Ind. Eng. Chem. Res.

1999, 38, 3917-3924 3917

Corrosion Behavior of Carbon Steel in the CO2 Absorption Process

Using Aqueous Amine Solutions
Amornvadee Veawab, Paitoon Tontiwachwuthikul,* and Amit Chakma
Process Systems Laboratory, Faculty of Engineering, University of Regina, Regina,
Saskatchewan, Canada S4S 0A2

The present study provides comprehensive information on the effects of process parameter
variations on the corrosion behavior of carbon steel in CO2 absorption systems using aqueous
amine solutions. The process parameters of interest are amine type, concentration of the amine
solutions, solution temperature, CO2 loading, and oxygen content. An electrochemical testing
technique was used for determining the system corrosiveness in terms of polarization behavior
and corrosion rate. The experimental results suggest that the corrosion behavior is considerably
sensitive to the variations in the process parameters. Increases in amine concentration, solution
temperature, CO2 loading, and oxygen content accelerate the corrosion rate in the systems. In
addition, different amine types yield different degrees of the system corrosiveness. Comparisons
of the corrosiveness among single amine systems as well as between mixed amine systems and
their precursors are also presented.

Introduction
The CO2 absorption process using aqueous amine
solutions has been extensively used for the removal of
CO2 from gas streams in many industries. Common
industrial applications include natural gas processing,
coal gasification, and manufacturing of hydrogen and
ammonia. In these processes, purification of process gas
streams is to meet the needed requirements of product
quality and to minimize operational difficulties, which
may occur when the gas streams are further used in
downstream processes. Other applications involve the
production of CO2 for uses in food, beverage, and
petroleum industries. Besides such industrial applica-
tions, the CO2 absorption process is considered to be a
potential technique for reducing greenhouse gas emis-
sion from flue gas streams.
Historically, the CO2 absorption process using aque-
ous amine solutions has long encountered corrosion
problems. On the basis of plant experiences,1-6 corrosion
seems to take place in several plant locations including
the bottom portion of the absorber, the rich-lean heat
exchanger, the regenerator, and the reboiler. Both
uniform corrosion and localized attacks such as pitting,
galvanic, erosion, stress cracking, and intergranular
corrosion were commonly detected. In general, the ways
in which the process equipment was designed, fabri-
cated, installed, and operated are key factors in deter-
mining the corrosion types and degrees of the system
corrosiveness.
According to Kohl and Nielsen,7 corrosion is consid-
ered to be one of the most severe operational problems
in the CO2 absorption process. Chronic corrosion can
lead to a direct impact on the plant’s economy since it
results in unplanned downtime, production losses,
reduced equipment life, and even injury or death.6 The
unplanned downtime of a typical plant can cost between
$10 000 and $30 000 per day in terms of production
losses.8 Besides, the downtime also leads to a large
portion of expenditure necessary for restoring the cor-
roded systems and for treatments initiated to mitigate
the corrosion. As stated by Gerus,9 millions of dollars
are annually spent on this particular purpose.
In addition to the above direct impacts, the corrosion
problems also indirectly affect the plant’s economy by
limiting the operating ranges of the process. Generally,
flexibility in varying the operating conditions is reduced
due to excessive corrosion. Operating the process beyond
the typical conditions may also cause a tremendous
increase in the system corrosiveness.6,10 Because of such
limitations, the capacity of existing plants may not be
easily increased at reasonable expenses.
In practice, corrosion could be controlled by several
approaches: (i) use of proper equipment design, (ii) use
of highly resistant materials, and (iii) use of chemical
treatments. However, the effectiveness of the controlling
approaches could be affected by variations in the
operating conditions of the process. For instance, by
reducing the flow rate of the absorption solution, the
corrosion protection efficiency might be deteriorated due
to increases in the degrees of process parameters such
as CO2 loading and solution temperature. This would
result in excessive corrosion in the system. Therefore,
understanding the corrosion behavior due to variations
in the process parameters becomes necessary for pre-
venting such excessive corrosion. In the present study,
comprehensive information on the effect of process
parameters on corrosion behavior is provided. The
process parameters studied include the type of amine,
amine concentration, solution temperature, CO2 loading,
and oxygen (O2) content. Ranges of the testing condi-
tions are provided in Table 1.
Experiments

