Corrosion of Superalloy Material

All combustion-based systems, such as cement kilns, Waste-to-Energy (WtE) facilities or fossil fuel power plants are significantly impacted by high-temperature corrosion. Primary factors affecting corrosion are the high operating temperatures, acid gases in the flue gas produced from elements in the fuels, and simultaneous impacts of elements and ash combining to form unusual eutectics.  Chemical species found in the ash of WtE boilers, and cement kiln units contain a variety of complexes that adhere to surfaces, thus increasing material loss rates due to erosion and accelerated corrosion. In general the WtE industry spends about a third of the annual maintenance budget towards corrosion-related maintenance.

WTE corrosion research at CCL focuses on characterizing the suitability of various alloys for use in WTE plants. An approach was developed to use a lab-scale apparatus that exposes candidate alloy test coupons to a simulated flue gas composition of any industry ranging from waste to energy or cement kiln operations at a temperature range of 450-1100℃. This includes understanding the corrosion surface and comparisons of their corrosion resistance in combustion environments that simulate the gas species and thermal gradients encountered during actual operations.

Corrosion mechanism in super alloy materials (Adapted from T. Sharobem’s
work)1

Related publications:

  1. Sharobem T. T. (2017) Mitigation of High-Temperature Corrosion Waste-to-Energy power plants. PhD Thesis Columbia University.
  2. Lee S. H. (2009) High-Temperature Corrosion Phenomena in Waste-to-Energy Boilers. PhD Thesis Columbia University.
  3. Lee S. H., Themelis N. J., and Castaldi M. J. (2007) High-Temperature Corrosion in Waste-to-Energy Boilers. Journal of Thermal Spray Technology 16(1): 104.
  4. Kawahara Y (2016) An Overview on Corrosion-Resistant Coating Technologies in Biomass/Waste-to-Energy Plants in Recent Decades. Coatings 6(34):
  5. Kawahara Yuzu, Sasaki Kouji, Nakagawa Yuuji (2006) Development and Application of High Cr-high Si-Fe-Ni Alloys to High Efficiency Waste-to-energy Boilers. Materials Science Forum 522-523: 513-522.