NDC Industry Funded PhD: Experimental and modelling approaches for corrosion product dispersal in marine environments

About the Project

An exciting opportunity is available for a student to join leading researchers at the UK National Decommissioning Centre (NDC), University of Aberdeen, to advance scientific understanding of pipeline corrosion and the dispersal of corrosion particles in marine environments to inform environmental management, policy, and industry best practice.

The studentship is jointly supported by industry and the NDC.

Project Description

The decommissioning of offshore systems typically involves retaining some of the infrastructure in place, in compliance with the applicable regional regulatory framework. Such left-in-place infrastructure, in particular, subsea pipelines that are mostly made of carbon steel corrode due to long-term exposure to harsh subsea environment. The corrosion process involves both biotic and abiotic mechanisms, with the dominant mechanism depending on the specific environment. An understanding of the corrosion mechanisms and rate and characterisation of the corrosion products of left-in-place subsea pipelines in the marine environment are important for assessing the dispersal of the corrosion product particles and potential risk to benthic environment.

The PhD project aims to advance scientific understanding of how pipelines corrode (rate, mechanism, characteristics of corrosion), as well as the dispersal of corroded particles in the marine environment, with implications for environmental management, policy, and industry best practice. The research will combine laboratory experiments, mechanistic studies, and numerical modelling to investigate the rates, mechanisms, and characteristics of corrosion in left-in-place decommissioned pipelines. Using a probabilistic framework, the project will assess the short- and long-term fate of corrosion particles and their potential impacts on benthic ecosystems.