* To whom correspondence should be addressed. Phone: Experimental Setup. The experiments were carried
(306) 585-4726. Fax: (306) 585-4855. E-mail: paitoon@ out in a corrosion cell using an electrochemical tech-
uregina.ca. nique for corrosion analysis. The experimental setup
10.1021/ie9901630 CCC: $18.00 © 1999 American Chemical Society
Published on Web 09/08/1999
3918 Ind. Eng. Chem. Res., Vol. 38, No. 10, 1999

Table 1. Process Parameters and Testing Conditions

parameter testing condition
amine type monoethanolamine (MEA)
diethanolamine (DEA)
methyldiethanolamine (MDEA)
2-amino-2-methyl-1-propanol (AMP)
mixture of MEA and MDEA (1:1)
mixture of DEA and MDEA (1:1)
mixture of MEA and AMP (1:1)
at 3 kmol/m3, 80 °C, and CO2 saturation
at 3 kmol/m3, 80 °C, and 0.2 CO2 loading (mol/mol)
amine concentration 1-5 kmol/m3
at 80 °C and 0.2 CO2 loading (mol/mol) for MEA, DEA, and AMP
temperature 30-80 °C
at 2 kmol/m3 and 0.2 CO2 loading (mol/mol) for MEA, DEA, and AMP
CO2 loading 0.0-0.4 mol/mol
at 2 kmol/m3 and 80 °C for MEA, DEA, and AMP
oxygen content nil to 10% feed gas
at 2 kmol/m3 MEA, 80 °C, and 12% CO2 in the feed gas

Figure 1. Experimental setup for the electrochemical corrosion test.

consisted of two main components, the corrosion cell,
model K47, and potentiostat, model 273 (EG&G Instru-
ments/Princeton Applied Research, NJ), as shown in
Figure 1. The corrosion cell includes a set of a 1 L flask,
high-density/nonpermeable graphite counter electrodes,
a calomel reference electrode, a reference electrode
bridge tube, a purge/vent tube, and a leak-proof as-
sembly for mounting the specimen. The potentiostat has
an accuracy of the applied potential and current mea-
surement of (0.2% of the reading. A computer with a
data acquisition program is connected to the poten-
tiostat to record and analyze the produced corrosion
data.
Preparation of Specimens. The specimens for
corrosion tests in this study were made of carbon steel
1020. Their chemical compositions are C, 0.20; Mn, 0.51;
P, 0.013; S, 0.039; Si, 0.17; and Fe, balance. The
specimens were cut into cylindrical shape: 1/2 in. (12.7
mm) long, 3/8 in. (9.5 mm) diameter, drilled to a depth
of 1/4 in. (6.4 mm), and tapped to accept a 3-48 UNC-
2A 5/16 in. (8 mm) thread depth. Within 1 h prior to
the tests, the specimens were prepared by wet grinding
with 600 grit silicon carbide papers, degreasing with
methanol, and drying with hot air, in accordance with
the ASTM standard E3-80.11
Preparation of Absorption Solutions. The CO2
absorption solvents primarily used in the present study
are aqueous solutions of single amines. Four types of
amines including primary, secondary, tertiary, and
sterically hindered amines were examined. Because of
their popularity, monoethanolamine (MEA), diethano-
lamine (DEA), methyldiethanolamine (MDEA), and
2-amino-2-methyl-1-propanol (AMP) were chosen as
representatives of each amine type. In addition, aqueous
solutions of mixed amines, which have currently gained
a great deal of attention by solvent developers, were as
well investigated. These include mixtures of MEA-
MDEA, DEA-MDEA, and MEA-AMP.
The prepared aqueous amine solutions can be clas-
sified into two categories: (i) fresh solution containing
no or little trace of CO2 and (ii) loaded solution contain-
ing certain amounts of CO2. The fresh solution was
simply prepared by diluting the pure solvents with
deionized water to a desired concentration. The concen-
tration of the prepared solutions was determined by
titration with a 1 N standard hydrochloric acid (HCl)
solution using methyl orange as an indicator. For the
loaded solution, the preparation involved mixing a fresh
solution with a CO2 saturated solution previously
prepared by purging CO2 gas into the fresh solution for
approximately 8 h. Amounts of the absorbed CO2 in the
loaded solution represented as CO2 loading (mol of CO2/
mol of amine) were determined by chemical analysis
 Ind. Eng. Chem. Res., Vol. 38, No. 10, 1999 3919

