Stress corrosion cracking of sensitized austenitic stainless steels in Kuwait petroleum refineries

Abstract

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to investigate stress corrosion cracking (SCC) for 304, 316, and 321 stainless steels in petroleum‐processing environments.Design/methodology/approachSensitized austenitic stainless steels were subjected to a microstructure investigation and electrochemical test. Stressed sensitized 304, 316, and 321 stainless steels were selected and subjected to various environments that included polythionic acid, sour solution, and chloride solution that were prepared in the laboratory to simulate service environments in the petroleum refinery.FindingsMicrostructure investigation reveals more severe SCC in polythionic acid than in the sour and chloride solutions. Type 321 SS gives better resistance to SCC than do 304 and 316 SS in the three solutions. It is concluded that acidity of solutions has a relatively minor influence in promoting cracking. However, polythionic acid is found to be the primary causative agent.Originality/valueThe results demonstrated that SCC is more severe in polythionic acid than in chloride and sour solutions.