Corrosion monitoring in Amine Units traditionally focuses on the hot lean amine and regenerator-reboiler loops. While other areas, such as the absorber overhead and rich amine loops, are also considered, they are typically not prioritized for corrosion monitoring.
Corrosion monitoring in crude distillation units, including both the atmospheric and vacuum sections, is one of the most widely applied and critical practices in global refineries. This emphasis on corrosion monitoring stems from the vital importance of maintaining the reliability of the crude distillation unit, often considered as the ’engine’ of refinery profitability. As the primary processing unit where, crude oil is separated into various fractions, any downtime or failure due to corrosion can result in significant operational disruptions and financial losses. Therefore, effective corrosion monitoring in distillation is a key strategy to safeguard refinery performance, ensure continuous operations, and protect overall profitability.
Corrosion in hydroprocessing units is typically associated with localized damage caused by hydrogen (e.g., high-temperature hydrogen attack, wet H2S damage, high-temperature H2/H2S corrosion, etc.) or polythionic acid attack. As a result, the effectiveness of traditional corrosion monitoring techniques (both intrusive and non-intrusive), which are better suited for detecting uniform corrosion, is often questioned
Corrosion monitoring in Sour Water Stripping (SWS) units is less common. Stripped sour water (SW) is generally an inert fluid with very low corrosivity. Most corrosion damage typically occurs in the stripper overhead (OVHD) loop, which is the primary area for corrosion monitoring