High temperature corrosion behavior of different grain size specimens of 2.25 Cr-1 Mo steel in SO2+O2 environment

The investigation is primarily aimed at the high temperature corrosion behavior of different grain sizes of 2.25 Cr-1 Mo steel at SO2+O2 (mixed oxidation and sulfidation). The various grain sizes (18 μm,26 μm, 48 μm, and 72 μm) are obtained by different annealing treatment. Isothermal corrosion studies are carried out in different grain size specimens at 973K for 8 hours. The corrosion growth rate and the reaction kinetics are studied by weight gain method. The external scales of the post corroded specimen are studied in Scanning Electron Microscope (SEM) to examine the corrosion products morphology on the scale. X-ray mapping analysis of the different elements (Fe, O, Cr and S) is carried out by Energy Dispersive Spectroscopy (EDS) attached with SEM. The X-ray Diffraction Analysis (XRD) is also carried out to identify the corrosion products in the external scale. Finally, it is concluded that that the corrosion rate of 2.25 Cr-1 Mo steel strongly depend on grain sizes of the specimens. The corrosion rate increases with the decreases of grain size. The finer grain (18 μm) show higher corrosion rate than the coarse grains (72 μm). The weight gain kinetics follows the parabolic growth rate which further indicates that the corrosion process is diffusion controlled. The scale analysis shows the thicker scale and extensive scale cracking and spallations in case of finer grain size specimen (18 μm), whereas the coarse grain specimen (72 μm) shows compact and adherent layer. The XRD analysis shows that the corrosion products consist of mixtures of iron oxides( Fe3O4 and Fe2O3) and iron sulfides (FeS). The details mechanism of the corrosion is discussed to explain the difference in corrosion rate for different grain sizes. (author)