• Corrosion Science and Technology
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• v.15 no.2
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• pp.84-91
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• 2016

The transport and deposition of corrosion products in pressurized water nuclear reactor (PWR) steam generators have led to corrosion (SCC, denting etc.) problems. Lancing, mechanical cleaning and chemical cleaning have been used to reduce these problems. The methods of lancing and mechanical cleaning have limitations in removing corrosion products due to the structure of steam generator tubes. But high temperature chemical cleaning (HTCC) with EDTA is the most effective method to remove corrosion products regardless of the structure. However, EDTA in chemical cleaning aqueous solution and chemical cleaning environments affects the integrity of materials used in steam generators. The nuclear power plants have to perform the pre-test (also called as qualification test (QT)) that confirms the effect on the integrity of materials after HTCC. This is one of the series studies that assess the effect, and this study determines the effects of 20 % EDTA aqueous solution on defective tubes in high temperature chemical cleaning environments. The depth and magnitude of defects in steam generator (SG) tubes were measured by eddy current test (ECT) signals. Surface analysis and magnitude of defects were performed by using SEM/EDS. Corrosion rate was assessed by weight loss of specimens. The ECT signals (potential and depth %) of defective tubes increased marginally. But the lengths of defects, oxides on the surface and weights of specimens did not change. The average corrosion rate of standard corrosion specimens was negligible. But the surfaces on specimens showed traces of etching. The depth of etching showed a range on the nanometer. After comprehensive evaluation of all the results, it is concluded that 20 % EDTA aqueous solution in high temperature chemical cleaning environments does not have a negative effect on defective tubes.

• Corrosion Science and Technology
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• v.9 no.5
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• pp.187-195
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• 2010

Hyper duplex stainless steels have been developed in Korea for the purpose of application to the seawater system of Korean nuclear power plants. This system supplies seawater to cooling water heat exchanger tubes, related pipes and chlorine injection system. In normal operation, seawater is supplied to heat exchanger through the exit of circulating water pump headers, and the heat exchanged sea water is extracted to the discharge pipes in circulating water system connected to the circulating water discharge lines. The high flow velocity of some part of seawater system in nuclear power plants accelerates damages of components. Therefore, high strength and high corrosion resistant steels need to be applied for this environment. Hyper duplex stainless steel (27Cr-7.0Ni-2.5Mo-3.2W-0.35N) has been newly developed in Korea and is being improved for applying to nuclear power plants. In this study, the physical & mechanical properties and corrosion resistance of newly developed materials are quantitatively evaluated in comparative to commercial stainless steels in other countries. The properties of weld & HAZ (heat affected zone) are analyzed and the best compositions are suggested. The optimum conditions in welding process are derived for ensuring the volume fraction of ferrite(${\alpha}$) and austenite(${\gamma}$) in HAZ and controlling weld cracks. For applying these materials to the seawater heat exchanger, CCT and CPT in weldments are measured. As a result of all experiments, it was found that the newly developed hyper duplex stainless steel WREMBA has higher corrosion resistance and mechanical properties than those of super austenitic stainless steels including welded area. It is expected to be a promising material for seawater systems of Korean nuclear power plants.

• Corrosion Science and Technology
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• v.16 no.6
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• pp.285-293
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• 2017

The effects of sulfate reducing bacteria (SRB) on the corrosion and scaling of the Q235 carbon steel has been investigated in the simulated sewage water and oil field gathering pipelines production water, using scanning electron microscopy (SEM), energy dispersive x-ray spectrometry (EDS), and three-dimensional stereoscopic microscope. Results indicated that the concentration of SRB reached the maximum value on the ninth day in simulated sewage water with a large amount of scaling on the surface of specimen. In oil field gathering pipelines, a large amount of scaling and mineralization of mineral salts and thick deposition of extracellular polymeric substance (EPS) layers were also observed on the surface of specimen. The thickness of biofilm was about $245{\mu}m$ within 30 days. After adding microbicides, the thickness of corrosion products film was only up to $48-106{\mu}m$ within 30 days, suggesting that SRB could induce biomineralization. Under-deposit corrosion morphology was uniform in the absence of microbicides while local corrosion was observed in the presence of microbicides.

