Carbon steel, water corrosion

Since the formation nature and breakdown of protective surface films depends on both material and environmental parameters such influences on erosion corrosion will be discussed together. Particular attention will be paid to the copper/seawater and carbon steel/water (steam) systems. 

On older process units, you may still encounter piping with sentry holes. Let s say I have a Vfc-in thick pipe. The corrosion allowance for the pipe is Vi in. A number of small holes are drilled into the pipe, to a depth of in. When we start leaking at these small holes, this means that the pipe has corroded to its discard thickness in the area of the sentry hole. Incidentally, you can stop the resulting leak, at least in carbon steel water lines, with a brass wood screw and a screwdriver. I have also done this on hydrocarbon lines under an 80 psig pressure, but perhaps that is not too smart. 

Environmental Aspects of Carbon Steel Stress Corrosion in High-Purity Water Rev. Coatings Corros. 5 (1—4), 1982,... 

Observations on Stress Corrosion Cracking Initiation Sites in Carbon Steel Conference Corrosion 94, Paper No. 234 NACE, Houston, TX, USA, 1994, 13 S. [4 Van der Sluys, W. A. DeMiglio, D. S. Use of a Constant Delta Test Method in the Investigation of Fatigue Crack Growth in 288 deg C Water Environments. Conference Environment-Sensitive Fracture Evaluation and Comparison Test Methods, Gaithersburg, Maryland, USA, 26-28 Apr. 1982... 

F. P. Ford, Prediction of corrosion fatigue initiation in low alloy and carbon steel water systems at 288C, Proceedings of 6th International Conference for Environmental Degradation of Materials in Nuclear Power Systems—Water Reactors, San Diego, TMS, 1993. 

They quickly restored the pH with sulfuric acid. My operators overshot the target and drove the pH down to 4. The water became clear, clean, and corrosive. Leaks sprang out throughout the carbon steel water supply and return piping. Sulfuric acid is used because the pH of water naturally increases due to evaporation of water in closed systems. 

Indig, M.E., Weber, J.E., Weinstain, D. Environmental aspects of carbon steel stress corrosion in high purity water. Rev. Coat. Corros. 5, 173 (1982)... 

CO2 corrosion often occurs at points where there is turbulent flow, such as In production tubing, piping and separators. The problem can be reduced it there is little or no water present. The initial rates of corrosion are generally independent of the type of carbon steel, and chrome alloy steels or duplex stainless steels (chrome and nickel alloy) are required to reduce the rate of corrosion. 

It is reported that mild carbon steels may be effectively protected by as little as 55 ppm of KTc04 in aerated distilled water at temperatures up to 250oC. This corrosion protection is limited to closed systems, since technetium is radioative and must be confined. 9sTc has a specific activity of 6.2 X lOs Bq/g. Activity of this level must not be allowed to spread. 99Tc is a contamination hazard and should be handled in a glove box. 

Institut Eransais du Pntrole dimethyl sulfoxide (DMSO) solvent contains up to 2% water to improve selectivity reflux con-sist of aromatics and paraffins ambient rotating-blade extractor, typically 10—12 stages low corrosion allows use of carbon steel equipment solvent has alow freezing point and is non-toxic two-stage ex-traction has dis-placement solvent in the second stage... 

Formex pro-cess, Snam-progetti /V-formyl-morph o-line (FM) water is added to the FM to increase its se-lectivity and also to avoid high reboiler temperatures during solvent recovery by distillation 40 perforated-tray ex-tractor, FM density at 1.15 aids phase separation low corrosion allows use of carbon steel equipment... 

Although Hitec is nonflammable, it is a strong oxidizer and supports the combustion of other materials. Consequendy, combustible materials must be excluded from contact with the molten salt. Hitec is compatible with carbon steel at temperatures up to 450°C. At higher temperatures, low alloy or austenitic stainless steel is recommended. Adding water to Hitec does not appreciably alter its corrosion behavior. 

Commercial-grade nitroparaftins are shipped and stored ia ordinary carbon steel. However, wet nitroparaftins containing more than 0.1—0.2% water may become discolored when stored ia steel for long periods, even though corrosion is not excessive. Aluminum and stainless steel are completely resistant to corrosion by wet nitroparaftins. Storage ia contact with lead (qv), copper, or alloys containing these metals should be avoided. Polymeric materials for gaskets, hoses, and connections should be tested for thek suitabiHty before exposure to nitroparaftins. 

