Benzylamine as volatile corrosion inhibitor for top-of-the-line corrosion in water-hydrocarbon co-condensation environment

Volatile corrosion inhibitor (VCI) injection is a promising method employed to mitigate top-of-the-line corrosion (TLC) in wet gas pipelines. Amine is the most common type of VCI employed for TLC mitigation, which includes aromatic amines like benzylamine. The performance of benzylamine as VCI for TLC mitigation were evaluated by using carbon steel API 5L Grade X65 samples in TLC glass cell tests in water condensation and water-hydrocarbon co-condensation conditions. During the TLC tests, the condensed water was collected for water condensation rate (WCR), pH, ferrous ion concentration, and benzylamine concentration analyses. In addition, weight loss method and surface profilometry were employed to quantify the uniform corrosion rate and localized corrosion (pitting) rate respectively. Scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and energy dispersive spectroscopy (EDX) were used to conduct surface morphology analysis and compositional analysis of the corroded carbon steel surface respectively. The results showed that benzylamine inhibits TLC of carbon steel API 5L Grade X65 sample in water-hydrocarbon co-condensation environment where lower corrosion rates and pitting rates were observed.