Methodology based on potential measurement for predicting corrosion behaviour of SS 304L in boiling nitric acid containing oxidising ions

Abstract

Austenitic stainless steels like SS 304L are prone to intergranular corrosion (IGC) in boiling nitric acid media. A major cause is sensitisation induced in the heat affected zone of the weldments. Developments in sensitisation resistant materials have lead to the minimisation of degradation due to IGC. Corrosion in nitric acid medium is essentially controlled by oxidising potentials in the transpassive potential regime. The corrosion potential of stainless steel in nitric acid is a function of the concentration of acid, temperature and concentration of specific oxidising ions. In this work, a ‘master curve’ for the dependence of corrosion rates on the applied potentials was generated for type 304L stainless steel (nitric acid grade) in 6M nitric acid at near boiling (95°C) condition. The master curve was validated by measuring the corrosion rates at 48 h exposure in 6M near boiling nitric acid, in which various oxidising ions had been added. It was illustrated that there is a threshold potential (at transition to transpassivity) above which the non-sensitised stainless steel also undergoes IGC. A methodology for the prediction of corrosion rate has thus been proposed that can be applied to austenitic stainless steels at any given operating condition/component in operating plants where nitric acid media are used as process fluid. The effect of the temperature/area ratio of stainless steel on corrosion has been illustrated.