Engineering Procedure

SAEP-500 10 September 2015

Guidelines for Screening and Qualifying
Compatible Hydrate and Corrosion Inhibitors
Document Responsibility: Flow Assurance Standards Committee

Saudi Aramco DeskTop Standards

Table of Contents

1 Scope............................................................. 2
2 Conflicts and Deviations................................. 2
3 Applicable Documents………………………... 2
4 Definitions…………….................................... 3
5 General Requirements……............................ 5
6 Qualification of BIC Chemicals....................... 6

Appendix A – Screening and Qualification

Protocol for HI/CI.................................... 9

Previous Issue: 13 June 2010 Next Planned Update: 10 September 2018

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Primary contact: Adel, Shadi Iba (adelsi) on +966-13-8809466

Copyright©Saudi Aramco 2015. All rights reserved.

Document Responsibility: Flow Assurance Standards Committee SAEP-500
Issue Date: 10 September 2015 Guidelines for Screening and Qualifying
Next Planned Update: 10 September 2018 Compatible Hydrate and Corrosion Inhibitors

1 Scope

1.1 This Saudi Aramco Engineering Procedure (SAEP) describes the minimum
requirements for screening and qualification of chemicals for hydrate and
corrosion inhibition intended for use in Saudi Aramco facilities.

1.2 It also addresses the compatibility of Kinetic Hydrate Inhibitors (KHIs)

(selected per 26-SAMSS-085) or other hydrate inhibitors (HI) with other
different chemicals such as corrosion inhibitors that will be used in the same
process streams or pipeline systems.

1.3 The requirements of this engineering procedure may be extended to other

chemicals that will be used in the same process stream or pipeline system.

2 Conflicts and Deviations

2.1 Any conflicts between this procedure and other applicable Saudi Aramco
Engineering Standards (SAESs), Materials System Specifications (SAMSSs), or
industry standards, codes, and forms shall be resolved in writing by the
Company or Buyer's Representative through the Managers, Process & Control
System and Consulting Services Departments of Saudi Aramco, Dhahran.

2.2 All requests to deviate from this procedure shall be directed in writing to the
Company or Buyer's Representative, who shall follow internal company
procedure SAEP-302 and forward such requests to the Manager, Process &
Control System Department of Saudi Aramco.

3 Applicable Documents

Unless stated otherwise, all codes and standards referenced shall be the latest issue
(including Revisions and Addenda). Sections of standards referenced herein shall be
considered as part of this procedure.

3.1 Saudi Aramco References

Saudi Aramco Engineering Procedure

SAEP-302 Instructions for Obtaining a Waiver of a Mandatory
Saudi Aramco Engineering Requirement

Saudi Aramco Engineering Standard

SAES-A-205 Oilfield Chemicals (OFC)

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Document Responsibility: Flow Assurance Standards Committee SAEP-500
Issue Date: 10 September 2015 Guidelines for Screening and Qualifying
Next Planned Update: 10 September 2018 Compatible Hydrate and Corrosion Inhibitors

Saudi Aramco Materials System Specification

26-SAMSS-085 Kinetic Hydrate Chemicals (KHI)

4 Definitions

Authorized Laboratory: Either R&DC or a third party testing facility approved by

Saudi Aramco.

Batch Corrosion Inhibitor (BCI): A chemical that is primarily used to film the entire
pipe internal surface. It is typically displaced through the pipeline between two
batching scrapers.

Best in Class (BIC): Set of chemicals (one KHI and one CCI and one BCI)
(see definitions of KHI, CCI and BCI below) recommended by the suppliers based on
preliminary testing.

Continuous Corrosion Inhibitor (CCI): A chemical that is continuously injected into

the pipeline to establish and maintain a sufficient concentration for effective corrosion
protection.

Delivery Samples: Are obtained from every shipment for QC testing. If the actual
delivery sample compares to the standard sample within prescribed limits, it is approved
by the R&DC or SA designated third party testing facility and released for field
delivery. See definitions below for Retained Standard Sample.

