Corrosion and scale studies of copper used in Moroccan industrial cooling water systems

Abstract

The corrosion and scale behavior of copper in industrial cooling water system were investigated via electrochemical measurements, ionic chromatography, SEM/EDAX, and X-ray diffraction analyses. It was found that the studied water has a corrosion and scale character. The EDAX and XRD analyses indicated that the major corrosion and scale products were the CuO2 and CaCO3, respectively. In addition, the middle Mueller–Hinton test was also employed to evaluate the development of microorganisms for copper in make-up water solution. It is noted that bacterial colonies appeared after immersion of samples in make-up water, indicating that this water develops bacterial colonization. Finally, the influence of some operating parameters on the corrosion and scale rate was studied. It was shown that the scale rate increases with pH, temperature, and the addition of chloride and sulfide ions. It was also found that the corrosion rate increases with temperature and chloride ions and decreases with pH and immersion time.