Grant: Discovery Grants Program - Individual

Corrosion is one of the most severe operational problems in the carbon dioxide (CO2) absorption process using aqueous solutions of alkanolamines, especially when carbon steel is used for plant construction. To suppress such severe corrosion to an acceptable level, corrosion inhibitors are widely applied to this process. However, current corrosion inhibitors are heavy metals that are inherently toxic and potentially pose adverse impacts on human health and the environment. Due to the environmental regulations on chemical use and disposal, handling of such toxic corrosion inhibitors and disposal of the process waste are restricted and costly. New corrosion inhibitors which are environmentally acceptable must now be discovered to provide alternatives to industry. The objectives of this proposed research are therefore to formulate environmentally friendly corrosion inhibitors that have capacity for protecting process equipment and piping made of carbon steel in both liquid-phase and vapor phase, and to develop guidelines for best practices in effective application and monitoring of the formulated corrosion inhibitor. The proposed research is divided into three main tasks: 1) evaluation of amine solution corrosion inhibitors, 2) screening and testing for vapor-phase corrosion inhibitors, and 3) formation of corrosion inhibitors. The formulated corrosion inhibitors together with the strategy for effective inhibitor application will be readily available in response to environmental regulations and industrial needs. These inhibitors are expected to replace current heavy metal inhibitors, thus reducing the cost of waste disposal and health risks. This would present an opportunity for Canada to take a leadership role in the area of green chemical use. In addition, practitioners, especially process engineers, would be able to factor in the developed green corrosion inhibitors in their strategy for the design and operation of CO2 capture processes to reduce energy consumption and solution circulating rate or size of process equipment. This would lead to significant savings in both capital and operating costs for CO2 capture, which are otherwise limited by corrosion problems. This would make CO2 capture more economical and environmentally favorable.