Investigation of effect of an inhibitor on corrosion of steel using thin layer activation analysis technique

Corrosion control by means of suitable inhibitor is an important area of research. Thin layer activation analysis (TLA) is a versatile technique for studying corrosion, erosion and wear processes in metallic and alloy components. In the present study the inhibition effect of hexamethylenetetramine (HMTA) on acid corrosion of carbon steel is investigated. Rectangular carbon steel (CS) test coupons of size 20 mm 20 mm and thickness 1 mm were used for the corrosion study. The coupons were irradiated with 13 MeV proton beam using BARC-TIFR Pelletron accelerator facility, Mumbai. The nuclear reaction involved in this study is ⁵⁶Fe(p,n)⁵⁶Co. The product ⁵⁶Co has a half life of 77.3 days and gamma energies 846.77 keV (100%) and 1238.28 keV (67%). The corrosion experiments were performed in 1M HCl solution containing different concentration of HMTA inhibitor. Decrease in count rate in different corrosion environment was converted to rate of corrosion by the help of a calibration curve. The effect of inhibitor concentration on the rate of corrosion was studied in the range 0-1000 ppm of HMTA. Also the corrosion studies were carried out in the temperature range 25-60 °C in presence and in absence of inhibitor