Drag Reducing Agent/Additive (DRA): It is a long chain chemical (very high

molecular weight polymer suspended in a carrier fluid used in fluid transporting
pipelines to reduce frictional losses (pressure drop) for the purpose of increasing
pipeline flow rate and/or decreasing operating pressure. DRA is considered a specialty
chemical and not a commodity like other oilfield chemicals (OFCs).

Flow Assurance Chemicals (FACs): Specialty chemicals in MSG 148400 used in

hydrocarbon-transporting pipelines (e.g., oil, refined products). These chemicals
include drag reducing additives (DRAs), kinetic hydrate inhibitors (KHIs), methanol
and MEG.

Flow Assurance Responsible Standardization Agent (FA RSA): It is an RSA (refer

to the definition of RSA below) for specialty product chemicals defined above as FACs
assigned by Engineering Services/P&CSD, the responsible agency with the concurrence
of Materials Standardization of Projects & Strategic Purchasing Department/Operations
Services, to be the technical authority on issues related to flow assurance chemicals.
FA RSA consists of two RSAs (a primary RSA and an alternate RSA) who are
members of the Flow Assurance Standards Committee (FASC).

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Document Responsibility: Flow Assurance Standards Committee SAEP-500
Issue Date: 10 September 2015 Guidelines for Screening and Qualifying
Next Planned Update: 10 September 2018 Compatible Hydrate and Corrosion Inhibitors

Flow Assurance Standards Committee (FASC): A committee established and

approved by the Chief Engineer of ES to be responsible for the FAC standards such as
the DRA Standard and KHI Standard.

GPD: Gallons per Day.

Hydrate Inhibitor (HI): A generic term for chemicals that prevent the formation of
hydrates. There are three classes of hydrate inhibitors; thermodynamic, anti-
agglomerants and kinetic inhibitors with the thermodynamic inhibitors being the most
extensively used. Thermodynamic inhibitors are additives that work by changing the
hydrates thermodynamic forming conditions. They decrease the hydrate formation
temperature at a specific pressure or increase the hydrate formation pressure at a
specific temperature. Common thermodynamic inhibitors are methanol and Mono
Ethylene glycol (MEG).

Kinetic Hydrate Inhibitor (KHI): A special type of hydrate inhibitors, which are
generally water-soluble polymers, prevent hydrate formation by delaying their
nucleation and growth rather than preventing them from forming. Unlike the
thermodynamic inhibitors LDHIs are effective at low concentrations (less than3 wt%).
Several chemical suppliers supply various types of KHI depending on the gas operating
conditions. KHI performance is highly affected by gas operating conditions such as
composition and subcooling temperatures. Generally, the higher the subcooling, the
less effective they are. The performance of KHI can also be affected by presence of
other chemicals in the system such as corrosion inhibitors and methanol. For the above
reasons, it is necessary to conduct rigorous testing simulating actual field conditions to
determine the performance and effectiveness of the KHI prior to its selection.

Material Service Group (MSG) 148400: The code for Flow Assurance Chemicals,
i.e., DRA, KHI, etc.

Mono Ethylene Glycol (MEG): It is a thermodynamic hydrate inhibitor that depresses

hydrate formation temperatures.

MSG 148400 MRP (Materials Requirement Planning) Controller: The analyst,

along with Purchasing, who is responsible for implementing and maintaining the issue
restriction system and the phase-in/phase-out of new chemicals.

Pre-screening Test: The laboratory process of identifying candidate chemicals for

further qualification testing.

Quality Assurance/Quality Control (QA/QC): In the context of this procedure, QA

generally includes P&CSD, CSD, R&DC, Standardization, and RSA functions, as well
as matters relating to selection, screening and performance testing of chemicals. QC is
addressed primarily by the testing of delivery samples.

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Document Responsibility: Flow Assurance Standards Committee SAEP-500
Issue Date: 10 September 2015 Guidelines for Screening and Qualifying
Next Planned Update: 10 September 2018 Compatible Hydrate and Corrosion Inhibitors

Qualification Testing: Testing in accordance with Section 6 to determine if a best-in-

class chemical can be used to treat a process stream effectively and to obtain optimum
performance and cost effective chemical dosage.

