Laboratory study of corrosion of steam generator tubes: Preliminary results

The secondary side intergranular attack (IGA) and intergranular stress corrosion cracking (IGSCC) of steam generator tubes often occurs in crevices where impurities are concentrated, due to local elevated temperatures and restricted water flow. From the analysis of tubes pulled from plants, it is believed that alumino-silicates deposits and/or organic species may play a role in the development of IGA in near neutral environments. New observations suggest that similar environments and similar processes are operative inside the corroded grain boundaries. A former study using autoclave tests was mainly devoted to the formation of alumino-silicate deposits similar to those observed in plants. The present work pursued the study of local environments responsible for IGA/SC. It confirms former results on the catalytic decomposition of organic species into acetates and presents more details on the mechanism of formation of alumino-silicate deposits on alloy 600, particularly on the role of iron and, to a lesser extent, nickel cations. It was showed that, under the alumino-silicate deposits and in the presence of some organic species, a non-protective chromium rich layer may grow instead of the usual protective spinel oxide. The mechanism responsible for the formation of this layer is believed to involve interaction between iron and, to a lesser extent, nickel with silica and/or possible interaction between chromium and acetates. Preliminary capsule tests indicate that these conditions may induce the initiation of IGA