Mild steel corrosion modelling in presence of hydrogen sulphide in aqueous solutions

Abstract

Corrosion of mild steel in aqueous solutions containing hydrogen sulphide was modelled under the condition that an iron sulphide film was formed on the steel surface. In the present model, the iron sulphide forms on the steel surface as a result of a solid state reaction between iron and hydrogen sulphide which has several steps. First a very thin film of iron sulphide nucleates on the steel surface. Then, due to further growth of the initial thin layer, a more porous layer of iron sulphide forms on the initial film. In the present model, it is assumed that mass transfer through the thin iron sulphide layer (i.e. adjacent to the steel substrate) controls the corrosion rate of steel in H₂S aqueous solutions, and as a result electrochemical reactions were not considered. The model was verified against the published experimental data and effects of some parameters such as hydrogen sulphide partial pressure were investigated. The results show that increase in partial pressure of hydrogen sulphide leads to an increase in the corrosion rate of mild steel at the primary stages of the reaction, but as a consequence of formation of iron sulphide scales on the steel surface, it drops with respect to time.