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http://www.aramcoexpats.com/articles/2007/10/solving-the-mystery-of-the-black-powder/

SOLVING THE MYSTERY OF THE BLACK POWDER12 October 2007 |1 comment|Saudi Aramco News| bySaudi Aramco News

STAVANGER, NORWAY (October 10, 2007)

It was a dark and dirty pipe. Some people

believed that it was a byproduct of

hydrotesting in gas pipelines; others believed

that it was mill scale a byproduct of the pipe

manufacturing process.

The one thing upon which gas pipeline

operators around the world agreed was thattiny flecks of erosive black powder were

causing big problems for the industry.

Thats where the certainty ended until Saudi

Aramcos Research and Development Center

(R&DC) got involved.

Black powder is more than a nuisance, as it

clogs and damages control valves andpipelines, but the cause remained a puzzle

until Saudi Aramco conducted a two-year

study to determine the composition and origin

of this mysterious erosive powder.

Abdulmounam Sherik of Saudi Aramcos

Research and Development Upstream

Program examines the mysterious blackpowder that confounded gas pipeline

operators around the globe before a two-

year study led to a better understanding of

its composition, formation and origin.

Photo by Stephen L. Brundage

Photo Contributed by Saudi Aramco

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The tiny particles are extremely hard and jagged. When accelerated to the velocities

inside gas pipelines, they act like an abrasive used in sandblasting, affecting pipes and

parts never intended to endure such punishment.

The Pipelines Departments collection of a large number of black powder samples,which it submitted to R&DC for analysis, was crucial in identifying the composition and

properties of the black powder.

Many industry experts at the National Oil Companies 2007 Symposium in Stavanger,

Norway, were surprised at the findings reported by senior lab scientist Abdelmounam

Sherik of the companys R&D Upstream Program.

The comprehensive study noted that although mill scale and hydrotesting of pipelines

may have a minor and short-lived contribution to the problem, the source of the blackpowder is much different.

When I approached this project, I approached it to resolve this question. When we got

into it, we discovered that mill scale could not be the cause because within a year or so,

it would be all finished, Sherik said.

It couldnt be hydrotesting, either, because we do hydrotesting during commissioning.

Some of the pipelines from which we collected black powder had been in operation for

30 years.

Sherik enlisted the help of Southern Area Labs, which conducted extensive testing of

the gas itself. The test results were unexpected.

We analyzed the gas for the first time from a corrosion point of view by looking at the

gas components on a parts-per-million level, Sherik said.

To our surprise, and to everyones surprise at Saudi Aramco, we found oxygen, he

said. Everybody thought there was no way our gas would have oxygen. We didntestablish this in one test but by eight different tests.

We also were very surprised to find the gas had moisture in it. So we have moisture,

and we have oxygen, which are what you need to have a corrosion problem in the

pipeline.

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The effects werent obvious because they were happening on a small scale and they

werent affecting the pipeline, but the control valves. When you have a long pipeline

hundreds of kilometersyou get a lot of black powder, Sherik said.

Another finding of the study was that about 20 percent of the weight of the black powderactually was tiny particles of metal, sand, dirt, hydrocarbons and elemental sulfur.

The Pipelines Department and the Consulting Services Department are acting on the

results of that study, and revisions have been made to company hydrotesting

procedures and control-valve specifications. Improvements to the gas drying process

also are being implemented by gas plants and the Process and Control Systems

Department to ensure no moisture enters the pipelines.

Now the world will be watching as another study led by Saudi Aramcos Research andDevelopment Center seeks to predict the speed at which the powder will form and what

preventive measures to take to stop it from generating in the first place.

Sherik credits his colleagues for his research success.

The Pipelines Department was very active in this, he said. They are the people we

collected the samples with, and we had a lot of interaction with them. Without the

Pipelines Department, this work would have been very difficult to do. The Southern Area

Labs did all the gas analysis, and that was a big help, too.

Now Saudi Aramco is spearheading an industry-wide initiative, with NOCs of China,

Norway, Brazil, Malaysia and Algeria taking part. The scope of the latest project will be

presented by Sherik in November when the NOC Natural Gas Working Group meets in

Brazil.