Investigation of models to predict the corrosion of steels in flowing liquid lead alloys

Corrosion of steels exposed to flowing liquid lead alloys can be affected by hydrodynamic parameters. The rotating cylinder system is of interest for the practical evaluation of the fluid velocity effect on corrosion and for the prediction of the corrosion behavior in other geometries. Models developed in aqueous medium are tested in the case of liquid metal environments. It is shown that equations established for the rotating cylinder and the pipe flow geometry can be used effectively in liquid lead alloys (Pb–17Li) assuming the corrosion process is mass transfer controlled and the diffusion coefficient of dissolved species is known. The corrosion rate of martensitic steels in Pb–17Li is shown to be independent of the geometry when plotted as a function of the mass transfer coefficient. Predictions about the corrosion of steel in liquid Pb–Bi are performed but experiments are needed to validate the results obtained by modeling.