Corrosion of Ferritic Steels by Molten Lithium: Influence of Competing Thermal Gradient Mass Transfer and Surface Product Reactions

摘要

An Fe-12Cr-1MoVW steel was exposed to thermally convective lithium for 6962 h. Results showed that the weight change profile of Fe-12Cr-1MoVW steel changed substantially as the maximum loop temperature was raised from 500 to 600 deg C. Furthermore, for a particular loop experiment, changes in the structure and composition of the exposed surfaces did not reflect typical thermal gradient mass transfer effects for all elements: the surface concentration of chromium was often a maximum at intermediate temperatures, while nickel (present at low concentrations in the starting material) tended to be transported to the coldest part of the loop. Such data were interpreted in terms of a qualitative model in which there are different dominant reactions or the various constituents of the ferritic steels (surface product formation involving nitrogen and/or carbon and solubility-driven elemental transport). This competition among different reactions is important in evaluating overall corrosion behavior and the effects of temperature. The overall corrosion rate of the 12Cr-1MoVW steel was relatively low when compared to that for austenitic stainless steel exposed under similar conditions. (ERA citation 13:002606)