involving acidifying a given quantity of the liquid

sample by adding an excess amount of HCl solution.12
Experimental Procedure. Prior to the experiments,
the experimental technique and instrumentation were
validated to ensure reliability of the obtained data. The
validation was performed in accordance with the ASTM
G5-94 by conducting a potentiodynamic anodic polariza-
tion test on a stainless steel-430 specimen in a 1 N
sulfuric acid (H2SO4) solution at 30 °C.13 The generated
polarization curve was in good agreement with the
reference curves provided by the ASTM, thus validating
the experimental technique and instrumentation.
To begin the experiments, the corrosion cell was
immersed in a water bath where the temperature was Figure 2. Comparison of corrosion rates among single amine
set and controlled within an accuracy of (0.1 °C. A gas systems under 3 kmol/m3, 80 °C, and CO2 saturation.
stream of nitrogen (N2), N2-CO2 mixture, or N2-CO2-
O2 mixture was introduced into the corrosion cell to
maintain the prepared CO2 loading in the tested solu-
tion. The chemical analysis for the CO2 loading mea-
surement was performed periodically to ascertain that
the CO2 loading was kept at the desired level during
the experiment. Prior to the corrosion measurement, all
potentiostat cables were properly connected to three
points of the corrosion cell: the graphite counter elec-
trodes, the calomel reference electrode, and the speci-
men holder. The corrosion potential (Ecorr) of the speci-
men against the reference electrode was recorded at
equilibrium when a reading of the potential remained
constant for at least 5 min. The potentiodynamic
polarization was then initiated with a scanning rate of Figure 3. Polarization behaviors of carbon steel in single amine
systems under 3 kmol/m3, 80 °C, and CO2 saturation.
0.60 V/h. All experimental data including applied po-
tentials and produced currents were continuously re-
corded and stored in the computer program. To observe
the corrosion behavior of a given experimental run, a
polarization curve, a plot between specimen potential
and current density, was created. Then, the corrosion
rate was finally determined by the Tafel extrapolation
technique detailed in Baboian.14 It should be noted that
the corrosion data presented in this paper are the
average corrosion rates ((5% of replicated data).

