材料期刊网

The corrosion of an Fe-based alloy containing 15 wt pet Y in H-2-H2S mixtures under 10(-3) Pa S-2 was studied at 600 similar to 800 degrees C in an attempt to find materials with improved sulphidation resistance with respect to pure Fe. The presence of Y has been shown to be beneficial, but not sufficient to the level expected. In fact, the alloy is able to form at all tested temperatures an external FeS layer, beneath which a zone containing a mixture of the two sulphides is also present. Thus, Fe can still diffuse through this region to form the outer FeS layer with non-negligible rate. The corrosion rate of Fe is considerably reduced by the Y addition, but the alloy corrodes still much more rapidly than Y. The sulphidation kinetics is generally rather irregular for both the pure metals, while the corrosion rate of the alloy decreases with time and tends to become parabolic after an initial period of 12 similar to 17 h. The sulphidation behaviour of the alloys is discussed by taking into account the presence of an intermetallic compound Fe17Y2 and the limited solubility of Y in Fe.