High Temperature Corrosion studies on Pulsed Current Gas Tungsten Arc Welded Alloy C-276 in Molten Salt Environment

Abstract

Alloy C-276 is widely used in the power plant environment due to high strength and corrosion in highly aggressive environment. The investigation on high- temperature corrosion resistance of the alloy C-276 PCGTA weldment is necessary for prolonged service lifetime of the components used in corrosive environments. Investigation has been carried out on Pulsed Current Gas Tungsten Arc Welding by autogenous and different filler wires (ERNiCrMo-3 and ERNiCrMo-4) under molten state of K2SO4-60% NaCl environment at 675oC under cyclic condition. Thermogravimetric technique was used to establish the kinetics of corrosion. Weight gained in the molten salt reveals a steady-state parabolic rate law while the kinetics with salt deposits displays multi-stage growth rates. PCGTA ERNiCrMo-3 shows the higher parabolic constant compared to others. The scale formed on the weldment samples upon hot corrosion was characterized by using X-ray diffraction, SEM and EDAX analysis to understand the degradation mechanisms. From the results of the experiment the major phases are identified as Cr2O3, Fe2O3, and NiCr2O4. The result showed that weld fabricated by ERNiCrMo-3 found to be more prone to degradation than base metal and ERNiCrMo-4 filler wire due to higher segregation of alloying element of Mo and W in the weldment.