2006 Volume 5 Issue 4 Pages 347-357
Corrosion behavior of structural materials for thermo-chemical and electrolytic hydrogen production cycle was investigated in liquid and gaseous sulfuric acid in the temperature range of 200-500°C. The cycle is one of the hydrogen production methods using sulfuric acid and the maximum temperature through the processes is about 500°C. In this study, corrosion tests of candidate structural materials for equipment of the hydrogen production plant were performed at the conditions each equipment will be used. The concentration of sulfuric acid was 95 mass% in all experiments and maximum test duration was 500h. Only high Si cast iron had good corrosion resistance in the boiling sulfuric acid, whereas high Si cast iron and Hastelloy C276 had good corrosion resistance in the sulfurous acid gas atmosphere (vaporized sulfuric acid or mixture of sulfur dioxide and water vapor). Furthermore, post test analysis by optical microscope and SEMEDX were performed.
