Electrochemical Studies on High-Temperature Corrosion of Silicon-Iron Coatings and Iron Aluminide Intermetallic Alloys by Molten Salts

Abstract

Abstract The performance of Fe-Si coatings and an iron aluminide (FeAl) intermetallic alloy (FeAl40at%+0.1at%B+10vol%Al2O3) in molten salts containing vanadium pentoxide (V2O5) and sodium sulfate (Na2SO4) is reported. Corrosion and fouling by ash deposits containing V2O5 and Na2SO4 are typical corrosion problems in fuel oil-fired electric power units. High-temperature corrosion tests were performed using both electrochemical polarization and immersion techniques. The temperature interval of this study was 600°C to 900°C, and the molten salts were 80wt%V2O5-20wt%Na2SO4. Curves of corrosion current density vs temperature obtained by the potentiodynamic studies are reported, as well as the weight loss vs temperature curves from molten salt immersion tests. Both Fe-Si coatings and FeAl40at%+0.1at%B+10vol%Al2O3 showed good behavior against molten salt corrosion. The final results show the potential of these coatings and alloys to solve the high-temperature corrosion in fuel oil-fired electric power units.