A joint scientific research by a lecturer from the College of Engineering, University of Basra, was published in a prestigious international journal
Dr. Haider Mahdi Laith, a lecturer at the College of Engineering, University of Basra, and a graduate student, Mr. Mohammed Yahya Lafta, published a joint scientific research entitled
Impact the sulfur content in Iraqi crude oil
on the mechanical properties and corrosion
behavior of carbon steel in various types of API
5L pipelines and ASTM 106 grade B in the German Nonlinear Engineering Journal, classified as Q2 by Scopus.
Petroleum products are vital to the country's economy and are transported through pipelines. The main objective of this research is to investigate one of the components of crude oil, sulfur, and examine its effect on carbon steel pipes (API 5L [X60, X46, X42] and A106 pipes) and show how sulfur content affects different types of API 5L XL independently of other important factors present in crude oil. Sulfur has a significant effect on the mechanical properties and corrosion resistance of petroleum pipes. We found that increasing the sulfur content resulted in increased corrosion rate (CR) and decreased mechanical properties. It has been proven that the safest and most economical way to transport crude oil is through gas and oil pipeline networks. Internal and external corrosion are the main problems with API 5L and other steel pipes used in oil and gas transportation. TR-TCXRF (Testing X-ray Sulfur) device was used in this study to determine the sulfur content of crude oil. Using weight loss and Tafel extrapolation method, CR, corrosion potential and corrosion current of A106 and API 5L carbon steel pipes (X60, X46 and X42) in four immersion solutions were calculated. Using optical microscopy, scanning electron microscopy and energy dispersive spectroscopy (EDS), the corrosion products were iron sulfate (Fe2SO4), iron sulfide (FeS) and iron oxide (Fe2O3); the corrosion properties of the samples were measured morphologically. The results showed that the CR of the pipeline increased significantly with increasing sulfur concentration
