Abstract:
Objective Carbon capture, utilization and storage (CCUS) technology has become a critical enabler for achieving carbon neutrality. However, tubing corrosion caused by CO2 flooding and storage severely threatens the operational safety of oil wells. Existing mechanistic models exhibit insufficient prediction accuracy under extreme operating conditions, while purely data-driven models lack physical interpretability. There is an urgent need to develop a hybrid model that integrates theoretical reliability and predictive precision.
Method Based on the electrochemical mechanism of CO2 corrosion, a temperature-dependent theoretical model for low/high-temperature corrosion rates was developed using the Arrhenius equation to dynamically correct the coupling effects of ferrous ion concentration and temperature. For extreme corrosion rates, a Random Forest sub-model with grid search-optimized hyperparameters was implemented. Grid search was employed to optimize hyperparameter combinations, enabling precise prediction of extreme corrosion rates. Through threshold partitioning, the mechanistic model and data-driven model were dynamically coupled, enhancing prediction capabilities across all operating conditions.
Result Validation on production wells in a CCUS block showed that the mechanistic model achieved a mean relative error (MRE) of 0.27 and a root mean square error (RMSE) of 0.00067 mm/a under normal conditions. The hybrid model reduced MRE by 16% and RMSE to 0.00066 mm/a through extreme-value correction.
Conclusion This model provides a physically interpretable and high-precision tool for predicting CO2 corrosion rates in tubing, providing a reliable tool for managing well integrity in CCUS systems, and reducing corrosion-related operational costs and safety risks.