Corrosion Characteristics of ASTM A106 Grade B Carbon Steel Pipelines Exposed to Sodium Sulfate Solutions

Carbon steel is used in large-tonnage petroleum production and refining. In this work, the corrosion behavior of ASTM A106 Grade B carbon steel subjected to sodium sulfate (Na2SO4) environments was studied in a range of sulfate concentrations and different working temperatures. Increasing the sulfate ion content had an inhibiting effect on the corrosion behavior of carbon steel. The highest corrosion rate was detected for electrolytes containing 0.5 M Na2SO4. The influence of temperature was significant on the oxide layer density and stability, while there was the appearance of thick cracked layer as the temperature and the sulfate concentration increased.