Retained Standard Sample: A sample of each MSG 148400 chemical currently in use
by Saudi Aramco to be taken from the first delivery of each chemical at the beginning
of each New Year. This sample is to be compared with the original standard sample in
physical properties and laboratory performance. If the results are comparable, the
retained standard sample will be used, if necessary, a reservoir of incumbent chemical
to be utilized during the year for any comparison testing. The retained standard sample
is replaced each year.

RSA: the Responsible Standardization Agent.

Commentary Note:

The name and telephone number for the RSA can be obtained from Materials
Standardization or from DeskTop Standards – Other Information: “RSA Specialists to be
contacted on Matters of Materials Standardization, Stock Simplification, and Source
Development.”

Standardization Engineer - Flow Assurance Chemicals: The Materials

Standardization Division engineer responsible for the cataloging of new chemicals in
MSG 148400, and the maintenance of the Materials Supply Inventory catalog.

Subcooling: The measure of how far into the hydrate forming region a system is at a
given temperature and pressure or it could be defined as ‘the distance along the
temperature axis between the operating point and the hydrate P-T curve’.

Testing Protocol: A document that specifies the laboratory methodology and test
conditions to be used for evaluating the performance of candidate chemicals in
combination with other different chemicals that are expected to be used in the same
service for selecting best-in-class chemicals.

5 General Requirements

5.1 All chemical vendors must be approved by Saudi Aramco prior to participating
in the chemical screening and qualification program.

5.2 Only approved chemical vendor with historic and successful KHI/CI use must
be considered. The chemicals (KHI/CCI/BCI) should be supplied from the same
vendor in order to avoid conflict with other vendors if a failure was to occur
during service.

5.3 Each approved chemical vendor must follow the approved testing protocols for
pre-screening and identifying Best-In-Class (BIC) chemicals.

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Document Responsibility: Flow Assurance Standards Committee SAEP-500
Issue Date: 10 September 2015 Guidelines for Screening and Qualifying
Next Planned Update: 10 September 2018 Compatible Hydrate and Corrosion Inhibitors

5.4 The pre-screening testing protocols shall be approved by P&CSD, R&DC and
CSD with P&FDD input to ensure the proposed tests are relevant and test
parameters closely simulating the target service conditions. Once approved,
testing shall be carried out by the chemical vendor using agreed parameters to
determine the BIC chemicals.
Commentary Note:

If the intended service requires a KHI, continuous corrosion inhibitor (CCI) and
batching corrosion inhibitor (BCI), only one KHI, one CCI and one BCI shall be
submitted by each approved vendor to P&CSD and CSD for review.

5.6 All approved vendors must meet the above prequalification requirements before
their chemicals can be considered for further evaluation.

6 Qualification of BIC Chemicals

6.1. Testing shall be carried out using parameters closely simulating field conditions,
as agreed in writing among the coordinating engineer, the end-user, and the
appropriate testing laboratory (in-house or a designated third party). A copy of
the qualification testing protocol shall be provided to the FA RSA.

6.2 In addition to establishing the physical properties of a chemical, “the Testing

Protocol” shall be performed by the designated authorized laboratory. Tests can
include, but are not limited to, the following techniques:
Commentary Note:

Tests are conducted within Saudi Aramco R&DC or in a third party facility
capable of complying with the test protocols and approved by the FA RSA.

6.2.1 For hydrate inhibitors

If the HI is KHI then follow the qualification steps specified in

26-SAMSS-085 to select the suitable KHI for the specified application.
Once the KHI is selected, compatibility tests with other chemicals such
as methanol, BCI and CCI are required. The compatibility tests shall
include the following but not limited to:
i) Hot injection test in the presence of CCI and BCI.
ii) KHI hydrate inhibition performance test in presence of CCI and
BCI with the field water and gas composition under flowing and
static conditions for different subcooling temperatures specified in
the test protocol.
iii) KHI hydrate inhibition performance testing with different ranges of
thermodynamic inhibitor, salt and pH values.

