Corrosion and deposition of ferrous alloys in molten lead-bismuth

This paper reports corrosion and deposition data from tests carried out with liquid eutectic lead-bismuth (Pb-55 at.% Bi) filled steel tubes (austenitic and martensitic) under a thermal gradient (500-280 deg. C) for 3000 h. For the austenitic steel, the surface exposed to Pb-55Bi exhibited a ferritic corrosion layer depleted in nickel and chromium at temperature above 450 deg. C. In the temperature range 450-360 deg. C, deposits composed of iron and chromium were found. There is a temperature effect on composition with a change from iron-rich to chromium-rich with decreasing temperature. For the martensitic steel, a corrosion without corrosion layer was observed above 480 deg. C. Only one type of deposit consisting of 98Fe-2Cr was found in the 400-480 deg. C temperature range