Corrosion behaviors of US steels in flowing lead–bismuth eutectic (LBE)

Buoyancy-Enhanced Oxygen Transport in the Experimental Liquid Lead Bismuth Eutectic Container

“…The duplex-layer oxide film was also reported by Zhang et al 29) for HT-9 steel at 460 C. No liquid metal corrosion was observed in either the experiments by Barbier et al 5) or Zhang et al 29) However, a nonuniform single oxide layer of Cr-rich spinel was observed in a rod specimen of T410, and local damage was observed after 2,000 h. 29) The reported oxide layer thicknesses are very close, which confirms the consistency of the two experiments conducted by Barbier et al 5) and Zhang et al 29) For temperatures above 550 C, an oxygen diffusion layer underneath the oxide layer after 3,000 h of exposure at 550 C, was observed by Zhang et al 29) for HT-9 steel at 550 C. For T-410 steel, the rod specimen was subjected to heavy-liquid metal corrosion.…”

“…As analyzed above, the structure of the oxide layer strongly depends on surface treatments, manufacturing technology, and flow conditions, as well. For instance, a single-layer structure oxide layer was observed by Zhang et al 29) in a rod specimen of steel 316L. However, a duplex-layer oxide film was reported by Muller et al in Ref.…”

“…With the same facilities of IPPE-Obninsk, tube and rod specimens of austentic steels 316/316L, D-9, and martenstic steels HT-9, T410, were tested in the flowing LBE by Zhang et al The experiments were carried out at 460 C and 550 C for exposure times of 1,000, 2,000, and 3,000 h. The flow velocity at the test section was set at 1.9 m/s and the oxygen concentration in LBE was controlled in the range of 0.03-0.05 ppm. 29) The chemical compositions of the testing steels are listed in Table 1. 5,29) Generally, there are three possible oxide structures for martensitic steels, according to existing experimental results.…”

“…29) The chemical compositions of the testing steels are listed in Table 1. 5,29) Generally, there are three possible oxide structures for martensitic steels, according to existing experimental results. 7,30) For a temperature of 300 C, the total oxide thickness is usually very small and sometimes too small to measure, such as T91 steel.…”

“…31). Both liquid metal corrosion and slot corrosion were observed in austenitic stainless steel 316L at 550 C. 29) In the cases with only the single-layer structure at such a high temperature, heavy dissolution corrosion was observed and the material could not be well protected. For temperatures above 550 C, a more severe dissolution corrosion and local damage occur, which should be avoided in real manipulation.…”