Corrosion of Carbon Steel in Extreme Environments by Acid Mine Water: Experimental Study of the Process Using a Factorial Analysis Tool

Abstract

Acid mine drainage (AMD) is a process resulting from mining activity, which has a potential degrading effect on metallic materials used in machinery and structural installations, mainly carbon steel composites. This work shows how steel is affected and degraded by AMD, as well as the physicochemical changes that occur in the solvent as a consequence of the metal corrosion process. For this purpose, thirty specimens were immersed in AMD for thirty weeks and were removed once per week, observing the changes that had occurred both in the metal and in the solvent to which it was exposed. The results show a material degradation with a loss of weight and alterations in the acid drainage with an increase in pH, total dissolved solids (TDS) and modifications in the rest of the solvent characteristics. The data from the measurements of the plates under study, together with the physicochemical data of the resulting reagent solution, were integrated into matrices for subsequent graphical–statistical processing using Statgraphics Centurion software, a powerful tool for exploratory data analysis, statistical summary, analysis of variance, statistical control, multivariate analysis, time series, etc., and which allows the different variables studied to be classified into categories or proximity ratios.