Heavy metal contaminants such as copper, nickel and cobalt have long been recognized as corrosion hazards in aqueous solutions because their reduction is a comparatively common electrochemical corrosion reaction. It has been known for many years that Fe (III) is corrosive to various metals if the ferric salt is soluble, that is, if the solution is sufficiently acid to maintain the Fe (III) ion in solution. Metals such as aluminum, zinc, cadmium, iron, etc., reduce Fe (III) to Fe (II). Furthermore, if dissolved oxygen is available, more corrosive conditions can result by the oxidation of Fe (II) to soluble Fe (III).
Recently a service situation was encountered where ferrous iron in solution was reduced to metallic iron as the result of electrochemical action in an aluminum alloy pipe handling a brine solution. This article describes the laboratory studies conducted to define the mechanism of iron electrodeposition on certain metal alloys from aqueous solutions. Methods to control or prevent such reduction are discussed.
scite is a Brooklyn-based organization that helps researchers better discover and understand research articles through Smart Citations–citations that display the context of the citation and describe whether the article provides supporting or contrasting evidence. scite is used by students and researchers from around the world and is funded in part by the National Science Foundation and the National Institute on Drug Abuse of the National Institutes of Health.