Long-term corrosion of abandoned offshore steel infrastructure
Robert E. Melchers, Yongjun Tan
Abstract
A common practice in the offshore oil and gas (O&G) industry is to leave abandoned decommissioned pipelines and other steel infrastructure on the seafloor. Decisions about long-term environmental and other impacts and about the possibility of recovery require estimates of the likely long-term rate of deterioration, including corrosion loss and pit depth. These are considered as functions of time and environmental conditions including seawater temperature, dissolved oxygen concentration, salinity, seawater velocity, water pollution, microbiological activity, water depth, calcareous deposition and the effect of burial, all interpreted using established physico-chemical behaviour relevant for long-term exposures. Data for exposures up to some 600 years in seawaters are reviewed. Remaining research gaps and future perspectives of marine corrosion control are briefly discussed. Specific attention is given, by way of an example, to the influence on long-term durability of protective coatings and remnant cathodic protection, both areas in which further research is required.