Hydrogen generation during the corrosion of carbon steel in crotonic acid and using some organic surfactants to control hydrogen evolution

The purpose of this paper is to describe and evaluate the corrosion of carbon steel in crotonic acid for hydrogen production and using polysorbate 20 (NS), dioctyl sodium sulfosuccinate (AS) and benzalkonium chloride (CS) to control hydrogen evolution. Measurements were conducted in tested solutions using hydrogen evolution and electrochemical impedance spectroscopy (EIS) measurements and complemented by scan electron microscope (SEM) and energy dispersive X-ray (EDX) investigations. It is shown that the hydrogen generation rate obtained during the corrosion of carbon steel in crotonic acid increased with increase in acid concentration, temperature and immersion time. The addition of organic surfactants inhibits the hydrogen generation rate. The inhibition occurs through adsorption of organic surfactants on the metal surface. Adsorption processes followed the Langmuir isotherm. The order of effectiveness of the surfactants was AS > NS > CS. The values of activation energy (Ea) and heat of adsorption (Qads) were calculated and discussed.