Elemental sulfur in aqueous media can lead to considerable weight losses and shallow pitting of plain carbon steels. The main features of the process were established by Kuster et al.1 Iron sulfide is formed as a corrosion product, and the rate-controlling process is the reduction of sulfur on the catalytically active FeS
(1)
Subsequently, Fe2+ from the anodic process reacts with the H2S to form FeS
(2)
Thus the corrosion is autocatalytic. The mechanism of the initial formation of FeS is, however, still open to question.1
Corrosion and pitting of highly alloyed steels also occur in the presence of elemental sulfur, but of more importance with these alloys is the possible occurrence of stress corrosion cracking (SCC).2,3 Miyasaka...
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