Comparative study of the corrosion behavior of Inconel 625 in supercritical water containing dissolved and molten phosphates

Abstract

This paper presents a comparative study of the corrosion behavior of Inconel 625 in supercritical water with different oxygen contents and phosphate phases. The results showed that the dissolved phosphate phase could compete with oxygen and that the addition of oxygen converted Cr2O3 to Cr6 +, resulting in a reduction in the thickness of the oxide film. The oxide film formed consisted of three distinct layers. The outer layer consists of NiO, Fe2O3, and NiFe2O4, which were formed by the diffusion of metal cations outward. The middle layer was a metal phosphate passivation layer which could prevent the diffusion of Fe, Ni, etc. and retard corrosion. The inner layer was formed by inward oxidation of oxygen ions with Cr to form Cr2O3. Phosphate molten salt were highly corrosive and can directly dissolve Cr2O3 into soluble Cr3+, a process accelerated by oxygen, increasing the Cr3+ content from 59.63 % to 77.54 %.