Grant: Collaborative Research and Development Grants

The oil and gas industry is an important economic backbone in western Canada. Among many technical and economic factors that affect efficient oil recovery, corrosion problems have long been a big challenge in the Canadian oil industry, especially in Alberta. The extremely corrosive substances in the oil recovery process create severe service conditions, and corrosion damages significantly shorten the lifetime of equipment components, such as slotted liners in the Steam Assisted Gravity Drainage (SAGD) systems, resulting in high production costs, low production efficiency, safety and environment issues. The high cost of repairing/replacement of damaged slotted liners results in dual impacts on technical and financial aspects of the operation. Therefore, it is imperative to systematically investigate the failure mechanisms of slotted liners and the factors affecting the material degradation. A thorough understanding of the underlying controlling factors will lead us towards solving corrosion problems effectively. The proposed research aims to improve corrosion resistance of carbon steels for slotted liners. This can be achieved by investigating corrosion mechanisms and the effect of different slot cutting processes on corrosion and plugging behavior, and then developing a coating that is resistant to corrosion and plugging, technically simple to apply and able to extend service life of the slotted liners. The outcomes of the proposed research will provide direct economic benefits to Alberta and Canadian oil industries. More specifically, the new technical criteria for materials selection, a better slot manufacturing process and the development of an effective coating will provide RGL with a set of practical design criteria for optimizing operational performance of their SAGD system and extending equipment service life. This project will also provide excellent opportunities for training HQPs who will become valuable staff-to-be for RGL or oil companies elsewhere in the country. The knowledge based workforce will, no doubt, greatly strengthen the global competitiveness of Canada.