Localized Environment Enriched with Hydrogen Sulfide for Inducing Sulfide Stress Cracking on Type-430 Stainless Steel

Abstract

Exposure tests to hydrogen sulfide environments are frequently used to evaluate hydrogen sulfide stress corrosion cracking (SSC) in steel. However, there are many safety restrictions in handling hydrogen sulfide, and the maintenance of the facilities is very costly. To improve this situation, an electrochemical measurement method that can be used even in laboratories to simulate hydrogen sulfide stress corrosion tests easily. Specifically, a safe hydrogen sulfide corrosion test method was developed using a local hydrogen sulfide concentration environment near the steel surface.A local acidic environment of pH 3-4 was induced by constant potential anodic polarization of a platinum electrode below 2 VSHE in an aqueous sodium sulfide solution. Exposure of the carbon steel surface to a local acidic environment resulted in the formation of iron sulfides such as FeS and FeS2 on the surface, accompanied by a negative shift of the carbon steel electrode potential and an increase in the microelectrode current. Local acidification of a potentiostatically polarized type-430 steel surface confirmed the existence of a critical potential at which the steel surface begins to depassivate and actively dissolve. It was suggested that the substitution of iron oxide for iron sulfide in a hydrogen sulfide environment determines the sulfidation of the steel surface. Using this method, furthermore, the formation of cracks was successfully induced on the surface of type-430 steel under tensile stress loading.