This paper reports studies related to problems of vapour-side corrosion of
copper/nickel alloys in multistage flash desalination plant. The main objec
tive of the work was to obtain basic information and understanding of the c
orrosion behaviour of copper/nickel alloys in distilled water over a range
of relevant environmental conditions. Some attention was also devoted to ti
tanium and an austenitic stainless steel. The experiments were conducted in
controlled laboratory conditions with assessment of corrosion behaviour ma
inly involving electrochemical monitoring. The results demonstrated a clear
superiority of the Cu/30Ni alloy over Cu/10Ni material at ambient temperat
ures and also nonprotective behaviour of both alloys upon initial exposure
to distilled water at 80 degreesC. In the time scales of the experiments (u
p to 15 days), no evidence was found that the presence of carbon dioxide at
80 degreesC made the water significantly more aggressive to the copper/nic
kel alloys. The superiority of the Cu/30Ni alloy over Cu/10Ni at lower temp
eratures did not appear to extend to the higher temperatures (80 degreesC)
studied. Certainly at short exposure times, titanium and UNS S31603 stainle
ss steel posses considerably superior corrosion resistance than the copper/
nickel alloys over the entire range of conditions studied.