Boronizing to mitigate wear, erosion and corrosion failures in the oil and gas industry

Boronizing is a diffusion based case hardening heat treatment process that creates an ultra-hard surface on ferrous and nickel-based alloys. This ultra-hard surface comprised on metal-boride compound layers is used to resist metal on metal wear and erosion from abrasive materials such as sand. Boronized components are also highly corrosion resistant when used downhole in oil wells where CO2, H2S, brine water, and elevated temperatures create a corrosive environment. This presentation will contain basics of the boronizing process, metallurgy of boride layers, wear and corrosion test data, and a case study showing wall loss comparisons of boronized tubing vs untreated tubing after use in a Bakken oil well.