Sulfur dioxide is present at low levels in many industrial environments and can cause serious high temperature corrosion problems. In general, the presence of SO2 accelerates the overall rate of corrosion, due to the simultaneous formation of oxide and sulfide. In the present work, alloy 556 and Type 304 stainless steel were exposed in environments with and without SO2 to determine the effect of the contaminant on corrosion. Exposure in an Ar-O2-CO2 environment at 1800°F (982°C) showed that Type 304SS suffered breakaway oxidation, whereas alloy 556 formed a thin, compact oxide scale. In the SO2-bearing environment (Ar-10%SO2-5%O2-5%CO2), the stainless steel was severely attacked while the compact oxide scale on alloy 556 served to retard the ingress of sulfur from the environment. It is clear from the results that oxidation resistance is a reasonable criterion to use in selecting materials for SO2-bearing environments.

Subject
Sulfur, Materials, Stainless alloys, Oxide formation, Oxide layers, Metal oxides, Partial pressures, Corrosion attacks, Oxide scales, Scale formation, Sulfides, Alloys, Oxidation
Keywords:
Oxidation, Sulfidation, Iron-base alloys, alloy 556, Type 304 Stainless Steel, Oxide scale formation
© 1990 Association for Materials Protection and Performance (AMPP). All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means (electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise) without the prior written permission of AMPP. Positions and opinions advanced in this work are those of the author(s) and not necessarily those of AMPP. Responsibility for the content of the work lies solely with the author(s).
1990
Association for Materials Protection and Performance (AMPP)
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