Automatic Corrosion Control in Hydrocarbon Pipelines by Monitoring Parameters of System Fluids

A system for monitoring corrosion in an overhead piping flowing a hydrocarbon stream, the system comprising:

• a plurality of sensors connected to an overhead piping flowing a hydrocarbon stream, the plurality of sensors configured to measure a temperature and a pressure of the hydrocarbon stream flowing through the overhead piping;
• a wash water control valve fluidically coupled to the overhead piping, the wash water control valve configured to be controlled to control a quantity of water injected through the wash water control valve into the overhead piping;
• and
• a computer system connected to the plurality of sensors and the wash water control valve, the computer system comprising:
• one or more processors;
• and
• a non-transitory computer-readable medium storing computer instructions, which when executed by the one or more processors cause the one or more processors to perform operations comprising:
• receiving the system temperature and pressure;
• determining a sublimation temperature threshold using the received pressure, wherein the sublimation temperature threshold represents a temperature at which corrosive salts are formed in the overhead piping due to the flow of the hydrocarbon stream;
• comparing the measured system temperature and the determined sublimation temperature threshold;
• and
• based on a result of comparing the measured temperature and the determined sublimation temperature threshold, controlling the water wash valve to control the quantity of water injected through the water wash valve into the overhead piping.

A method for monitoring corrosion in overhead piping of a Crude Distillation Unit, the method comprising:

• measuring, by a plurality of sensors connected to overhead piping of a Crude Distillation Unit (CDU) and over a duration of time, a plurality of temperature measurements and a plurality of pressure measurements, each temperature measurement and each pressure measurement representing temperature and pressure, at a time instant, of a hydrocarbon stream flowing through the overhead piping from an atmospheric tower to an overhead drum of the CDU;
• determining, by a computer system connected to the plurality of sensors, and for each time instant in the duration of time, a sublimation temperature, wherein the sublimation temperature represents a temperature at which corrosive salts are formed in the overhead piping due to the flow of the hydrocarbon stream;
• comparing, by the computer system, and for each time instant in the duration of time, the measured temperature and the determined sublimation temperature threshold;
• and
• based on a result of comparing the measured temperature and the determined sublimation temperature threshold, controlling, by the computer system and for each time instant in the duration of time, a water wash valve fluidically coupled to the overhead piping to control a quantity of water injected through the water wash valve into the overhead piping during the duration of time.