To understand the effects of brine compositions on the CRAs, a joint industry project was formed under the auspices of the American Petroleum Institute (API). It has been known as the CRAs in Brine Testing Program. Under its auspices, work has been underway for a number of years on understanding the interaction of brine chemistry and CRAs.

The current paper evaluates the SCC risks of a range of CRAs in various halide brine compositions for the case of exposure to acidic production gas (CO2+H2S). Also evaluated are SCC risks due to air exposure. However, the testing became focused on a group of martensitic stainless steels alloyed with Ni and Mo, that are collectively referred to as modified 13Cr martensitic SS, or alternatively in some publications as super (S13Cr) martensitic SSs. Most tests evaluated the as-received brine, excluding proprietary additives such as corrosion inhibitor or oxygen scavengers. For completeness and comparison, test results provided by member companies in the API program or in the publications are cited; these test protocols may be different from those in the API test protocols hence, where that occurs, significant differences are noted.