The effect of the important chemical constituents in the Handford nuclear waste simulant on the anodic behavior of carbon steel was studied. Specifically, the effect of pH, nitrite concentration, nitrite/nitrate concentration ratios, total organic carbon and the chloride concentration on the open circuit potential, pitting potential and repassivation potential was evaluated. It was found that pH adjusting, although capable of returning the tank chemistry back to specification, did not significantly reduce the corrosivity of the stimulant compared to the present condition. Nitrite was found to be a potent inhibitor for carbon steel. A critical concentration of approximately 1.2M appeared to be beneficial to increase the difference of repassivation potential and open circuit potential considerably and thus prevent pitting corrosion from occurring. No further benefit was gained when increasing nitrite concentration to a higher level. The organic compounds were found to be weak inhibitors in the absence of nitrite and the change of chloride from 0.05M to 0.2M did not alter the anodic behavior dramatically.

Subject
Pits, Electric current, Nitrites, Repassivation potentials, Potentiostatic scans, Acidity, Nitrates, Solutions, Pitting, Carbon steel, Localized corrosion, Chlorides, Wastes
Keywords:
pitting, pH, nitrite, nitrate, TOC
© 2007 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).
2007
Association for Materials Protection and Performance (AMPP)
You do not currently have access to this content.