Effect of Short-term O2 Contamination on Top-of-line Corrosion in CO2 Pipelines

HOU Yucen; LIANG Peinan; FENG Zhaoyuan; QI Liang; XU Yunze; WANG Mingyu

doi:10.7643/ issn.1672-9242.2026.01.011

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Equipment Environmental Engineering ›› 2026, Vol. 23 ›› Issue (1) : 97-105. DOI: 10.7643/ issn.1672-9242.2026.01.011

Ships and Marine Engineering Equipment

Effect of Short-term O₂ Contamination on Top-of-line Corrosion in CO₂ Pipelines

HOU Yucen¹, LIANG Peinan¹, FENG Zhaoyuan², QI Liang², XU Yunze^1,3, WANG Mingyu^1*

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Abstract

To address the top-of-the-line corrosion (TLC) phenomenon, the work aims to systematically investigate the dynamic corrosion mechanisms of carbon steel under condensate droplets in CO₂-O₂ mixed environments. The wire beam electrode (WBE) technique was employed to continuously monitor the dynamic evolution of surface macro-cell currents. Simultaneously, the electrochemical impedance spectroscopy (EIS) was applied to analyze localized micro-cell corrosion variations at representative positions. When the environment shifted from CO₂ to O₂, the macro-cell currents on the WBE surface increased sharply, accompanied by redistribution of anodic and cathodic areas and significant localization of anodic currents. EIS analysis revealed that the micro-cell corrosion behavior was predominantly governed by the synergistic effects of corrosion product film formation and oxygen diffusion dynamics. The findings indicate that short-term O₂ contamination significantly accelerates the macro-cell corrosion process at the pipeline's top-of-the-line area in CO₂ environments. Furthermore, the study identifies an increased pitting corrosion risk in the film-free areas along the droplet's inner edge.

Key words

top-of-line corrosion (TLC) / O₂ contamination / CO₂ corrosion / wire beam electrode (WBE) / localized corrosion / macro-cell current / micro-cell current

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HOU Yucen, LIANG Peinan, FENG Zhaoyuan, QI Liang, XU Yunze, WANG Mingyu. Effect of Short-term O₂ Contamination on Top-of-line Corrosion in CO₂ Pipelines[J]. Equipment Environmental Engineering. 2026, 23(1): 97-105 https://doi.org/10.7643/ issn.1672-9242.2026.01.011

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