Condensate in the Muffler of Automotive Exhaust System

摘要

The material in an automotive exhaust system can be severely corroded due to high temperature oxidation, salt-induced corrosion, and internal condensate corrosion. Inhibition of corrosion is one of the biggest concerns in the automotive industries in order to meet the demands for prolonged guarantee terms. Among all parts of the exhaust system, mufflers are known to have one of the shortest life time due to the severe corrosive attack both from outside and inside. Internal corrosion could be enhanced by the condensate which is generated by the combustion gas from the engine. While numerous research works for the salt-induced external corrosion of mufflers have been done so far, the condensate induced internal corrosion remains to be investigated. Recently highly alloyed ferritic and austenitic stainless steels have been widely used for the exhaust parts. The present study was conducted to compare the corrosion resistance of various materials against synthetic condensates at different temperatures by means of electrochemical analysis.