Influence of temperature and hydrodynamic conditions on the corrosion behavior of AISI 316L stainless steel in pure and polluted H3PO4: Application of the response surface methodology

Abstract

Phosphoric acid is mainly produced by the wet acid process, where corrosion problems could be intensified due to the presence of impurities in the phosphate ores. Operating temperatures and flowing conditions aggravate the aforementioned problems. This work studies the influence of temperature (25–60°C) and hydrodynamic conditions (Reynolds numbers from 1456 to 5066) on the corrosion of AISI 316L stainless steel in pure and polluted phosphoric acid solutions, by means of cyclic potentiodynamic polarization curves in a hydrodynamic circuit. The effect of temperature is the same as that caused by impurities, that is, higher corrosion rates and hindered passivation and repassivation resistance of the alloy. Statistical analysis by means of surface response methodology proved that the effect of temperature on the corrosion parameters of AISI 316L is more influential than the Reynolds number effect. The Reynolds number seems to have no significant influence on the corrosion behavior of stainless steel. Furthermore, the influence of temperature on the corrosion rate is much higher than on the rest of the corrosion parameters analyzed, especially in polluted phosphoric acid solutions. AISI 316L stainless steel has a clear interest for the phosphoric acid industry as a component material of some equipment due to its good corrosion properties at the different temperatures and Reynolds numbers studied even in polluted media.