• Corrosion Science and Technology
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• v.16 no.6
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• pp.305-316
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• 2017

Austenitic stainless steels have been widely used for various systems of nuclear power plants. Among these stainless steels, small pipes with diameter less than 14 inch have been produced in the form of seamless pipe. Annealing and cooling process during the manufacturing process can affect corrosion properties of seamless stainless steels. Therefore, 12 inch-diameter of as-received 304L stainless steel pipe was annealed and aged in this study. Intergranular corrosion resistance was evaluated by ASTM A262 Practice A, C, and E methods. The degree of sensitization was determined using a DL-EPR test. U-bend method in an autoclave was used to evaluate the SCC resistance in 0.01 M $Na_2S_4O_6$ or 40% NaOH solution at $340^{\circ}C$. As-received specimen showed relatively high degree of sensitization and intergranular corrosion rate. Carbon segregation was also observed near grain boundaries. Annealing treatment could give the dissolution of segregated carbon into the matrix. Aging treatment could induce segregation of carbon and finally form carbides. Microstructural analysis confirmed that high intergranular corrosion rate of the as-received seamless pipe was due to micro-galvanic corrosion between carbon segregation and grains.

• Corrosion Science and Technology
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• v.9 no.2
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• pp.57-66
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• 2010

Since nuclear power plants are being operated under high temperature and high pressure, on-line monitoring technique to detect corrosion could be more effective than off-line method in shut-off period. In this operating condition, electrochemical noise method may be suitable to monitor the corrosion. This paper aims the analysis on the relation between the cracking and electrochemical noise signal of Alloy 600 under U-bending. When electrochemical noise monitoring technique was used during SCC test, it was judge to be obvious that if cracks generate, its generation can be detected by electrochemical current noise. Cracking-related noise was defined as the noise showing 5~10 times greater than the average value of background noise bands. On the base of crack noise, crack initiation time was determined. From SCC test and electrochemical noise monitoring in $25^{\circ}C$, 0.1 M $Na_2S_4O_6$ solution (Reverse U-Bended Alloy 600 SE+), average crack initiation time was obtained as 9,046 seconds and from its initiation time, it could be defined that net crack propagation rate is the crack length divided by ${\Delta}T$(= total test period - crack initiation time). Therefore, average net crack propagation rate was obtained to be $1.18{\times}10^{-9}\;m/s$.

• Corrosion Science and Technology
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• v.19 no.1
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• pp.16-22
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• 2020

It is important to realize that benzoate was intercalated into hydrotalcite (HTC-Bz) by the co-precipitation method. In this case, acrylic coating with 0.5 wt% HTC-Bz was deposited on carbon steel using the spin coating method. Next, the HTC-Bz structure was characterized by Field emission scanning electron microscopy (FESEM), X-ray diffraction (XRD), and Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FT-IR). In fact, an ultraviolet vision spectroscopy (UV-Vis) was used to determine the benzoate content in HTC-Bz, and the UV absorption ability of HTC-Bz. Using electrochemical techniques, water contact angle measurement, and thermal-gravimetric analysis, we compared the protective properties before and after QUV test, hydrophobicity and the thermal stability of acrylic coating containing HTC-Bz. The obtained results showed that HTC-Bz with a plate-like structure was successfully synthesized; benzoate was intercalated into the interlayer of hydrotalcite with a concentration of 28 wt%. Additionally, it was noted that HTC-Bz has an UV absorption peak at 225 nm. In conclusion, the addition of HTC-Bz enhanced the UV stability, hydrophobicity and the thermal stability of acrylic coating.

