I was doing some repair on a tiny leak in one of my natural gas pipes, and noticed that inside the pipe was a small amount of rust. When I took the pipe off, when I turned it upside down a small amount of rust came out. I could see a thin layer of rust coating the pipe in at least a few parts.
It wasn't large enough to concern me, but it made me wonder why this happened. Do these pipes rust from the inside out, and eventually need replacement?
I'm also not completely sure how these pipes could rust inside them. The pipes themselves should always have methane in them and no oxygen or water. There was zero rust on the outside.
The house itself was built in 1924. I'm not sure when gas was put in, but this was a gas pipe in the laundry room feeding the dryer, so it might be as old as 60-70 years.