Development of palm oil based anti-corrosion material for underwater protection / Najmiddin Yaakob

Corrosion problem has become a normal scenario faced by industrial chemical
companies especially refineries. Petroleum refineries spend millions of Ringgits to
protect the underground pipelines from being corroded. To cut down cost, a new
formulation of anti-corrosion material has been developed where the main constituents
were from crude palm oil (CPO). Naturally, CPO consists of 50% saturated fatty acids,
40%) mono-unsaturated and 9% polyunsaturated and approximately 1% of other
components. The anti-corrosion formulation consists of CPO, epoxy and
diethylenetriamine (DETA). Epoxy is produced by the reaction of bisphenol A with
epichlorohydrin in an alkaline medium. DETA crosslinks the epoxy molecules and
reacts with CPO to produce an imidazole derivative. A new anti-corrosion formula was
developed from the synergist effect of combining DETA and CPO. Higher content in
fatty acids causes more imidazole derivatives to be formed, which is the main factor in
reducing corrosion rate. In order to increase the free fatty acid contents, the palm olein
was blown with oxygen for few hours. The formulated anti-corrosion material was tested
in various kinds of corrosive environment such as 1 M HC1 and sea water. For inhibitor,
different concentrations at 2 g/L, 3 g/L and 4 g/L of inhibitor were analyzed in order to
determine the inhibition efficiency. The temperatures for the corrosion environment
were studied at 30°C, 50°C and 70°C. The inhibition efficiency was determined by using
the Tafel analysis. A weight loss measurement was also conducted using mild steel
coupons where the coupons were immersed in 1 M HC1 and seawater for 7 days. Results
for the blown palm olein showed a significant increase in the free fatty acid contents
from 34.19% to 50.71%). In 1 M HC1, the epoxy-blown olein sample showed a
significant result as compared to that other inhibitors samples with an inhibition
efficiency ranges from 89% to 94% In seawater, the inhibition efficiency ranges from
62% to 85% at 30°C, 50°C and 70°C. The optimum concentration for the epoxy-blown
olein inhibitor sample was obtained at 3 g/L and 4 g/L.