Mo-mediated corrosion behaviour of 1 Cr - Carbon steel in sweet medium under hydrodynamic control

Abstract

The effects of micro-alloying of plain carbon steel with Mo (0.7 wt.%) in the presence of 1 wt.% Cr on the corrosion behaviour and scale protectiveness in CO2 saturated (sweet) brine (0.5 M NaCl) environment, under hydrodynamic conditions, at 80°C in a slightly acidic environment (pH 6.6) were investigated. Potentiostatic current transients suggest that there exists a synergistic interaction of Cr and Mo, which induces more rapid scale crystallization compared to the Mo-free steel. The presence of Mo also suppressed the current passing through corrosion scale. SEM images suggested that 1Cr.0.7Mo steel induced formation of thinner scale with better protectiveness compared to their non-Mo counterparts. From the mechanistic perspective, we suggest that the addition of small amounts of Mo induces formation of a crystalline scale at short times and then it accelerates the growth of that crystalline layer, by modifying the local environment at the steel surface. Modeling of this hypothesis is currently in progress.