Understanding the role of alloying elements Cr, Ni in erosion–corrosion process of nuclear grade austenitic stainless steel 304 L by total reflection X-ray fluorescence

Stainless steel (SS) has gained an indispensable position as one of the most widely used industrial material. In nuclear industry, it is one of the technologically most important structural materials used in pressure tube, containment vessel and reprocessing-related applications. In fact, SS 304 L is the workhorse material of the reprocessing plant which faces the hostile conditions of acid, temperature as well as high radiation dose. These conditions can affect the erosion-corrosion behavior of the material and can lead to poor mechanical properties. This also affects the life of the reactor components. In the present study, a systematic work has been carried out to develop an in-depth understanding of the Corrosion Rates (CRs) with respect to the loss of major and minor elements from SS into the corrosive nitric acid medium using Total reflection X-Ray Fluorescence (TXRF). The effect of acid molarity as well as temperature, on the erosion-corrosion behavior of SS304L was studied. The TXRF studies have revealed that the CR was maximum in 2 M HNO₃ and minimum in 8 M, showing that the nitric acid molarity has an important role to play in the corrosion and as the molarity increases, the passivation of SS 304 L also increases. This observation was further corroborated with the concentrations of Fe, Cr and Ni, which had leached into the nitric acid medium. The role of alloying elements, Cr and Ni, in the passivation of SS was also studied. The effect of temperature showed that at 45 °C, the rate of corrosion was minimum, as compared to at 25 °C and 90 °C which reveals that the formation of chromium oxide passive layer was thermodynamically most favorable at this temperature.