Abstract

VAN DER MERWE, R.; CORNISH, L.A.  and  VAN DER MERWE, J.W.. Corrosion characteristics of mild steel storage tanks in fluorine-containing acid. J. S. Afr. Inst. Min. Metall. [online]. 2016, vol.116, n.10, pp.921-926. ISSN 2411-9717.  http://dx.doi.org/10.17159/2411-9717/2016/v116n10a5.

The hydrofluoric acid (HF) industry in South Africa uses normalized mild steel (SA 516 Gr 70) for the storage and distribution of its technical-grade product (70% HF). The technical-grade acid is split from the anhydrous hydrogen fluoride (AHF) product during distillation just after HF is produced, in a stainless-steel-lined kiln, from the reaction of calcium fluoride (CaF₂) with sulphuric acid (H₂SO₄). Uniform corrosion of the storage tanks is mitigated during commissioning by contacting the steel with 70% HF. A corrosive reaction takes place (2H+ + 2F^- + Fe → H₂ + FeF₂) to form scale inside the tank which diminishes the attack of the steel by fresh HF, thus prolonging the service life expectancy of the vessels. This iron fluoride scale in the vessel grows continually, resulting in corrosion of the vessels continuing at a predictable rate (approx. 0.5 mm/a) since the first commissioning of the tanks at Necsa in 1993. In early 2012, an increase in the average corrosion rate of the tanks to 3 mm/a measured at and below the liquid band in the storage vessels was noted. Three months later the corrosion rate had increased to 30 mm/a, just before the first leak from the tank was detected. The tanks were decommissioned shortly afterwards and an investigation revealed that the rapid corrosion was due to the presence of increased levels (>50 ppm) of nitric acid (HNO₃) in the tanks, which attacked the fluoride layer protecting the steel. The oxidation characteristics of high concentrations of HNO₃ with low concentrations of HF on stainless steel surface treatment are well documented. The effects of low levels of nitric acid on the corrosion of steels in sulphuric acid are also known, but no suitable published data currently exists on corrosion by high HF concentrations with low HNO₃ concentrations. Establishing the rate and mechanism of corrosion by HNO₃ (0.1 to 1%) in 70% HF is currently a high priority for the HF industry in South Africa and will become increasingly important in the near future due to depleting fluorite reserves and cheaper, but less efficient, processes producing H₂SO₄ with higher impurity levels, which were not anticipated in the original plant design. The aim of this study is to simulate the corrosion conditions in the plant on a laboratory scale in order to establish the corrosion characteristics of the steels used in the HF plant, which are increasingly exposed to the HNO₃ impurities that tend to concentrate in the final technical-grade HF acid product.

Keywords : hydrofluoric acid; mild steel; corrosion; nitric acid contamination.

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