Paper No.

PERFORMANCE

OF SELECTED

MATERIALS

MOHAMMED ALI
SAUDI BASIC INDUSTRIES CORPORATION (SABIC)
RESEARCH & DEVELOPMENT DEPARTMENT
PO BOX 10040
JUBAIL INDUSTRIAL CITY 31961
KINGDOM OF SAUDI ARABIA

IN FLUE GAS ENVIRONMENT

ALI A. AL-BEED
Saudi Petrochemical Co. (SADAF)
Engineering Support Dept.
PO BOX 10025
JUBAIL INDUSTRIAL CITY 31961

ABSTRACT

Severe corrosion was observed at the welds and heat affected zones (HAZ) of an alloy NI0276
Eductor at the company, in an environment containing flue gas and brine. The flue gas contains
carbon dioxide, hydrogen chloride, chlorine, oxygen and nitrogen. When the flue gas combines with
moving brine, it becomes extremely corrosive. To asses the corrosiveness in this environment, five
welded alloy coupons including alloys N 10276, N06022 together with titanium and zirconium
samples were exposed in this environment for a period of twelve months. The results indicated that
the most corrosion resistant materials in this environment were titanium and zirconium
The
evaluation results are discussed in this paper. Subsequently the eductor was constructed out of
zirconiumR60702, which has been in service for more than 10 months. Inspection results indicate no
significant corrosion has occurred.

INTRODUCTION
The incinerator system currently installed at the company contains four major equipment
including iirebox, cooler, eductor and caustic scrubber as shown in Figure 1. The firebox bums both
vent gases and organic waste liquids from the ethylene di-chloride (EDC) unit. The flue gas produced
at the fire box outlet contains water vapor, carbon dioxide, hydrogen chloride, chlorine, nitrogen, and
oxygen at 1093C.
The composition of the flue gas is shown in Table 1. The cooler will quench the
flue gas from 1093C to 200-260 C. The eductor (figure 2) further quenches the flue gas to 57C
with a brine spray. The flue gas is condensed inside the eductor to produce water at about 90C and

Copyright
@l 998 by NACE International.

Requests for permission to publish this manuscript in any form, in part or in whole must be made in writing to NACE
International, Conferences Div!sion, P.O. Box 218340, Houston, Texas 77218-8340. The material presented and the views expressed in this
paper are solely those of the author(s) and are not necessarily endorsed by the Association. Printed in the U.S.A.

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426

The first eductor installed at the company was made from alloy N1 0276. Leakage was detected
at the welded areas of the eductor after only 9 months of service. Subsequently, a new eductor was
fabricated with alloy N06022,
which presumably should have a better corrosion resistance than
N10276.
Again, the new eductor failed after about the same period of service showing leakage at the
welded areas. Figure 3 & 4 are the photographs of the corroded N06022 plate removed fi-om the
eductor indicating the severity of this environment. Due to the severity of this environment, a study
was initiated at the company to expose welded samples of five corrosion resistant alloys inside the
eductor environment to compare their performance. The evaluation results are reported in this paper.
TESTING PROCEDURES

Test coupons made from five alloys were selected for ewduation in the service environment.
These included N1 0276, N06022, N1 0665, titanium Gr-12, and zirconium R60702. The chemical
composition of these materials is shown in Table 2.
Figure 5 is a drawing of the test coupon sample together with the mounting bracket. The
mounting bracket was made from N06022 plate, 5 mm in thickness. The coupon was attached to the
mounting bracket using an N06022 bolt and nut and then welded to an N06022 reinforcement plate.
The reinforcement plate was welded to the eductor wall at a location close to the entrance of the flue
gas.
coupon
samples
Coupon
weighed

In order to evaluate the corrosion behavior of the weldment, a welded joint was included in all
samples as shown in (Figure 5). For comparison purposes, some of the welded coupon
were prepared by the manufacturer together with those prepared by company personnel.
samples were removed for evaluation ailer about 12 months of testing. All samples were
before and after testing.
RESULT AND DISCUSSION

