Susceptibility of stainless steel alloys to crevice corrosion in ClO2 bleach plants

Abstract Stainless steels, including duplex stainless steels, are extensively used for equipment in pulp bleaching plants. One serious corrosion problem in chlorine dioxide bleach plants is crevice corrosion of stainless steels, which is frequently the factor that limits their use in bleach plants. Crevice corrosion susceptibility of alloys depends on various environmental factors including temperature, chemical composition of environment and resulting oxidation potential of system. Upsets in the bleaching process can dramatically change the corrosivity of the bleaching solutions leading to temperatures and chemical concentrations higher than those normally observed in the bleach process. When the environmental limits are exceeded the process equipment made of stainless steel can be severely affected. Environmental limits for crevice corrosion susceptibility of eight stainless steel alloys with PRE numbers ranging from 27 to 55 were determined in chlorine dioxide environments. Alloys used in this study included austenitic, ferritic–austenitic (duplex), and superaustenitic stainless steels. The performance of the different stainless steel alloys mostly followed the PRE numbers for the respective alloys. The 654SMO alloy with the highest PRE number of 55 showed the highest resistance to crevice corrosion in this environment. Under the most aggressive chlorine dioxide bleach plant conditions tested, even alloys Nicr3127 and 654SMO with PRE numbers 51 and 55 respectively were susceptible to crevice corrosion attack. The two factors that seem to contribute the most to crevice corrosion and pitting in the investigated environments are temperature and potential.