Erosion-corrosion and corrosion wear evaluation of materials in potash brine

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Date
2003Author
Huang, Yuelong
Type
ThesisDegree Level
MastersMetadata
Show full item recordAbstract
Potash plants handle very corrosive raw materials and several corrosive intermediates
and by-products. Several corrosion problems are encountered during potash production
due to the prevalent conditions of high pressures and temperatures, high fluid velocities,
abrasion, erosion, and the presence of very corrosive chemicals and by-products. The
corrosion wear of materials results in severe corrosion damage and other forms of
degradation.
Corrosion wear is defined as the degradation of materials in which corrosion and wear
mechanisms persist together and often interact. The wear action may remove the
corroded surface layers to leave fresh metal surfaces exposed to corrosive environments
so that total materials losses are much greater than that of each process taken alone.
Erosion-corrosion is a conjoint action involving corrosion and erosion in the presence of
a moving corrosive fluid, leading to the accelerated loss of material.
In the present study, the corrosion wear and erosion-corrosion resistance of select
commercially available metallic alloys, ceramics, polymers, and glass fiber reinforced
polymer composites (GFRP) in hot potash brine environments were determined using a
modified slurry tester and a reciprocating test apparatus, respectively. Experiments were
conducted at room temperature and 85°C. The evaluation methods employed included
weight loss analysis, optical microscopy, and scanning electron microscopy (SEM).
Although all the polymer-based materials gained weight by absorbing potash brine
during the early stages of the experiment, the overall results show that GFRP (A-series
and P-series), high density polyethylene (HDPE), and Ferralium 255 have excellent
erosion-corrosion and corrosion wear resistance in potash brine.
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