After about 12 months of testing in the service enviromnent, all coupon samples were removed
for examination. The coupons are shown in Figures 6-12 and the results are presented and discussed
here. For N10276 and N06022 samples, severe corrosion damages were observed at the welded area
and also at the HAZ as well as on the base metal. The damage appeared to be from the combination of
corrosion and erosion as shown in the photographs.
For N10665 samples, severe corrosion attack was observed at the welded area for samples
which were welded locally. However, there was very little corrosion at the welded area on those
samples, which were welded by the manufacturer. Tlis result clearly indicates that the welding
procedure played a role in the corrosion resistance at the welding zone for N1 0665 for the present
application.

For coupon samples made from titanium Grade 12 consisting of weldment either produced
locally or by the manufacturer showed no observed corrosion attack at the welding area as well as in
the base metal. Similar results were observed on zirconium R60702 samples. There were no observed
corrosiotierosion damages on all of these samples as shown in the photographs. Table 3 is a summary
of the testing results of all coupon samples.
It is believed that the severe corrosion damage as observed on N10276 and N06022 was horn
hydrochloric acid at a relatively high temperature. As shown in Table 1, the flue gas contains HC 1
and chlorine and other gases which would condense on the eductor surface and form concentrated

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forms hydroc~oric
acid (liquid HC1 at 10 - 20VO). The caustic scrubber absorbs HC1, chlorine and
some C02 into the circulating brine.(i)

The present results indicate that more corrosion damage were observed at the weld and in the
heat affected zone than that at the base metal. This is caused by the segregation of impurities during
welding process.
Most of the impurities are segregated at the grain boundaries and reduce its
corrosion resistance in these regions. This is especially true for N1 0276 & N06022 as observed in the
present investigation. Photomicrograph of a N06022 sample at the heat affect zone (not included)
showed severe corrosion at the grain boundary.(2)
The present result also indicated that N10665 is better in corrosion resistance than N10276 and
N06022 in the flue gas environment. This is due to the higher molybdenum content in N10665 alloy.
However, it appears that the corrosion resistance of N10665
is very sensitive to impurity
contamination.
This is clearly demonstrated by the difference in corrosion behavior between the two
N 10665 samples as shown in Table 3. The N1 0665 sample prepared at the company was welded in a
regular shop environment, while the sample prepared by the manufacturer was welded using special
welding technique presumably
in a dust free environment.
The welded sample prepared by
manufacturer showed a much better corrosion resistance at the welding zone than the sample prepared
at the company.
Based on this study, it was decided to fabricate anew eductor out of zirconium R0702. The
new eductor has been in service for more than 10 months now. Inspection results are very encouraging
and show no signs of significant corrosion.
CONCLUSIONS

& RECOMMENDATIONS

Based on the results obtained from the present investigation, the following conclusions can be drawn:

1.

Use of exposure coupons in the actual service environment is an old but powerfid technique
and when utilized properly gives useful results.

2.

Alloys N1 0276 and N06022 are not suitable for the application in an eductor environment
containing flue gas and brine water.

3.

Alloy N 10665 shows a better corrosion resistance than N 10276 and N06022 in the flue gas
and brine water environment.
However, its corrosion resistance at the welded zone could be
severely impaired if this region is contaminated by impurities during welding process.

4.

Titanium Gr 12 and zirconium

Gr R0702 are suitable for this application, provided that all
welding is conducted in a dust free enclosure under inert gas.

5.

For fhrther work it is recommended to explore the possibility of installing a ceramic lining
inside the eductor on the NI 0665 or N06022 shell to improve its corrosion resistance.

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hydrochloric acid. The inner wall surface of the eductor is always in a wet and dry condition during
operation.
Although the measured pH value of the brine solution collected from the eductor is around
9 as shown in Table 1, the actual pH value of the liquid observed at the inner wall surface of the
eductor could be much lower than 9 and contains concentrated hydrochloric acid which caused the
severe corrosion darnage as seen.

