Galvanic Sensor for Detecting Corrosion during Acid Cleaning of Magnetite in Steam Boilers

Abstract

A simple galvanic sensor was developed to determine the onset of iron corrosion under conditions similar to those used for removing the iron oxide (magnetite) layer from steam boilers with a hy-drochloric acid solution. Since the potentials of magnetite and iron are different, the initiation of the dissolution of the magnetite layer without corroding the base metal can be determined by moni-toring the potential of a sensor made of magnetite layers of different thicknesses that can be placed directly on the iron surface. Moreover, the time at which the addition of corrosion inhibitors is required to protect the base metal can be specified using this sensor. It has been shown that the time required for the iron base metal to start was dependent on the magnetite layer thickness in the sensor. With this sensor, the onset of the steel corrosion during the cleaning can be detected in re-al-time which makes the oxide removal process less harmful to the base metal.