Corrosion Mitigation in Molten Salt Environments

Abstract

The aim of this paper is to present methods for corrosion mitigation in molten salt environments. The corrosion of structural materials depends directly on the redox potential of the salt. When the redox potential of the salt is higher than the standard potentials of the elements constituting the structural materials, corrosion occurs. If the reverse is true, no corrosion is observed. Herein, a methodology for calculating the theoretical potential of a molten salt is provided and compared with experimental measurements. Three ways to mitigate corrosion by modifying the salt redox potential are proposed: (i) using a soluble/soluble redox system; (ii) using a potentiostatic method; and (iii) using an amphoteric compound such as UCl3, TiCl2, or TiCl3. Immersion tests were conducted under the above conditions to validate the methodology.