A Comparison of the Oxidation and Nitridation Properties of Selected Chromia- and Alumina-Forming Alloys at 800 degrees C

Three FeCrAl alloys and two chromia-formers (a stainless steel, and a Ni-base alloy) have been exposed in four environments (dry air, air + 20% H2O, 20% H-2 + 20% H2O + Ar and 95% N-2 + 5% H-2) for 168 h at 800 degrees C. The corroded samples were investigated by SEM/EDS, XRD and gravimetry, and the formation of CrO2(OH)(2)(g) was measured as a function of time using a denuder technique. The Fe-base alloy formed a Cr-rich protective oxide scale in dry air and wet air but suffered break-away oxidation in 20% H-2 + 20% H2O + Ar. In contrast, the Ni-base alloy suffered extensive NiO formation and internal oxidation in dry air and wet air but formed a protective chromia scale in 20% H-2 + 20% H2O. All three FeCrAl alloys formed protective alumina scales in dry air, wet air and 20% H-2 + 20% H2O + Ar. The FeCrAl alloy Kanthal APMT was severely nitrided in the 95% N-2 + 5% H-2 environment due to defects in the oxide scale associated with RE-rich inclusions which allowed nitrogen to enter the alloy. In contrast, the two Cr-lean FeCrAl alloys Kanthal EF101 and Kanthal EF100 did not suffer nitridation at all

Exploring the Effect of Silicon on the High Temperature Corrosion of Lean FeCrAl Alloys in Humid Air

A new approach to reduce the chromium and aluminium concentrations in FeCrAl alloys without significantly impairing corrosion resistance is to alloy with 1-2 wt.% silicon. This paper investigates the "silicon effect" on oxidation by comparing the oxidation behavior and scale microstructure of two FeCrAl alloys, one alloyed with silicon and the other not, in dry and wet air at 600 degrees C and 800 degrees C. Both alloys formed thin protective oxide scales and the Cr-evaporation rates were small. In wet air at 800 degrees C the Si-alloyed FeCrAl formed an oxide scale containing mullite and tridymite together with alpha- and gamma-alumina. It is suggested that the reported improvement of the corrosion resistance of Al- and Cr-lean FeCrAl\u27s by silicon alloying is caused by the appearance of Si-rich phases in the scale

Effective Reduction of Chromium-oxy-hydroxide Evaporation from Ni-Base Alloy 690

The corrosion of the Ni-base alloy 690 (60Ni, 30Cr and 10Fe) in humidified air was studied at 500–800\ua0\ub0C, and the rate of CrO2(OH)2 volatilization was measured quantitatively as a function of exposure time using a denuder technique. Different gas velocities were employed in exposures with a maximum duration of 200\ua0h. Corrosion morphology was investigated by SEM/EDX using BIB-milled cross sections. The rate of chromium volatilization increased with increasing temperature and gas velocity. The rate of volatilization decreased with exposure time. Two oxide scale morphologies were observed, depending on temperature and gas velocity. In the 500–700\ua0\ub0C range, the scale consisted of chromia-rich corundum-type oxide, while exposures with high gas velocities at 800\ua0\ub0C produced an entirely different type of scale that included a Ni-rich and Cr-poor cap layer. The latter scale morphology is suggested to result from extensive chromium depletion of the alloy substrate which triggers a new mode of oxidation involving formation of NiCr spinel oxide. Continued volatilization of CrO2(OH)2 causes the NiCr spinel to decompose into a Ni-rich oxide that forms a cap layer on the scale surface. This cap layer is very efficient in decreasing the rate of chromium volatilization, allowing the chromium levels in the substrate to recuperate. We show that volatilization of chromium (VI) from the alloy can be mitigated by an oxidation pre-treatment that allows the Ni-rich cap layer to form

Efficacy of an external chromia layer in reducing nitridation of high temperature alloys

Six high temperature alloys have been exposed in N2/H2 environments at 900 \ub0C. In order to study the efficacy of a chromia barrier layer against nitrogen ingress, experiments were performed in two environments having the same N2/H2 ratio but slightly different water content, chromia formation being spontaneous in one case only. The samples were evaluated by SEM/STEM/EDX, XRD, gravimetry and GD-OES. The presence of an external chromia scale reduced nitridation of the alloy by 50–95%. Furthermore, in the presence of a continuous alumina layer no nitridation of the alloy was detected

Polyelectrolyte Adsorption on Solid Surfaces: Theoretical Predictions and Experimental Measurements

This work utilizes a combination of theory and experiments to explore the adsorption of two different cationic polyelectrolytes onto oppositely charged silica surfaces at pH 9. Both polymers, poly(diallyldimethylammonium chloride), PDADMAC, and poly(4-vinyl N-methylpyridinium iodide), PVNP, are highly charged and highly soluble in water. Another important aspect is that a silica surface carries a relatively high surface charge density at this pH level. This means that we have specifically chosen to investigate adsorption under conditions where electrostatics can be expected to dominate the interactions. Of specific focus in this work is the response of the adsorption to the addition of simple salt (i.e., a process where electrostatics is gradually screened out). Theoretical predictions from a recently developed correlation-corrected classical density functional theory for polyelectrolytes are evaluated by direct quantitative comparisons with corresponding experimental data, as obtained by ellipsometry measurements. We find that, at low concentrations of simple salt, the adsorption increases with ionic strength, reaching a maximum at intermediate levels (about 200 mM). The adsorption then drops but retains a finite level even at very high salt concentrations, indicating the presence of nonelectrostatic contributions to the adsorption. In the theoretical treatment, the strength of this relatively modest but otherwise largely unknown nonelectrostatic surface affinity was estimated by matching predicted and experimental slopes of adsorption curves at high ionic strength. Given these estimates for the nonelectrostatic part, experimental adsorption data are essentially captured with quantitative accuracy by the classical density functional theory