Effect of turbulent flow on the anodic and cathodic kinetics of API X52 steel corrosion in H₂S containing solutions. A rotating cylinder electrode study

This work presents the electrochemical kinetics results measured during the corrosion of API X52 pipeline steel immersed in aqueous environments, containing dissolved hydrogen sulfide (H 2 S) under turbulent flow conditions. In order to control the turbulent flow conditions, a rotating cylinder electrode (RCE) was used. Five different rotation rates were studied: 0 (or static conditions), 1000, 3000, 5000 and 7000 rpm. It was found that the turbulent flow increases the corrosion rate and the corrosion mechanism for X52 steel exhibits a significant dependence on mass transfer on the cathodic kinetics.