Materials of Construction. GeneraHy, carbon steel is satisfactory as a material of construction when handling propylene, chlorine, HCl, and chlorinated hydrocarbons at low temperatures (below 100°C) in the absence of water. Nickel-based aHoys are chiefly used in the reaction area where resistance to chlorine and HCl at elevated temperatures is required (39). Elastomer-lined equipment, usuaHy PTFE or Kynar, is typicaHy used when water and HCl or chlorine are present together, such as adsorption of HCl in water, since corrosion of most metals is excessive. Stainless steels are to be avoided in locations exposed to inorganic chlorides, as stainless steels can be subject to chloride stress-corrosion cracking. Contact with aluminum should be avoided under aH circumstances because of potential undesirable reactivity problems. 

Although hydrogen cyanide is a weak acid and is normally not corrosive, it has a corrosive effect under two special conditions (/) water solutions of hydrogen cyanide cause transcrystalline stress cracking of carbon steels under stress even at room temperature and in dilute solution and (2) water solutions of hydrogen cyanide containing sulfuric acid as a stabilizer severely corrode steel (qv) above 40°C and stainless steels above 80°C. 

Cathodic Protection This electrochemical method of corrosion control has found wide application in the protection of carbon steel underground structures such as pipe lines and tanks from external soil corrosion. It is also widely used in water systems to protect ship hulls, offshore structures, and water-storage tanks. 

With some important exceptions, gray-iron castings generally have corrosion resistance similar to that of carbon steel. They do resist atmospheric corrosion as well as attack by natural or neutral waters and neutral soils. However, dilute acids and acid-salt solutions will attack this material. 

Figure 5.2 Schematic of carbon steel corrosion rate versus exposure time in a typical oxygenated cooling water. Note how the average corrosion rate decreases with time and converges to CR at t (the minimum exposure time to get reproducible results).

Carbon steel heat exchangers, cast iron water boxes, screens, pump components, service water system piping, standpipes, fire protection systems, galvanized steel, engine components, and virtually all non-stainless ferrous components are subject to significant corrosion in oxygenated water. 

A typical microbiological analysis in a troubled carbon-steel service water system is given in Table 6.2. Table 6.3 shows a similar analysis for a cupronickel utility main condenser that showed no significant corrosion associated with sulfate reducers. When biological counts of sulfate reducers in solid materials scraped from corroded surfaces are more than about 10, significant attack is possible. Counts above 10 are common only in severely attacked systems. 

Figure 6.7 A small-diameter carbon steel service water pipe perforated by sulfate-reducer corrosion.

Attack at welds due to bacteria is possible, but it is not nearly so common as is often supposed. Because of residual stresses, microstruc-tural irregularities, compositional variation, and surface irregularities, welds show a predisposition to corrode preferentially by most corrosion mechanisms. Attack is common along incompletely closed weld seams such as at butt welds in light-gauge stainless steel tubing (Fig. 6.9A and B). Attack at carbon steel welds may occur. Figure 6.10 shows a severely corroded carbon steel pipe from a service water sys-... 

The corrosion rate of carbon steel (and most cast irons) in pure water is about constant between a pH of 4 and 10 (see Fig. 5.5). In solutions containing strong acids such as hydrochloric and sulfuric, normally pro-... 

Hence, copper heat exchanger tubes handling acetic acid can he more seriously corroded at low temperatures than at high temperatures. Sulfuric acid at room temperature is handled routinely in carbon steel drums and tanks when water concentration is low, but it becomes extremely corrosive as water concentration increases. As ferric-ion concentration increases during acid cleaning of industrial systems, the corrosion rate of steel increases rapidly. 

Figure 11.10 Effect of pH of distilled water on erosion-corrosion of carbon steel at 122°F (50°C) (velocity, 39 ft/s, 12 m/s). (SOURCE M. G. Fontana and N. D. Greene, Corrosion Engineering, 2d ed., 1978, p. 75. Reprinted with permission from McGraw-Hill, Inc.)...

Fig. 2-9 Relation between potential and corrosion rate of a plain carbon steel in slowly circulating water. Definition of symbols ...

Materials for metal tanks and installations include plain carbon steel, hot-dipped galvanized steel, stainless steel [e.g., steel No. 1.4571 (AISI 316Ti)], copper and its alloys. The corrosion resistance of these materials in water is very variable and can... 

Other examples of metallurgy decisions are red brass versus admiralty tubes with fresh water on the tubeside and suspected stress corrosion cracking conditions on the shellside, and stainless steel versus carbon steel with chlorides present. A good metallurgist should be brought in when these kinds of decisions are needed. 

The main febricated parts of the units are carbon steel, with suitable corrosion allowance for the conditions of the chilled and condensing water. When brackish or sea water is used in a barometric condenser, steel construction with a V4 -in. to -in. corrosion allowance is suggested, and minimum wall plates of V2 -in. to -in. may be justified. Internal splash plates should be V2 -in. to -in. minimum, because the atmosphere of water vapor-air is very corrosive. Alloy construction is not justified except in exceptional cases. 

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