A High Corrosion and Wear Resistant Interior Surface Coating for Use in Oilfield Applications

Abstract

A novel technique for depositing thick DLC based films on the inside of cylindrical substrates, like pipes, tubes and valves, has been developed. A plasma enhanced chemical vapour deposition (PECVD) technique has been used to engineer and optimize the above mentioned films for maximum coating performance. Of particular importance is the corrosion and wear resistant qualities of these films. Changes in film chemistry, structure and thickness are attributed to the improved corrosion and wear resistance. Details will be given of the corrosion testing which has taken place, such as exposure to HCL (hot and ambient temperature), NaCl and H2S environments. One such test is a very aggressive sour autoclave test where the film is exposed to an aqueous, organic and gas phase over a 30 day period and no damage to the film was found. In depth details of this sour autoclave test will be shown including photographs of the film before and after testing. Wear testing has also been carried out in dry and wet sand slurry environments where very low coefficient of friction (COF) and wear rates were found. It is believed that this thick DLC based film can increase the component life in applications where internal surfaces are exposed to highly corrosive and abrasive media, in particular the oil and gas industry. Examples of such applications are mud pump sleeves, deep well components, directional drilling, abrasive flow spools, pump barrels and in sour fields (H2S).

FP-based formulations as protective coatings in oil/gas pipelines

“…Various materials have been researched for this purpose. Diamondlike carbon coatings have high wear and corrosion resistance, and they have shown good barrier and anticorrosion properties [5]. Ni-P/SiC composite coatings also show good wear and corrosion resistance [6,7].…”

UV‐curable sol–gel based protective hybrid coatings

“…Diamond‐like carbon coatings and Ni–P/SiC composite coatings could be used but these materials are expensive and their application requires chemical vapor deposition (CVD), which is impractical. Relatively inexpensive epoxy and phenolic type polymeric coatings, which are known for their excellent properties of adhesion and resistance to chemicals can be good candidates for use to mitigate corrosion in pipelines .…”

Corrosion and wear behaviors of Si-DLC films coated on inner surface of SS304 pipes by hollow cathode PECVD

“…In this section, the microstructure, chemical composition analysis, mechanical properties, corrosion resistance and tribological performance of DLC films inside 30 mm and 90 mm diameter steel pipe are discussed, as well as the uncoated steel pipe for comparison. density plasma [24]. The thickness of Si-DLC films is about 11 µm.…”