Session: Advanced Protective Coating Technology Symposium & Forum (Part II of III)
Field Evaluation of NETL’s Self-Healing Metallic Coating for Internal Corrosion Protection of Natural Gas Pipelines (C2026-00196)
Monday, March 16, 2026
1:00 PM - 1:30 PM Central
Location: 350 DEF
Earn .5 PDH
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Zineb Belarbi, Scott Lundgren, Aaron Nardi, Jonathan Kopp, Ömer N. Doğan, David Brennan, Quenten Dean
Steel pipelines are a safe, reliable, and affordable way to transport natural gas. However, the presence of impurities in the natural gas can cause internal corrosion. This paper reports on field tests of an innovative self-healing, corrosion-resistant coating developed at the National Energy Technology Laboratory for protecting the interior surfaces of pipelines. Cold spray was used to apply the coating to a 3-foot-long, 6-inch-diameter X56 carbon steel pipe for field testing. A 1.5-foot pipe section was coated with ZnCr, and the other 1.5 feet with ZnNb. The field testing was conducted at the NW Natural Storage Facility in Oregon. The pipe section was pressurized up to 604 psi with untreated natural gas from an underground storage well during the withdrawal season. The pipe section was tested for 131 days under stagnant conditions. The field-test results confirm that the metallic coatings provide corrosion protection for carbon steel exposed to wet natural gas under stagnant conditions. Inspection with the borescope detected no visible signs of damage or corrosion to the coating. Surface characterization revealed the formation of a ZnCO3 layer on top of the ZnNb and ZnCr coatings, which prevents the diffusion of corrosive species to the surface.
