Preliminary corrosion studies of candidate materials for supercritical water oxidation reactor systems

Abstract

An experimental test facility has been designed and constructed for investigation of the corrosion behavior of candidate materials in a supercritical water oxidation environment. The high temperatures (500 deg C) and high pressures (300 atm) required in this process, made the experimental apparatus construction and control a complex engineering problem. The facility consists of two systems. The first is an exposure autoclave internal volume 850 ml, with associated monitoring and control systems for conducting long term exposure testing of test coupons and U-bends. The second is an electrochemical cell with a potentiostat and frequency response analyzer for conducting Electronic Impedance Spectroscopy (EIS) in the supercritical water environment. Exposure testing of three candidate materials; Inconel 625, Hastelloy C-276 and 316 stainless steel was conducted at three temperature regimes corresponding to three locations in a SCWO waste treatment system. Preliminary results are presented in an environment of demineralized water as a control. Experimental results indicate evidence of a film on the materials characterized by slight weight gain. Light and confocal laser light microscopic evaluations revealed the presence of localized pitting corrosion on the Inconel 625