Monitoring corrosion rates by means of radioactive tracers

Claim 1

A PROCESS FOR CONTROLLING THE RATE OF CORROSION IN A CORROSION-SENSITIVE CONDUITS DURING AN EXTENDED PERIOD OF THE PRODUCTION OF FLUIDS FLOWING THERETHROUGH FROM A PRODUCING WELL COMPRISING THE STEPS OF: (A) INCORPORATING FROM 1/2 TO 1% OF A RADIOACTIVE MATERIAL OF RELATIVELY HIGH RADIOACTIVE INTENSITY HAVING A SUBSTANTIALLY LONG HALF-LIFE INTO A SPECIMEN, SAID SPECIMEN HAVING CORROSION CHARACTERISTICS CORRESPONDING TO SAID CORROSION-SENSITIVE CONDUIT; (B) EXPOSING THE RESULTING SPECIMENT TO THE FLUID STEAM FLOWING THROUGHS SAID CORROSION-SENSITIVE CONDUIT DURING THE PASSAGE OF SAID FLUID THROUGH SAID CONDUIT; (C) MONITORING SAID FLUID STREAM EXPOSED TO SAID RESULTING SPECIMEN TO DETERMINED THE COUNTING RATE OF THE RADIOACTIVE MATERIAL ENTRAINED THEREIN; AND (D) INJECTING A CORROSION INHIBITOR INTO SAID CONDUIT AT A SUFFICIENT RATE TO MAINTAIN THE COUNTING RATE BELOW A PRESCRIBED LEVEL WHICH IS PROPORTIONAL TO AN ACCEPTABLE CORROSION RATE OF BOTH SAID RESULTING SPECIMEN AND SAID CORROSION-SENSITIVE CONDUIT.