Low potential pitting corrosion of Ni-Cr-Fe alloys in chloride plus thiosulfate solutions: determination of potential and concentration boundaries

Abstract

Low potential pitting corrosion (LPPC) of alloys 690 and 800 (UNS N06690 and N08800) was studied in neutral solutions, containing chloride ion from 0.1 to 1 M and thiosulfate ion from 5x10-5 to 10-3 M. LPPC occurred close to the corrosion potential (-0.25 VAg/AgCl) by a synergic effect of the chloride and thiosulfate ions. The threshold concentrations of aggressive species for LPPC occurrence were identified by potentiostatic tests with mechanical scratching of the surface, which yielded more conservative estimations compared to other electrochemical tests. The ranges of potential and concentration of chloride and thiosulfate where LPPC occurred and where it merged with the conventional chloride pitting were determined. The lowest threshold concentrations were measured in alloy 800, with a lower Cr content than alloy 690. Thermally-aged alloys 800 and 690 had lower resistance to LPPC than the corresponding solution-annealed material. In 1 M chloride-based solutions, for aged alloy 800, LPPC occurred at a thiosulfate concentration as low as 5x10-5 M; in 10-3 M thiosulfate based solutions, the chloride threshold was 0.1 M. For thermally aged alloys, pits propagated intergranulary in some experiments. In solutions with chloride and thiosulfate concentrations close to the threshold required for pitting, repassivation of LPPC was observed after a sustained period of pit growth, originally initiated by scratching the surface. Such a repassivation has not been reported before in the literature in chloride and thiosulfate solutions. Two possible explanations were presented for this phenomenon.