Aspects of Carbon Dioxide Corrosion in Modern Pipe Steels

This study investigates the corrosion behavior of pipe steels with chromium content up to 17% in CO-containing environments. Weight loss method was used to evaluate the key factors influencing corrosion processes, including temperature (up to 150 °C), CO partial pressure (up to 170 atm), chloride-ion concentration (up to 240 g/L), solution pH (3.5–7.5), and HS partial pressure (up to 0.5 atm). Results indicate that steels containing less than 1% Cr cannot provide required corrosion resistance. Increasing chromium content to 3–5% has a negligible effect on corrosion rates under these conditions, whereas steels with 13% Cr or higher demonstrate significantly improved resistance, even under highly aggressive conditions. This enhanced performance correlates with changes in the composition and protective properties of surface corrosion product layers. The findings establish application limits for steels with varying chromium content in CO environments and provide a foundation for material selection guidelines in extreme operating conditions.