Multicorp Software

MULTICORP is a unique software package both in scope and approach. With its current and future development supported by our sponsors and ongoing experimental programs, it’s rapidly becoming an industrial leader for prediction of internal corrosion of oil and gas pipelines. MULTICORP can be obtained by joining the CC JIP.

A transient mechanistic CO₂ corrosion prediction software package, MULTICORP provides many new capabilities and enhancements to allow users to significantly expand the scope of internal pipeline corrosion analyses:

Mechanistic model of CO₂ and H₂S corrosion mechanism,
Capability to perform batch run for a set of experimental data,
Capability to perform Monte Carlo simulation of the corrosion process for uncertain data,
Corrosion prediction correction based on the field data using case-based reasoning,
Oil pipeline corrosion prediction with transition along the line

MULTICORP covers almost all key aspects of internal corrosion of mild steel oil and gas pipelines and is based on solid theoretical foundations, which include the models of:

Kinetics of electrochemical reactions at the steel surface, such as iron dissolution, hydrogen evolution, etc.
Kinetics of solid-state reactions at the steel surface, such as mackinawite scale buildup.
Dynamics of coupled transient transport of multiple species between the bulk solution and the steel surface, through the turbulent boundary layer and through a porous surface film.
Kinetics of chemical reactions including precipitation of solids such as iron sulfide, iron carbonate, etc.
Growth of iron carbonate and iron sulfide scales

Therefore, it is possible to reliably predict the effects of key variables that affect internal pipeline corrosion such as:

Effect of multiphase flow (two and three phase flow)
Effect of temperature (1-100 °C)
Effect of CO₂ partial pressure (0 – 2 MPa)
Effect of H₂S content (0 – 1 MPa)
Effect of organic acids (0 – 10,000 ppm)
Effect of pH and brine chemistry (pH3 – pH7)
Effect of steel type
Effect of inhibition by crude oil and/or corrosion inhibitors
Magnitude and morphology of localized attack

MULTICORP has many advantages when compared to other related software packages available to users. Based on a mechanistic (theoretical) model, the software’s equations are faithful descriptors of the important physio-chemical processes underlying corrosion. This is in contrast with the other models, all of which are empirical or semi-empirical.

Besides providing immediate answers, the package allows the users to get a deeper insight into the root causes behind the problem, raising the user's confidence in the provided answer. Other empirical models based on arbitrary mathematical equations lack this capability. Due to the strong theoretical background, the user can extrapolate the predictions outside the calibration domain with much more confidence then can ever be achieved with the semi-empirical models. Any extensions of the model to include new phenomena (for example: sand, elemental sulfur, microbial corrosion, etc.) can be done relatively easily, in a logical fashion, and without changing most of the existing coding.

MULTICORP is one of the few packages that seamlessly integrates a corrosion model with a multiphase flow model, a feature much needed by corrosion engineers. It’s the only package that enables successful prediction of one of the most important multiphase flow effects on corrosion, which is related to water wetting and entrainment of water by the oil phase. It can also be easily coupled with other multiphase flow simulators.

The only package that enables fundamentally correct and reliable prediction of conditions where protective iron carbonate and iron sulfide scales form, the software can help mild steel survive the corrosive conditions found in pipelines. Other models are either incapable of predicting protective scale formation or have arbitrary and dubious factors to account for this phenomenon.

The package has been extensively calibrated and verified with a reliable experimental database. Most of the data came from large-scale corrosion and multiphase flow laboratory experiments. In addition, a reliable field corrosion database, provided by the major oil and gas companies, has been used to verify the performance of the model.

MULTICORP has a huge growth potential not least because it’s the only software of its kind that is produced by a leading research institution. MULTICORP developers have exclusive and continuous access to the latest research results generated at the Institute and interact closely and frequently with the experts from the leading oil and gas companies, which sponsor ICMT.

MULTICORP plugin modules such as the TOPCORP V3 for top-of-the-line corrosion, WWCORP V1 for accurate prediction of water wetting, are also available.

Multicorp 5

MULTICORP V5 was released in late 2011 with a fully mechanistic model of uniform CO₂ and H₂S corrosion, a new platform (VBasic 2012), a new corrosion simulator, and functionality to interact with other flow modeling/corrosion software products. MULTICORP V5 includes a number of improvements and upgrades, which vastly improve the user interface in terms of fluidity, clarity, and robustness. This software was developed in TLC-JIP, WW-JIP, and CC-JIP projects.