High temperature corrosion mechanisms and effect of alloying elements for materials used in waste incineration environment

Corrosion products on two typical materials, SA213-T12 steel and alloy 625 exposed to the actual combustion gas, were analyzed in addition to laboratory tests for penetration of corrosive matter. It has been clarified that corrosion products of oxides containing a little chlorides and sulphides show lamellar structures and that at the alloy-scale interface, chlorination, sulphidation, and oxidation occur under a low P_O2-high P_Cl2 condition. The formation of scale structures and the effect of corrosion-resistant alloying elements can be explained according to the stability tendencies of metals, chlorides, and oxides in the M-Cl-O equilibrium diagrams. The severity of corrosion environments at the interface is influenced by the penetration extent of corrosive matters through deposits and scales, and the protective effects of oxide films derived from alloying elements play an important role in preventing the corrosion. On the other hand, it has been shown that thermal fluctuation characterized in this kind of environment makes the lamellar scale structures and sometimes breaks and peels off the scale, and thus accelerates the corrosion. On the basis of the above mentioned knowledge, a new corrosion model is presented.