Abstract
Linear sweep voltammetry, electrochemical impedance spectroscopy, scanning electron microscopy, and x-ray diffraction techniques were used to characterize the corrosion process of API X52 steel in a solution simulating clay soil. Likewise, the formation of the corrosion products that modify their chemical composition and roughness as a function of the immersion time as a result of the presence of molecular oxygen, chloride, and sulfate ions was analyzed. It was observed that these species induce the nucleation and growth of the pitting damage. This time-dependent phenomenon enhances the steel oxidation and is responsible for the formation of magnetite, maghemite, lepidocrocite, and goethite on the steel surface. These iron compounds are important because of their semiconductor properties that may affect the polarizability of the structure of buried pipelines in different ways.
