Process for simulating the corrosive effects of refinery feedstocks on refinery metalurgy

1. A process for evaluating the corrosive effect of a refinery feedstock on the metallurgy of one or more refinery processes, said process comprising:

(i) providing a plurality of refinery feedstocks and/or a plurality of fractions of one or more refinery feedstocks,

(ii) providing an array comprising a plurality of metal samples representative of metallurgy present in a refinery,

(iii) contacting each of the plurality of metal samples with one or more different refinery feedstocks or fractions under non-static conditions, and

(iv) determining the corrosive effect of said feedstock and/or fraction on the metal sample wherein each contact of step (iii) is made in parallel.

2. A process as claimed in claim 1 , in which the refinery feedstock is selected from a crude oil, a synthetic crude, a biocomponent, an intermediate stream, and blends thereof.

3. A process as claimed in claim 2 , in which the refinery feedstock is selected from a residue, gas oil, vacuum gas oil, naphtha or cracked stock, and blends thereof.

4. A process as claimed in claim 1 , in which the metal samples representative of metallurgy present in a refinery are selected from carbon steel, chromium steel, and stainless steel.

5. A process as claimed in claim 1 , carried out using a microfabricated array of metal samples.

6. A process as claimed in claim 1 , in which a plurality of fractions of one or more refinery feedstocks is obtained by using a microdistillation column or microfractionator.

7. A process as claimed in claim 1 , in which a refinery feedstock is divided to produce a plurality of portions, one for each of the plurality of metal samples, wherein each portion is treated to produce a fraction with a specific boiling point range for contact with the metal sample.

8. A process as claimed in claim 1 , in which the non-static conditions of step (iii) involve contacting the metal samples with the refinery feedstock and/or fraction under variable flow conditions, variable sheer conditions, and/or variable temperature conditions.

9. A process as claimed in claim 1 , in which the metal samples are in the form of wires, thin sheets or meshes.

10. A process as claimed in claim 9 , in which the temperature of the metal samples is controlled and monitored by resistive heating.

11. A process as claimed in claim 10 , in which the refinery feedstock(s) and/or fraction(s) is caused to flow over a plurality of resistively heated metal wire or mesh samples and the resistance change with time is measured to determine the rate of corrosion of said metal samples.

12. A process as claimed in claim 1 , in which the corrosive effect is measured by measuring the concentration of corrosion metals in solution.