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Document Responsibility: Flow Assurance Standards Committee SAEP-500
Issue Date: 10 September 2015 Guidelines for Screening and Qualifying
Next Planned Update: 10 September 2018 Compatible Hydrate and Corrosion Inhibitors

iv) Secondary testing including combination of KHI/CCI/BCI (if

needed) to check for emulsion tendency, viscosity, brine, low pH,
foaming, flash point, weld test, material compatibility, cloud point,
polymer precipitation at high temperature and long term storage
stability.
Commentary Note:

The chemical dosage rates and other specifications for the

secondary tests will be determined by the FA RSA or the
Company’s Subject Matter Expert according to the input from the
chemical vendors.

If the HI is a conventional thermodynamic inhibitor such as MEG,

then qualification testing may not be required. This will be
dependent of the presence of any other contaminants in the feed gas
stream. CI and other chemicals performance will have to be
screened first; then the thermodynamic inhibitor hydrate inhibition
performance will be assessed with the presence of the selected
chemicals and vice-versa.

6.2.2 For corrosion inhibitors

i) Corrosion inhibitor selection, plant trails and other qualification
test shall refer to SAES-A-205.
ii) Electrochemical techniques: Linear polarization, impedance and
noise. For details on electrochemical tests to be performed, please
refer to Chairman, Corrosion Control Standards Committee,
Consulting Services Department.
iii) Phase partitioning - aqueous phase inhibitor concentration,
corrosion mitigation of partitioned aqueous phase
iv) Weight loss techniques – autoclave with rotating cage
v) Electrical resistance (gas phase)
vi) Secondary testing including combination of MEG/CCI/BCI (if
needed) to check for emulsion tendency, thermal stability,
viscosity, brine compatibility, pH, foaming, flash point, weld test,
material compatibility and long term storage stability.
Commentary Note:

For circulating MEG systems, the corrosion inhibitor performance

and thermal stability need to be ascertained under MEG
regeneration temperatures.

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Document Responsibility: Flow Assurance Standards Committee SAEP-500
Issue Date: 10 September 2015 Guidelines for Screening and Qualifying
Next Planned Update: 10 September 2018 Compatible Hydrate and Corrosion Inhibitors

6.3 Other tests may also be deemed suitable, and can be included in the testing
protocol at the discretion of P&CSD and CSD in consultation with the
proponent Operations Engineering organization.

6.4 See Appendix A for the KHI/CI screening and qualification protocol.

Revision Summary
10 September 2015 Revised the Next Planned Update, reaffirmed the content of the document, and reissued
as major revision to reflect R&DC capability to perform in-house tests.

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 Document Responsibility: Flow Assurance Standards Committee SAEP-500
Issue Date: 10 September 2015 Guidelines for Screening and Qualifying
Next Planned Update: 10 September 2018 Compatible Hydrate and Corrosion Inhibitors

Appendix A - Screening and Qualification Protocol for HI/CI

Saudi Aramco identifies

the need for HI and CI

MEG KHI
Type of HI

Chemical vendors conduct FA RSA, CSD and R&DC review Follow 26-SAMSS-085for
new testing and propose test results of vendor’s BIC for qualifying the KHI
new BIC CCI/BCI CCI/BCI (if needed)

Conduct hot injection test in

presence of CCI/BCI
No
Test results will be
Accept
reviewed with KHI vendors KHI vendor takes
to come up with a path Check KHI performance in action based on an
forward Yes presence of CCI/BCI under agreed plan
flow and static conditions
Screen the BIC CCI/BCI (if
needed) for the selected
application per Sections 6.2 and
6.3 Check KHI performance in
presence of CCI/BCI along with Test results will be
salt, pH and THI reviewed with KHI
vendors to come up
Test the performance of MEG with
with a path forward
presence of CCI/BCI
Conduct secondary testing in
the presence of CCI/BCI

RSA, CSD, R&DC and

proponent review test results Conduct field testing FA RSA, CSD, R&DC and
if required proponent review test results

Accept Accept
No Yes Yes No

Purchasing develops agreement with

chemical vendors of the approved
chemicals

Proponent Initiates MDM cataloging

request and submit to Material
Control Dept.

Standardization catalogues HI /CCI/

BCI product into SAMSS

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