Results and Discussion

Amine Type. The effect of amine type on corrosion

behavior was examined by conducting the experiments
in 3 kmol/m3 aqueous amine solutions under two dif-
ferent testing conditions: (i) 80 °C and CO2 saturation
and (ii) 80 °C and 0.2 CO2 loading. Results from the
former condition reveal corrosion behavior under a
practical condition where CO2 loading in each amine
system could be varied depending upon its CO2 solubil-
ity characteristic. For the latter condition, results
provide an indication of the actual influence of the
amine type under an exactly identical condition where
the interaction between the process parameters is
negligible.
Under the CO2 saturation condition, the amine type
has a great effect on the system corrosiveness. Corrosion
rates for various amines are shown in Figure 2. MEA
had the highest corrosion rate at 136.4 mpy followed
by AMP at 125.9 mpy. MDEA was the least corrosive
with a corrosion rate of 67.6 mpy while DEA’s corrosion
rate was 89.1 mpy.
A similar sequence of the system corrosiveness can
also be observed from the polarization curves. By
nature, corrosion is an electrochemical process consist-
Figure 4. Comparison of corrosion rates among mixed amine
systems and their precursors under 3 kmol/m3 with a mixing ratio
of 1:1, 80 °C, and CO2 saturation.
ing of anodic and cathodic reactions. Metal dissolution
is considered the anodic reaction while oxidizer reduc-
tion is considered the cathodic reaction. Higher anodic
and/or cathodic current densities basically indicate
higher rates of the metal dissolution and/or the oxidizer
reduction, thus leading to a higher corrosion rate.
According to Figure 3, among MEA, DEA, and MDEA
systems, the MEA system obviously yields the greatest
anodic and cathodic current densities throughout the
active region. When compared with the AMP, the MEA
system still induces a greater corrosion rate since it
produces significantly higher cathodic current density,
despite the relatively smaller anodic current density.
This suggests that the MEA system is the most corrosive
3920 Ind. Eng. Chem. Res., Vol. 38, No. 10, 1999
Figure 5. Polarization behaviors of carbon steel in mixed amine
systems and their precursors under 3 kmol/m3, mixing ratio 1:1,
80 °C, and CO2 saturation: (a, top) mixture of MEA and MDEA,
(b, middle) mixture of DEA and MDEA, (c, bottom) mixture of MEA
and AMP.
environment. In addition, Figure 3 also indicates that
the MDEA system is the least active environment; i.e.,
it generally generates the smallest current densities
among the other systems.
Corrosiveness in the mixed amine systems was also
investigated for MEA-MDEA, DEA-MDEA, and MEA-
AMP mixtures. Total amine concentration was kept at
3 kmol/m3, and the experiments were conducted at 80
°C and under CO2 saturation. From Figure 4, it can be
seen that the corrosiveness in a particular mixed amine
system appears to be a combination of those in its
precursor systems. For instance, a mixed MEA-MDEA
system (a mixing ratio of 1:1) yields a corrosion rate of
77.6 mpy while the MEA and the MDEA systems induce
the rates of 136.4 and 67.6 mpy, respectively. Similar
trends of such behavior are also found in the mixed
systems of DEA-MDEA and MEA-AMP. However, it
should be noted that the corrosion rates in the mixed
amine systems presented in this study were generated
on the basis of only a mixing ratio of 1:1. With different
mixing ratios, the corrosiveness relationship between
Table 2. CO2 Loading in Aqueous Amine-CO2 System at
the Testing Condition of 3 kmol/m3, 80 °C, and CO2
Saturation
CO2 loading corrosion rate
amine type (mol/mol) (mpy)
MEA 0.565 136.4
DEA 0.442 89.1
MDEA 0.243 67.6
AMP 0.554 125.9
mixture of MEA and MDEA 0.435 77.6
mixture of DEA and MDEA 0.365 72.4
mixture of MEA and AMP 0.561 127.3
Figure 6. Comparison of corrosion rates among single amine
systems under 3 kmol/m3, 80 °C, and 0.2 CO2 loading.
the mixed amine systems and their precursors could be
different.
The corrosion behavior in the mixed amine systems
can also be seen from polarization results shown in
Figure 5. The hybrid polarization behavior is found in
the cases of the MEA-MDEA and the DEA-MDEA
systems, both the cathodic and anodic current densities
of which are between those produced in the precursor
systems. This obviously indicates the hybrid corrosion
rates in the mixed amine systems. Unlike the above,
the MEA-AMP system presents the hybrid polarization
behavior only at the cathodic side even though its
corrosiveness is a combination of the precursors.
The influence of the amine type on the corrosion
behavior is probably caused by differences in the
amounts of CO2 absorbed into the tested solutions under
the CO2 saturation condition. The greater the CO2
loading, the higher the corrosion rate. This trend can
be seen from Table 2, containing data of saturated CO2
loading and corrosion rate in single and mixed amine
systems. It is conceivable that the CO2 loading is a
primary contributor to the effect of amine type on
corrosiveness in both single and mixed amine systems.
As previously mentioned, the corrosion experiments
were conducted under the testing condition of 3 kmol/
m3, 80 °C, and 0.2 CO2 loading. The experimental
results shown in Figure 6 indicate that the amine type
itself also has an affect on the system corrosiveness even
though the influence of the CO2 loading is eliminated.
From the figure, corrosion rates in the MEA and the
DEA systems seem to be comparable while the corrosion
rate in the AMP system is apparently superior to those
in the other two systems. This is perhaps due to
differences in the amounts of active components, par-
ticularly bicarbonate ion (HCO3-), in the solutions.
At the identical CO2 loading, temperature, and amine
concentration, the AMP system tentatively contains a
greater amount of the HCO3- than the MEA and the
DEA systems. Consider the main CO2 absorption reac-

