Ammonium Chloride and Amine
Hydrochloride Corrosion
Description
• Localized corrosion/ pitting in the absence of a free water phase
because of ammonium chloride or amine salt deposits
Affected Material
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CS
LAS
300 SS
DSS
Alloys 400
Alloy 800
Alloy 825
Alloys 625
C276
Titanium
Critical Factor
• Primary Factor:
NH3 Concentration
HCl Concentration
Amine salts Concentration
Temperature
Water present
• Salting of NH4CL usually at 205 °C
• NH4Cl are hygroscopic and readily absorb water. A small amount of
water can lead to very aggressive corrosion [>100 mpy (>2.5 mm/yr)].
Critical Factor
• NH4Cl is highly water soluble, highly corrosive, and forms an acidic
solution when mixed with water.
• Neutralizing amines can also react with hydrogen chloride to form
amine hydrochlorides that can act in a similar fashion
• Corrosion rate increase with temperature increase
• When the salts deposit above the water dew point, a water wash
injection may be required to dissolve them
Affected Unit or Equipment
• Crude tower overheads
Tower top, top trays, and overhead piping and exchangers may be subject to
fouling and corrosion.
Deposits may occur in low-flow zones due to ammonia and/or amine chloride
salts condensing from the vapor phase.
Top pumparound streams may be affected if ammonia or amine chloride salts
are present
• Hydroprocessing
Reactor effluent streams are subject to ammonium chloride salt fouling and
corrosion. Water washing may be required if exchanger fouling or loss in duty
occurs
Affected Unit or Equipment
• Catalytic reforming
• Reactor effluent streams and the H2 recycle system
• FCC unit and coker fractionator overheads
Overhead systems and top pumparounds are subject to ammonium chloride
corrosion and salting
Damage Morphology
• The salts have a whitish, greenish, or brownish appearance.
• Water washing and/or steam out will remove deposits so that
evidence of fouling may not be evident during an internal VT.
• Corrosion underneath the salts is typically very localized and can
result in pitting.
• Corrosion rates can be extremely high.
Mitigation
• Crude unit
Limit the salts in desalter
Water wash in the crude tower overhead line
Filming amine inhibitors.
• Hydroprocessing
Limit chlorides for its feed
Limit chlorides in the make-up hydrogen
Continuous or intermittent water
Monitor ammonia and Cl in feed streams and effluent waters
Mitigation
• Catalytic reforming
Use alumina bed chloride traps to remove chlorides
Water wash
neutralizing or filming amines
• FCC and coker units
water wash in overheads
Intermittent water wash in fractionator trays.
“slumping” the column and re-running of affected cuts
Inspection and Monitoring
• RT
• UT scanning methods [automated ultrasonic testing (AUT), manual close-grid, scanning
UT]
• GWT
• Mounted thickness monitoring
• Water injection facilities and flow meters should be monitored
• Inspect the Spray nozzles for proper distribution pattern and evidence of distortion or
other damage
• Monitor pressure drop / thermal performance of exchangers (deposit)
• Corrosion probes or coupons can
• IRIS, MFL, NFT, and other electromagnetic techniques  magnetic air cooler/ exchanger
tube
• ECT and IRIS  non magnetic air cooler/ exchanger tube