Aging or damaged infrastructure presents many challenges to the oil and gas industry and regulators worldwide.
In the last decade, research and development has delivered vast advances in the technologies of materials selection, protective coatings, and corrosion inhibitors. In addition, there is a major emerging role for artificial intelligence (AI) in inspection of infrastructure (pipelines, rigs etc) to cut down operation and manpower costs.
Controlling corrosion in the Oil & Gas sector starts with the design phase by considering the environment that equipment must operate in, and continues through the Capital Expenditure (CAPEX) phase, to the Operational Expenditure (OPEX) phase where the aim is to extend the life expectancy of equipment in the most cost-effective way. All stages should consider materials engineering and corrosion surveillance and control.
The protection of the environment has been a principal concern for the Oil & Gas industry. The emphasis over the past few years for the Oil & Gas corrosion prevention sector, has been on reducing carbon emissions by controlling product leakages and by extending the life of the current infrastructure through good maintenance protocols.
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Credits: Fikry Barouky.