Hot Corrosion Studies Using Electrochemical Techniques of Alloys in a Chloride Molten Salt (NaCl-LiCl) at 650°C

Next-generation solar power conversion systems in concentrating solar power (CSP) applications require high-temperature advanced fluids in the range of 600° to 900°C. Molten salts are good candidates for CSP applications, but they are generally very corrosive to common alloys used in vessels, heat exchangers, and piping at these elevated temperatures. The majority of the molten-salt corrosion evaluations for sulfates with chlorides and some vanadium compounds have been performed for waste incinerators, gas turbine engines, and electric power generation (steam-generating equipment) applications for different materials and molten-salt systems. The majority of the molten-salt corrosion kinetic models under isothermal and thermal cyclic conditions have been established using the weight-loss method and metallographic cross-section analyses. Electrochemical techniques for molten salts have not been employed for CSP applications in the past. Recently, these techniques have been used for a better understanding of the fundamentals behind the hot corrosion mechanisms for thin-film molten salts in gas turbine engines and electric power generation. The chemical (or electrochemical) reactions and transport modes are complex for hot corrosion in systems involving multi-component alloys and salts; but some insight can be gained through thermochemical models to identify major reactions. Electrochemical evaluations were performed on 310SS and In800H in the molten eutectic NaCl-LiCl at 650°C using an open current potential followed by a potentiodynamic polarization sweep. Corrosion rates were determined using Tafel slopes and the Faraday law. The corrosion current density and the corrosion potentials using Pt wire as the reference electrode are reported.