Corrosion Mechanism of Elemental Sulfur and Its Source in a Light Hydrocarbon Station in Tahe

The corrosion products on the inner surface of some equipment of a light hydrocarbon station in Tahe oilfield were analyzed by scanning electron microscopy (SEM), X-ray diffraction (XRD) and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS). In addition, the source of elemental sulfur was also clarified by on-site sampling experiments. The results showed that the corrosion products of the equipment and pipeline in the hydrocarbon station contained a large amount of elemental sulfur. Elemental sulfur corrosion was one of the important reasons for the corrosion of this light hydrocarbon station. And the elemental sulfur in the light hydrocarbon station mainly come from feed gas. The main mechanism of elemental sulfur corrosion of the light hydrocarbon station was hydrolysis mechanism that is, sulfur hydrolzed to produce corrosive substances such as sulfuric acid and hydrogen sulfide.