Viscosity impact investigation on erosion of carbon steel in sand-mixed-polivinyl alcohol

Erosion in oil and gas production sector is predominantly caused by fine particles’ migration into the processing facilities. Fine particles are mostly transported to the facilities via carrier fluid. Other than sand, the viscosity of the carrier fluid also contributes to the sand erosion phenomenon. However, the impact of viscosity on sand erosion is not fully discovered by previous researchers. Therefore, this paper investigated the impact of fluid viscosity on erosion of carbon steel surface. In the presented work, an experimental rig was fabricated and tested for the study of impact of fluid viscosity on erosion of the carbon steel by considering the water mixed-polyvinyl alcohol as a carrier fluid. The metal coupons were impacted with sand slurries of different viscosities. Scanning electron microscopy along with energy dispersive spectroscopy and Universal scanning probe microscopy were used to analyse the centred and adjunct areas of the coupons. These analyses revealed that the viscous slurry is least effective in removal of metal surface in comparison with the pitting erosion. The obtained results reflected a decrease in erosion rate as the fluid viscosity upsurges and the type of metal surface erosion changes from uniform erosion to pitting erosion by fluid viscosity increment.