Corrosion tests in brine and steam from the Salton sea KGRA

Abstract

The Bureau of Mines tested 13 alloys for resistance to general corrosion, pitting corrosion, and stress corrosion cracking in the brine and steam environments produced from geothermal well Magmamax 1 in the Salton Sea Known Geothermal Resources Area located in the Imperial Valley of California. The tests were conducted at a Bureau of Mines test facility that provided seven process environments typical of a geothermal resource recovery plant. Samples from a 30-day corrosion test showed that the alloys most resistant to corrosion in all seven environments were Inconel 625, Hastelloy C-276, and stainless steel alloy 29-4. Hastelloy s G and S were highly resistant to all types of corrosion except crevice corrosion. Although the corrosion resistance of the titanium alloys is considered to be good, it does decrease with time. The stainless steel alloys 430, E-Brite 26-1, and 6X had good resistance to general corrosion but were susceptible to pitting, which increased with time. These alloys also were susceptible to crevice corrosion in most of the environments. Unstressed samples of type 316 L stainless steel exhibited severe cracking in all environments. The 1020 carbon and 4130 alloy steels were the least resistant to general corrosion and also were susceptible to pitting and, occasionally, crevice corrosion.