Hydrogen Generation During the Corrosion of Carbon Steel in Oxalic Acid

WIERSMA, BRUCEJ.

Savannah River Site (S.C.)

关键词: 08 Hydrogen;    Corrosion;    Carbon Steels;    Testing;    Iron;   

DOI  :  10.2172/833395
RP-ID  :  WSRC-TR-2004-00441
RP-ID  :  AC09-96SR18500
RP-ID  :  833395

美国|英语

来源: UNT Digital Library

【 摘 要 】

A literature review of the corrosion mechanism for carbon steel in oxalic acid was performed to determine the ratio of moles of iron corroded to moles of hydrogen evolved during the corrosion of iron in oxalic acid. The theory of corrosion of carbon steel in oxalic acid and experimental work were reviewed. It was concluded that the maximum ratio of moles of hydrogen evolved to moles of iron corroded is 1:1. This ratio would be observed in a de-aerated environment. If oxygen or other oxidizing species are present, the ratio could be much less than 1:1. Testing would be necessary to determine how much less than 1:1 the ratio might be. Although the ratio of hydrogen evolution to iron corroded will not exceed 1:1, the total amount of hydrogen evolved can be influenced by such things as a decrease in the exposed surface area, suppression of hydrogen generation by gamma radiation, the presence of corrosion products on steel surface, etc. These and other variables present during chemical cleaning operations of the waste tank have not been examined by the tests reported in the literature i.e., the tests have focused on clean corrosion coupons in oxalic acid solutions. It is expected that most of these variables would reduce the total amount of hydrogen evolved. Further testing would need to be performed to quantify the reduction in hydrogen generation rate associated with these variables.