An experimental and numerical investigation of CO2 corrosion in a rapid expansion pipe geometry

A combined experimental and numerical methodology for accurately translating Rotating Cylinder Electrode (RCE) CO2 corrosion data to complex pipe flow geometries is presented. Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) simulations are used to determine the local variation in mass-transfer coefficient throughout a rapid expansion (as an example geometry). An empirical correlation between mass-transfer coefficient and corrosion rate derived from RCE experiments is then integrated into the CFD model to predict the variation in corrosion rate throughout the fitting. Electrochemical and mass loss corrosion experiments using carbon steel coupons integrated into a 3D printed rapid expansion within a flow loop validate the approach.