The oxidation of iron in gas mixtures consisting of Ar, O2, and C12 at 1100 and 1200 K has been investigated by thermogravimetric analysis and examination of the corrosion products of the process by scanning electron microscopy and x-ray diffraction analysis. The results of the experiments have been compared with theoretical corrosion rates calculated from a model which accounts for the formation of an iron oxide scale according to a parabolic rate equation and the formation of volatile chloride reaction products according to a linear rate equation. The results indicate that the rate of oxidation of iron in this temperature range is significantly inhibited by the presence of chlorine in the environment. This effect is attributed to the formation of a dense layer of Fe203 on the outside of the oxide scale which is formed in the presence of chlorine.The rates of oxidation of many metals at high temperatures are limited by the diffusion-controlled growth of protective oxide scales which form on the surfaces of the metals. Because the resistance to diffusional transport increases with time as the scale thickens, if the driving force for oxidation is constant, then parabolic kinetics are observed (1). The scale may grow via the outward transport of metal species or the inward transport of oxidizing species or a combination of the two. The transport coefficients for oxygen anions or metal cations in the oxide are the most important parameters affecting the rate constant for parabolic growth, with the scales growing rapidly when the transport coefficients are high.Iron and a few other transition metals can form oxides with more than one stoichiometry depending on the chemical potential of oxygen in the environment. The oxide scales formed on these metals are multilayered, with the oxides which require the highest oxygen potentials to be stable forming near the gas-scale interface, and those which are stable at lower oxygen potentials forming nearer the scale-metal interface. Ifinterfacial reaction rates do not influence the rates of growth of the layers, then the relative thicknesses of the layers will be proportional to the transport coefficients for oxidizing species within the layers. Iron forms three oxides: FeO "(wustite), Fe304 (magnetite), and Fe203 (hematite) in order of increasing oxygen to iron ratio. The order of the diffusion coefficients for oxidizing species in the oxides is the reverse of this, with the relative thicknesses of FeO, Fe304, and Fe203 in a growing oxide scale on iron at 1200 K being approximately 95:4:1 (2).Mixed oxidation refers to the oxidation of materials in the presence of more than one oxidizing species. Several transition metals have been shown to oxidize at accelerated rates in the presence of second oxidizing species (3). This implies that the presence of second oxidizing species can speed up the transport of species in the growing scale.