Jf. Norton et al., THE CORROSION OF AISI-310 STAINLESS-STEEL EXPOSED TO SULFIDIZING OXIDIZING CARBURIZING ATMOSPHERES AT 600-DEGREES-C, Corrosion science, 35(5-8), 1993, pp. 1085-1090
AISI 310 is one of the iron-based austenitic steels most commonly used
for high temperature components in industrial engineering plants. The
alloy, containing 25% Cr and 20% Ni, relies upon the formation and ma
intenance of a thin adherent surface chromia layer for protection agai
nst severe corrosive attack. The alloy's performance in purely oxidizi
ng environments is well established but its behaviour in multi-compone
nt atmospheres, particularly those containing sulphidizing species, is
less well documented. In the gasification of coal for the subsequent
production of electricity using steam or gas turbines, component corro
sion can pose significant problems. The work described in this paper w
as carried out at 600-degrees-C in H-2-based gas mixtures with constan
t oxygen partial pressure (pO2 = 10(-26) bar) and carbon activity (a(c
) = 0.2), but with different levels of sulphur. Sulphur partial pressu
res, typical of those found in coal gasifiers (pS2 = 10(-11) to 10(-9)
bar), were achieved by making H2S additions of 0.4-1.0%. Corrosion be
haviour for exposures up to 1000 b was investigated using weight chang
es and a range of electron-optical structural analysis techniques. The
influence of sulphur partial pressure on scaling kinetics is quantifi
ed and scaling mechanisms are identified.