Preliminary results have shown that the carbon steel is susceptible to pitting corrosion in certain ethanol environments. Immersion tests, cyclic polarization tests, and electrochemical impedance measurements were carried out on X-65 carbon steel specimens in various ethanol-water environments by adjusting the composition in simulated fuel grade ethanol (FGE) mixture. FGE solutions with 5% to 10% water concentration strongly promoted both the general corrosion as well as the pitting corrosion on pipeline steel. Pit size and density was found to change with the amount of water in these chloride containing FGE solutions. Amount of acetic acid in FGE did not show significant effect on the pitting tendency; however, small amounts of hydroxide addition stopped pitting of carbon steel in FGE.

Subject
Pits, Steel surfaces, Water, Simulated fuel grade ethanol, Corrosion initiation, Solutions, Pitting, Passivation, Carbon steel, Immersion, Ethanol, Polarization resistance, Corrosion potential
Keywords:
pitting corrosion, ethanol, fuel grade ethanol, carbon steel, pipeline steel
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2009
Association for Materials Protection and Performance (AMPP)
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