Electrochemical noise based corrosion monitoring: FY 2001 final report

Abstract

Underground storage tanks made of mild steel are used to contain radioactive waste generated by plutonium production at the Hanford Site. Corrosion of the walls of these tanks is a major issue. Corrosion monitoring and control are currently provided at the Hanford Site through a waste chemistry sampling and analysis program. In this process, tank waste is sampled, analyzed and compared to a selection of laboratory exposures of coupons in simulated waste. Tank wall corrosion is inferred by matching measured tank chemistries to the results of the laboratory simulant testing. This method is expensive, time consuming, and does not yield real-time data. Corrosion can be monitored through coupon exposure studies and a variety of electrochemical techniques. A small number of these techniques have been tried at Hanford and elsewhere within the DOE complex to determine the corrosivity of nuclear waste stored in underground tanks [1]. Coupon exposure programs, linear polarization resistance (LPR), and electrical resistance techniques have all been tried with limited degrees of success. These techniques are most effective for monitoring uniform corrosion, but are not well suited for early detection of localized forms of corrosion such as pitting and stress corrosion cracking (SCC). Pitting and SCC have beenmore » identified as the most likely modes of corrosion failure for Hanford Double Shell Tanks (DST'S) [2-3]. Over the last 20 years, a new corrosion monitoring system has shown promise in detecting localized corrosion and measuring uniform corrosion rates in process industries [4-20]. The system measures electrochemical noise (EN) generated by corrosion. The term EN is used to describe low frequency fluctuations in current and voltage associated with corrosion. In their most basic form, EN-based corrosion monitoring systems monitor and record fluctuations in current and voltage over time from electrodes immersed in an environment of interest. Laboratory studies and field applications have shown that different types of corrosion create different patterns of current and voltage fluctuations (i.e.: EN). By monitoring the EN produced by corrosion on electrodes immersed in waste tanks, waste tank corrosion conditions can be observed in real-time. In early FY 1996, the Tanks Focus Area (TFA) launched an effort to develop EN-based systems to improve Hanford's corrosion monitoring strategy. This document summarizes the results of this work to date, describes the designs and current status of the corrosion monitoring systems at Hanford, and recommends a path forward for the site for future development.« less