Corrosion Mechanism of L360 Pipeline Steel Coated with S8 in CO2-Cl- System at Different pH Values

The corrosion behavior of L360 pipeline steel coated with or without elemental sulfur (S8) in CO2-Cl- medium at different pH was studied. An autoclave was used to simulate the working conditions for forming the corrosion scale, and an electrochemical workstation with a three-electrode cell was used to analyze the electrochemical characterization of the corrosion scale. A wire beam electrode was used to determine the potential and current distribution, and scanning electron microscopy and X-ray diffraction were used to characterize the morphology and composition of the corrosion scale. The results showed that the deposition of S8 on the surface of the electrodes caused serious localized corrosion, especially under acidic conditions. The morphology and localized corrosion intensity index further proved that the deposition of S8 significantly promoted corrosion, especially pitting corrosion. Finally, a novel corrosion mechanism of L360 pipeline steel coated with S8 in a CO2-Cl- environment under acidic conditions was proposed, and we then modeled the theoretical mechanisms that explained the experimental results.