Abstract: A method for predicting the corrosion rate of crude oil or other related process streams is provided. The method includes using x-ray absorption spectroscopy to characterize heteroatom species present by functional group and quantify the relative amount of each species in a plurality of samples. The corrosion rate of each sample is measured. A correlation between the relative amount of each species and the corrosion rate is determined and used to create a corrosion prediction model. The corrosion prediction model can be used so that corrosion rate can be predicted for a sample solely from the spectroscopy measurement of the relative amounts of each relevant species.

Abstract: A method for predicting the corrosion rate of crude oil or other related process streams is provided. The method includes using x-ray absorption spectroscopy to characterize heteroatom species present by functional group and quantify the relative amount of each species in a plurality of samples. The corrosion rate of each sample is measured. A correlation between the relative amount of each species and the corrosion rate is determined and used to create a corrosion prediction model. The corrosion prediction model can be used so that corrosion rate can be predicted for a sample solely from the spectroscopy measurement of the relative amounts of each relevant species.

Abstract: A method for determining corrosiveness of naphthenic acid in a crude oil feedstock is provided. The method includes the steps of providing a crude oil feedstock containing naphthenic acid; contacting the crude oil feedstock with iron for a period of time at a sufficient temperature for the iron to react with the naphthenic acid, forming iron salts. Under sufficiently high temperatures, at least a portion of the iron salts decompose to form ketone, which can be quantified. Measurements of the ketone can be used to correlate with the amount of iron lost from corrosion given a certain level of naphthenic acid present, giving a measure of the corrosivity of crude oil feedstock.

Abstract: A method for determining corrosiveness of naphthenic acid in a crude oil feedstock is provided. The method includes the steps of providing a crude oil feedstock containing naphthenic acid; contacting the crude oil feedstock with iron for a period of time at a sufficient temperature for the iron to react with the naphthenic acid, forming iron salts. Under sufficiently high temperatures, at least a portion of the iron salts decompose to form ketone, which can be quantified. Measurements of the ketone can be used to correlate with the amount of iron lost from corrosion given a certain level of naphthenic acid present, giving a measure of the corrosivity of crude oil feedstock.