• Corrosion Science and Technology
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• v.9 no.1
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• pp.48-55
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• 2010

The many vessels are built with FRP(Fiber-Reinforced Plastic) material for small boats and medium vessels. However, FRP is impossible to be used for recyclable material owing to environmental problems and causes large proportion of collision accidents because radar reflection wave is so weak that large vessels could not detect FRP ships during the sailing. Hence, Al alloy comes into the spotlight to solve these kinds of problems as a new-material for next generation instead of FRP. Al alloy ships are getting widely introduced for fish and leisure boats to save fuel consumption due to lightweight. In this study, it was selected 6061-T6 Al alloy which are mainly used for Al-ships and carried out various electrochemical experiment such as potential, anodic/cathodic polarization, Tafel analysis, potentiostatic experiment and surface morphologies observation after potentiostatic experiment for 1200 sec by using the SEM equipment to evaluate optimum corrosion protection potential in sea water. It is concluded that the optimum corrosion protection potential range is -1.4 V ~ -0.7 V(Ag/AgCl) for 6061-T6 Al alloy, in the case of application of ICCP(Impressed current cathodic protection), which was shown the lowest current density at the electrochemical experiment and good specimen surface morphologies after potentiostatic experiment for Al-Mg-Si(6061-T6) Al alloy in seawater environment.

• Corrosion Science and Technology
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• v.19 no.4
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• pp.203-210
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• 2020

The corrosion behavior of super austenitic stainless steel was studied by examining the characteristics of the sigma phase formed in the steel. A range of experimental and analytical methods was employed, including potentiodynamic polarization tests, critical pitting temperature tests, transmission electron microscopy, and energy-dispersive spectroscopy. Three steel samples with different sigma phase levels were obtained by intentionally adjusting the manufacturing process. The results showed that the corrosion resistance of the samples was strongly dependent upon the size and distribution of the sigma phase precipitated in the samples. The larger the size of the sigma phase, the higher the Mo content in the sigma phase and the higher the depletion level of Mo at the interface between the matrix/sigma phase, the more samples with a coarse-sized sigma phase were susceptible to localized pitting corrosion at the interface. These results suggest that various manufacturing processes, such as welding and the post-heat treatment of the steel, should be optimized so that both the size and fraction of the sigma phase precipitated in the steel are small to improve the resistance to localized corrosion.

• Corrosion Science and Technology
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• v.19 no.4
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• pp.196-202
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• 2020

The air vent connected to a heat supply pipeline in the district heating system has been used to eliminate the existing air in the pipe, which has a detrimental effect on corrosion durability and heat efficiency. Recently, the air vent installed under a manhole for 22 years was corroded and several pinholes were detected in the front-end of the air vent. To identify the cause of the failure, thickness reduction, corrosion products, and water quality were examined. The corrosion damage was significant at the outside of the front-end of the air vent where the insulator was covered. While a thin oxide layer was formed in the interior of the tube, the coarse and porous corrosion products consisting of magnetite and hematite were found externally. Water flowing into the thermal insulator was absorbed by the insulator following hydrolysis. The hydrolyzed insulator ejected the corrosion factors such as Cl^-, SO₄^2-, and NH₄⁺. The findings suggest that the corrosion under insulation due to rain water is the main cause of the underlying failure in the air vent.

• Corrosion Science and Technology
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• v.18 no.5
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• pp.206-211
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• 2019

Silicon carbide (SiC) thin films become superhard when they have microstructures of nanocolumnar crystalline grains (NCCG) with an intergranular amorphous SiC matrix. We investigated the role of ion bombardment and deposition temperature in forming the NCCG in SiC thin films. A direct-current (DC) unbalanced magnetron sputtering method was used with pure Ar as sputtering gas to deposit the SiC thin films at fixed target power of 200 W and chamber pressure of 0.4 Pa. The Ar ion bombardment of the deposited films was conducted by applying a negative DC bias voltage 0-100 V to the substrate during deposition. The deposition temperature was varied between room temperature and $450^{\circ}C$. Above a critical bias voltage of -80 V, the NCCG formed, whereas, below it, the SiC films were amorphous. Additionally, a minimum thermal energy (corresponding to a deposition temperature of $450^{\circ}C$ in this study) was required for the NCCG formation. Transmission electron microscopy, Raman spectroscopy, and glancing angle X-ray diffraction analysis (GAXRD) were conducted to probe the samples' structural characteristics. Of those methods, Raman spectroscopy was a particularly efficient non-destructive tool to analyze the formation of the SiC NCCG in the film, whereas GAXRD was insufficiently sensitive.