONCLUSIONS

The ability to monitor process variables and corrosion rates in real time has given the personnel at Pine
River Gas Plant a better understanding of what process variables/conditions are contributing to
corrosion. With this knowledge, we have been able to significantly reduce the corrosion rates on all
three process trains.

Although the system will never eliminate corrosion in our gas processing plant, we now have the ability
to detect and respond to corrosion events at the early stages. The combination of corrosion/process
knowledge and early corrosion detection reduces our maintenance costs and improves plant reliability.

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

The authors would like to thank those that assisted in this project, without which this paper could not
have been presented. From Westcoast Energy Pine River Gas Plant were Sheila Buckle P.Eng. Plant
Engineer, and Anthony Bozzi. From Corrpro Canada was Ken White, Manager Internal Corrosion
Monitoring. From Corrosion and Condition Control Ltd was Neil Rothwell, Sales Director, and
software systems support from Graham Herbert, Rod Macleod, Sonia MacDonald, Norman Matheson,
and John McKee.

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