CHARACTERIZATION AND HOT CORROSION BEHAVIOR OF BOILER TUBE STEELS AT 700oC

Industrial boiler tubes undergo the effect of hot corrosion during their operating lifetime. The main objective of this project is, to study the degree of hot corrosion affection to the base steel metal, used in the manufacturing of boiler tubes.
The objective is attained by initially characterizing, and quantifying the chemical composition of the alloy in question, on both surface and cross-sectional areas.
Continuously, the alloy samples are exposed to a corrosive environment, composed basically of molten salts: sodium sulphate (Na2SO4) and sodium chloride (NaCl), in a laboratory oven at a temperature of 700oC.
This is done to subject the metal to the effect of hot corrosion.
Once the samples have undergone oxidation and hot corrosion, Scanning Electron Microscope (SEM) analysis is done to study the surface morphology, and identify the chemical composition present after the process.
The degree of penetration of the hot corrosion, through the cross section of the sample is also analyzed, to determine how deep the hot corrosion is able to penetrate the sample, during the total number of cycles applied in the experiment.