83-01: Development of Procedures for Pretreating Mild Steel Cooling Water

Persistent corrosion of carbon steel cooling water heat exchangers in a large refinery prompted investigation into various pretreatment methods. Test heat exchangers with carbon steel tubes were pretreated in various manners to establish an effective pretreatment program. This article details the procedures and results of the bench studies and outlines effective full scale pretreatment methods instituted as a result of the bench studies.