Mitigating Corrosion in Oil Pipelines Using Moringa Leaf and Bitter Leaf Extracts as Eco-friendly Inhibitors

Abstract As the production of oil and gas continues to grow, the usage of oil and gas pipelines has become a pivotal asset in the industry. Over the past 40 years, West Africa has experienced the corrosive industry environment of petroleum and its transportation becoming a serious threat to pipelines with a negative impact on the ecosystem. The production rates and flow assurance of oil and gas are often affected due to the failure of pipelines caused by corrosion. The use of corrosion inhibitors is widespread and standard in the petroleum industry to mitigate corrosion. However, the conventional non-green inhibitors often have toxic properties that can lead to pollution, posing environmental and health risks. In response to these limitations, this study employs Moringa Leaf Extract (MLE) and Bitter Leaf Extract (BLE), which are rich in antioxidant properties, as eco-friendly inhibitors in significantly reducing corrosion of oil and gas pipelines. The gravimetric (weight loss) method, which offers high corrosion indicator accuracy and straightforward quantitative analysis, was employed in this experiment, using 4 specimens of coupons known as mild steel. The coupons were prevented from localised attack. The 4 specimens were dried to obtain initial weight. Each coupon was immersed in beakers containing a 100 ml NaCl solution with 1 M C6H806 acid solution and varying MLE and BLE in different beakers. The coupons were exposed for 7 days with varying concentrations of MLE (9 ml, 15 ml) and BLE (9 ml, 15 ml), alongside a control without inhibitors. The 15 ml inhibitor had the strongest impact in preventing corrosion, with inhibitor efficiency at 70.17% for MLE and 62.79% for BLE. In addition, the 15 ml MLE-applied coupon was very slow in corroding and had the least corrosion rate of 1.31 mmpy, proving MLE as a more promising material in reducing corrosion compared to BLE. This study also discusses the practicality of using MLE and BLE plant extracts in real-world industry settings. In conclusion, this paper advances the mitigation of corrosion in oil pipelines and highlights the importance of using BLE and MLE as inhibitors, significantly contributing to corrosion mitigation research