The authors like to thank the managements of SABIC & Sadaf for the ~ermission to conduct the
study and to publish the results. Al~o to Dr Harvie Lee who also worked on this study and has
since left the company.

REFERENCES

1.

Incinerator Process Design Manual page 7-20

2.

HAYNES Technical report on the eductors failure

2.

HAYNES Corrosion resistance alloys data for C-22& C276

3.

ASTM Volume 02-04,

6.

RMI Titanium Co. Technical data

7.

Zircadyne Zirconium Corrosion data- Teledyne WAH Chang Al Bony.

Non ferrous metal products 1983

FLUE GAS PROPERTIES

Total flOW, kg/hr

Temperature, Deg.C
Pressure, Kpa
Composition, %W
Water
Nitrogen
Oxygen
Carbon Dioxide
Hydrogen Chloride
Chlorine
Vapour PH

TABLE 1
AT THE EDUCTOR INLET 1)

35,724-39,052
260
-2.49
20.2
62
5.9
10.4
1.2
0.02
9.5

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ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

WT %
Ni
co
Cr

Mo
w
Fe
Si
Mn
c
v
P
;
:
Ti
Fe+Cr
HF
Zr+Hf
Niobium

TABLE 2
COMPOSITION OF TESTED MATERIALS

N10276

N06022

N10665

Bal
2.5

Bal
2.5

Bal
1.0

14.5 -16.5
15-17
3-4.5
4-7
0.08

22
13
3

1.0
26-36
-.

0;8

021

:;1
0.35
0.02
0.01
---------

Oil

O.111
0.35
0.025
0.01
---.
.-.
----

0.i25
0.01
---------

Ti-G12
0.6-

0.9
--

0.2~0.4

3456)

Zr. 702
---

6:3
--

~~
----

O;~8
---

0:65
---

o:i3
0.25
0.015
Bal
.----

0.;25
0.16
0.005
-:::
99.2
--

TABLE 3
RESULTS OF THE EXPOSED MATERIALS

Material

N10276
N06022
N10665

N10665 **
Ti Gr 12
Zr R60702

Initial Wt.
gm

Final Wt.

Initial base
metal thickness
(mm)

Final base metal

thickness (mm)

Comments

39.4
34.4
65.1

32.4
33.9
59.1

3.36
3.21
3.14

3.35
3.20
3.04

Severe corrosion
at the welds and
HAZ
,

65.1
27.3
14.9

65.0
27.3
14.9

3.18
3.12
2

3.18
3.12
2

Sample welded by company

**

42615

Very slight attack

No attack
No attack

Sample welded by the manufacturer

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CHEMICAL

TFE

10-20

II

MTD

FIGURE 1 Incinerator System

~o

I
I

\ -

,;...
1500mm
::::1::::
.. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .,,

>
890mm
... ....

48Flue Gas Inlet

6 Brim Nozzle

FIGURE 2 Dimensions of the Educator

42616

1289mm

48 (MM

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+%1

II

------

FIGURE 4 Inside surface of Educator

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FIGURE 3- Outside Surface of Educator

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O;;:-O

8 mm c22 bolt wilh nut

and lock nut welded

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .,,

7omx30m
b

Coupon of DiTerent
Materials

\<.

Weld Joint

FIGURE 5- Coupon Arrangement

#a4<6.e7.

FIGURE 6- Exposed samples - Zr 702 (left), N10665 (right)

426/8

..,9
,,

:.
..

.-

s~

FIGURE 8 N06022

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FIGURE 7 -N 10276 (left), N 10665 (right)

23

,s.

FIGURE 9- N 10665 Factory vs. Field Weld

FIGURE 10 Ti Gr 12 (left), N06022 (right)

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*-;*@~**li
.,.
,
.

. ...

FIGURE 11- Ti Gr 12 Shop Weld vs Factory Weld

FIGURE 12 N06022 (left), N10665 (right)

426111

til

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18-a-4<6.66