Abstract
Oil sands operations may give rise to various corrosion risks such as pitting corrosion, crevice corrosion, microbiologically influenced corrosion and abrasion-corrosion. These risks are mainly related to the chemical composition of the slurry and the presence of abrasive particles or rocks. That is why the corrosion resistance is a critical parameter that has to be taken into account for material choice to avoid regular maintenance of the process equipment.
This paper focuses on the abrasion-corrosion resistance of various stainless steels and wear-resistant carbon steels. The abrasion-corrosion tests were conducted by means of an innovative test method in environments containing chlorides in a pH range from 3 to 9.
The results show that wear-resistant steels are more resistant to abrasion-corrosion than stainless steels in environments containing a low amount of chlorides when the pH is basic. On the contrary, in more corrosive environments, wear-resistant steels are susceptible to corrosion. In such environments, duplex stainless steels are more resistant to abrasion-corrosion and can be considered as excellent candidate materials for various applications like piping systems for instance.
Introduction
Oil sands operations may give rise to various corrosion risks such as pitting corrosion, crevice corrosion, microbiologically influenced corrosion and abrasion-corrosion1. These risks are mainly related to the chemical composition of the slurry (containing chlorides and/or other aggressive compounds) and the presence of abrasive particles or rocks2,3. That is why the corrosion resistance is a critical parameter that has to be taken into account for material choice to avoid regular maintenance of the process equipment.
This paper focuses on the abrasion-corrosion resistance of various stainless steels and wear-resistant carbon steels. The abrasion-corrosion tests were conducted by means of an innovative test method in environments containing chlorides in a pH range from 3 to 9. These electrolytes are representative of possible industrial applications of the materials: oil sands, hydrometallurgy, mining and water treatment industries.
The first part of this paper describes the experimental procedure including the materials, the electrolytes and the innovative test method. Then, the results of the abrasion-corrosion tests are reported. Finally, the influence of various parameters is discussed (hardness, chromium content, chloride, pH and microstructure).
