A series of tested surfactant compounds, namely, polyethylene glycol tertiary octyl phenyl ether, Merck; triton X- 114, triton X- 100, and triton X- 405 were investigated as inhibitors for corrosion of oil tanks steel in HCl. It was found that the three used surfactants act as good inhibitors for acid corrosion of the tested C-steel. The inhibition efficiency increases with increased surfactant concentration as well as the number of ethylene oxide units per molecule. Moreover, the inhibition efficiency decreases as the temperature was increased. The adsorption of surfactants on steel surface is a spontaneous process and follows Langmuir adsorption isotherm. |