Figure 7. Effect of amine concentration on corrosion rate under
80 °C and 0.2 CO2 loading.
tions taking place in the aqueous amine-CO2 systems
as follows:
formation of carbamate15
2RNH2 + CO2 a RNHCOO- + RNH3+
hydrolysis of carbamate16
RNHCOO- + H2O a RNH2 + HCO3-
RNH2, RNHCOO-, RNH3+, and HCO3- denote amine,
carbamate ion, protonated amine ion, and bicarbonate
ion, respectively. For the MEA and the DEA systems,
formation of carbamate (reaction 1) is a major reaction
while hydrolysis of carbamate (reaction 2) hardly takes
place. On the contrary, both reactions 1 and 2 play
major roles in CO2 absorption in the AMP system. This
is basically due to low stability of the carbamate
compound.16 As a consequence, the greater amount of
the HCO3- species is expected to be present in the AMP
system rather than in the MEA and the DEA systems.
HCO3- is basically considered a corroding agent in a
typical aqueous solution containing dissolved CO2. A
corrosion reaction between iron and HCO3- can be
written as17
Fe + HCO3- f FeCO3 + H+ + 2e-
According to reaction 3, the greater the amount of
HCO3-, the higher the amount of iron dissolved. This
results in a higher corrosion rate. With this principle,
the corrosion rate in the AMP system is therefore
generally greater than those in the MEA and the DEA
systems.
Amine Concentration. Amine concentration ap-
pears to have a considerable effect on the system
corrosiveness. According to Figure 7, the corrosion
behavior affected by the amine concentration is mani-
fested in two distinct manners.
First, the corrosion rate increases as the amine
concentration increases. This is found in the MEA, DEA,
and AMP systems with the concentration below 3 kmol/
m3. At a constant CO2 loading, increasing the amine
concentration generally leads to an increase in the total
amount of CO2 absorbed into the amine solution, result-
ing in higher amounts of RNHCOO-, RNH3+ (reaction
Ind. Eng. Chem. Res., Vol. 38, No. 10, 1999 3921
Figure 8. Effect of MEA concentration on polarization behavior
under 80 °C and 0.2 CO2 loading.
(1)
(2)
Figure 9. Effect of solution temperature on corrosion rate under
2 kmol/m3 and 0.2 CO2 loading.
1), and HCO3- (reaction 2). The increasing amount of
HCO3- thus causes a greater corrosion rate in the
system.
An increase in the corrosion rate with amine concen-
tration can also be observed from the polarization curves
as shown in Figure 8. Apparently, changes in the amine
concentration have an impact on the current densities
especially on the anodic side. The higher concentration
leads to the greater anodic current density, thus in-
creasing the rate of corrosion.
Second, the corrosion rate seems to retard and
decrease gradually as the amine concentration in-
creases. This behavior is found in the AMP system with
the concentration beyond 3 kmol/m3 as shown in Figure
7. The decreasing corrosion rate is probably caused by
(3) the hydrolysis of RNHCOO- shown in reaction 2. Once
the AMP concentration increases, available water in the
liquid solution tends to decrease. Therefore, the amount
of HCO3- resulting from the hydrolysis reaction is
diminished due to the limited water. This basically leads
to a reduction in the amount of the corroding oxidizer,
thus decelerating the corrosion rate.
Solution Temperature. According to the experi-
mental results shown in Figure 9, a variation in the
temperature of the liquid solution has a significant effect
on the corrosion rate in the amine-CO2 systems.
Increasing the liquid temperature considerably acceler-
ates the rate of corrosion. For instance, in a 2 kmol/m3
MEA solution, the corrosion rate rises from 2.6 to 16.2
mpy when the liquid temperature increases from 30 to
80 °C. A similar behavior is also found in the DEA and
the AMP systems. It should be noted that the relation-
ship between liquid temperature and corrosion rate is
shown in exponential form.
The increasing corrosiveness resulting from the varia-
tion in solution temperature could be explained by
3922 Ind. Eng. Chem. Res., Vol. 38, No. 10, 1999
Figure 10. Effect of liquid temperature on pH under 2 kmol/m3
MEA and 0.2 CO2 loading.
Figure 11. Effect of solution temperature on polarization behav-
ior under 2 kmol/m3 MEA and 0.2 CO2 loading.
reactions 1 and 2 together with other reactions occurring
in the amine-CO2 systems as written below.15
dissociation of protonated amine ion
RNH3+ a RNH2 + H+
dissociation of bicarbonate ion
HCO3- a CO32- + H+
where CO32- denotes carbonate ion. In general, tem-
perature is an essential parameter for the kinetics of
the absorption system. Increasing the temperature could
disturb the equilibrium among chemical species in the
system. According to a correlation between the equilib-
rium constant (K) and temperature,18 equilibrium con-
stants for reactions 2, 4, and 5 increase with the solution
temperature, thus reflecting the greater amounts of H+
and HCO3- present in the system. Under this circum-
stance, the equilibrium between the metal dissolution
and the oxidizer reduction is disturbed. To maintain the
equilibrium, more metal (iron) is dissolved into the
solution and subsequently generates more electrons for
the oxidizer reduction, thus accelerating the corrosion
rate. The increase in the amount of H+ as the liquid
temperature increases can be confirmed in terms of pH
reduction as illustrated in Figure 10.
The effect of liquid temperature on the corrosion
process is also indicated by polarization curves. The
polarization results suggest that the variation in the
liquid temperature obviously affects the corrosion be-
havior. According to Figure 11, an increase in the liquid
temperature causes anodic and cathodic current densi-
ties to rise, resulting in an acceleration of the corrosion
process through both metal dissolution and oxidizer
reduction.
CO2 Loading. CO2 loading is apparently an impor-
tant process parameter influencing the corrosiveness in
Figure 12. Effect of CO2 loading on corrosion rate under 2 kmol/
m3 and 80 °C.
Figure 13. Effect of CO2 loading on pH under 2 kmol/m3 MEA
and 80 °C.
(4)
(5)
Figure 14. Effect of CO2 loading on polarization curve under 2
kmol/m3 MEA and 80 °C.
the amine-CO2 systems. Increasing the CO2 loading in
the system generally leads to a greater corrosion rate.
As shown in Figure 12, by increasing the CO2 loading
from fresh (0.0) to 0.4 mol/mol, the corrosion rate in the
MEA system (2 kmol/m3 at 80 °C) increases from a
negligible value to 24 mpy.
The influence of the CO2 loading on the corrosion rate
can be simply explained by reactions 1-5. An increase
in CO2 loading yields higher amounts of HCO3- and
RNH3+, which in turn dissociates and finally produces
more hydrogen ion (H+). The increase in the H+ amount
due to the increasing CO2 loading can be confirmed by
the pH reduction reported in Figure 13. As mentioned
previously, increasing the amounts of H+ and HCO3-
drives the corrosion process to proceed faster, thus
causing a higher corrosion rate.
Figure 14 demonstrates the effect of CO2 loading on
the corrosion polarization behavior. The polarization
curves indicate that the variation in the CO2 loading
has a significant effect on the cathodic current density
but a small effect on the anodic current density. This

