Electrochemical Investigation of the Corrosion Behavior of API 5L-X65 Carbon Steel in Carbon Dioxide Medium

Abstract

The corrosion behavior of API 5L-X65 carbon steel in a carbon dioxide (CO2)-saturated solution was investigated by electrochemical measurements (polarization curves, Levich plots, and electrochemical impedance spectroscopy) with a rotating disk electrode. Different experimental conditions such as hydrodynamics, immersion time, and temperature were considered. From the polarization curves, it was shown that both the anodic and cathodic current densities decreased as the electrode rotation speed, the immersion time, and the temperature increased. This behavior was in agreement with the impedance results obtained at the corrosion potential. It was shown that the corrosion processes were initially controlled by mass transport but they became under activation control for longer immersion times. Scanning electron microscopy was used to characterize the corrosion products. For short immersion times (2 h and 6 h), the corrosion products mainly deposited on the cathodic sites (pearlitic zones) of the carbon steel surface forming a heterogeneous layer, whereas they covered the whole electrode surface after longer periods (>15 h). At a microscale, localized corrosion, as a result of galvanic coupling between pearlite and ferrite, was also observed.