Figure 15. Effect of oxygen content on corrosion rate under 2
kmol/m3 MEA and 12% CO2 in feed gas.
behavior suggests that an increase in the CO2 loading
primarily enhances the rate of oxidizer reduction, caus-
ing a more corrosive environment.
Oxygen Content. The effect of oxygen content on the
system corrosiveness is illustrated in Figure 15. The
results show that higher oxygen content leads to a
higher corrosion rate. As can be seen from Figure 15,
the corrosion rate of the MEA system (under 2 kmol/
m3, 80 °C, and 12% CO2 in the feed gas) increases from
32.3 to 45.7 mpy when the oxygen content in the feed
gas increases from 0 to 10%. A similar effect of the
oxygen content can also be observed from the corrosion
experiments conducted at a temperature of 30 °C. An
explanation for this effect involves the reactions of
oxygen corrosion on iron as shown below.19
2Fe + 2H2O + O2 f 2Fe(OH)2
2Fe(OH)2 + 2H2O + (1/2)O2 f 2Fe(OH)3
where Fe(OH)2 and Fe(OH)3 denote ferrous hydroxide
and ferric hydroxide, respectively. According to reactions
6 and 7, once the dissolved oxygen content increases,
more metal is oxidized and forms ferrous and ferric
hydroxide to maintain the system equilibrium, resulting
in a higher corrosion rate.
In addition, Figure 15 also provides a comparison
between the influences of the oxygen content and the
temperature on the system corrosiveness. Despite the
lower content of dissolved oxygen in the solution, the
corrosion rates at the elevated temperature (80 °C) are
still greater than those tested under the lower temper-
ature (30 °C). This suggests that the oxygen content has
relatively less influence on the system corrosiveness
than the solution temperature.
Conclusions
Variations in the process parameters obviously have
influences on the corrosion behavior of carbon steel in
the aqueous amine-CO2 systems. Principal conclusions
can be drawn as follows.
Amine type affects system corrosiveness. The corro-
sivity of CO2 saturated amines decreases in the order
MEA > AMP > DEA > MDEA, and corrosion rates in
the mixed amine systems lie between those in the
precursor systems. CO2 loading appears to be the
primary cause of corrosion. However, under an identical
Ind. Eng. Chem. Res., Vol. 38, No. 10, 1999 3923
CO2 loading condition, the corrosion rate still varies
with amine type.
Two different corrosion behaviors are observed as a
result of the amine concentration variations. First,
increasing the amine concentration accelerates the
system corrosion rate. Second, the corrosion rate de-
creases gradually as the amine concentration increases.
Variations in the liquid temperature, the CO2 loading,
and the oxygen content have significant impact on the
system corrosiveness. Increasing each parameter leads
to a greater corrosion rate.
Acknowledgment
Financial support from the Faculty of Graduate
Studies and Research of the University of Regina, the
Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of
Canada (NSERC), and Saskferco Products Inc. is grate-
fully acknowledged.
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