Corrosion Science, Vol. 30, No. 1, pp. 95-1(t6. 199(I 001(b938X/911 $3.('1t/+0.

00
Printed in Great Britain © 1989 Pergamon Press plc

EROSION-CORROSION IN DISTURBED TWO PHASE

LIQUID/PARTICLE FLOW

U . LOTZ* a n d J. POSTLETHWAITE

Department of Chemical Engineering. University of Saskatchewan. Saskatoon. S7N 0W0, Canada

Abstract--Local erosion-corrosion rates have been measured in a segmented tubular flow cell under
disturbed turbulent flow conditions at a sudden contraction and a sudden expansion of the tube. Carbon
steel and austenitic stainless steel cells were used and the flow medium was 3 wt% NaCI with and without
the addition of 2 vol.% silica sand, d m = 0.43 mm. The solutions were saturated with air, nitrogen or
carbon dioxide. The large variations in the erosion-corrosion rates and the retention of the corrosion
products along the length of the cell are discussed in relation to the structure of the flow.

INTRODUCTION
THE IMPACT of particles on the internal walls of flow components, such as pipes,
fittings, valves and pumps results in (a) enhanced corrosion due to the continuous
removal of protective corrosion products and (b) erosion of the base material,
especially at parts projecting into the main flow.
Recent studies l'z under non-disturbed flow conditions led to the following
conclusions: (a) erosion-corrosion in straight pipelines is under oxygen mass transfer
control with erosion of the base material playing a minor role, l (b) quantification of
the process requires the assumption 1 that only two thirds of the oxygen transferred to
the corroding surface, accounts for the primary corrosion process with the balance
being used in the oxidation of Fe z+ to Fe 3+, and (c) wall roughness produced by
erosion-corrosion results in oxygen mass transfer enhancement of around 100% in
both a sand slurry and a particle free solution.2
Flow dependent erosion-corrosion processes are often found under disturbed
flow conditions at flow obstructions where the flow detaches from and/or impinges on
the walls. This paper presents the results of a study under such conditions at a
constriction in a pipe. The investigation was aimed at elucidating the influences of
wall geometry and the resulting flow structure on the rate of metal loss and the
formation of corrosion products at the wall.
Both weight loss and electrochemical measurements were used to discriminate
between erosion--corrosion and pure erosion of the base material.

EXPERIMENTAl, METHOD
How loop
The flow loop (Fig. 1) which was previously used for slurry erosion-corrosion studies in pipelines ~ 3 at
relatively high solid concentrations up to 20 vol.% underwent some modifications for the present
experiments under disturbed flow conditions.
The medium was circulated by a rubber lined pump (Linatex). Steel wire reinforced flexible rubber
hose (Linatex) was used to connect the various components, using bend radii of at least 0.3 m. The double

* Present address: KSLA-MR/1, Shell Research B.V., 1031 CM Amsterdam, The Netherlands.
Manuscript received 4 October 1988; in amended form 21 December 1988.
95
96 U. LOTZ and J. POSTLETHWAITE

ll0o
Magnetic flow
Segmented
flowcel Aeration / dearotion
tank

Slurry pump

h
Heat exchanger

FIG. ]. Schematic of slurry test loop (size: length = 6 m, height = 3 m).

pipe heat exchanger had an inner 50 mm glass tube. An acrylic honeycomb type flow stratifier removed
residual rotation of the flow created by the bend. The flow rate was monitored by a magnetic flow meter
mounted after the test section. The temperature and oxygen content of the medium were measured in the
tank which could be blanketed with the purge gas. In this way partial pressures of 1 atm. of air, carbon
dioxide or nitrogen were applied. The capacity of the loop was approximately 501.
The segmented tubular test cell (Fig. 2) contained a constriction of 12 diam. of sufficient length to
enable flow reattachment to occur within the constriction. The form of the cell enabled two different
geometries to be studied at the same time, a sudden contraction and a sudden expansion. The test cell was
segmented to enable the measurement of local weight losses. Some of the elements were electrically
isolated for electrochemical measurements.
The electrode configuration for the polarization resistance (PR) measurements comprised three
adjacent electrodes using the middle one as the working electrode and the upstream one as reference
electrode. This technique was checked for IR drop problems in preliminary experiments utilizing a
capillary reference electrode probe guided precisely along the internal wall of a segmented pipe confirming
that the sandwich type electrode configurations reference/working/counter in the actual exposure tests
gave negligible IR effects.

Materials
The carbon steel (AISI MT-1015) segmented flow cell was machined from 56 mm o.d. × 40 mm i.d.
and 32 mm o.d. × 20 mm i.d. cold drawn seamless mechanical tubing. The stainless steel (AISI Type 304)
was machined from seamless tube of similar dimensions. The test medium was 3.0 wt% NaC1 (technical
grade in distilled water) with and without 2 vol.% - 3 0 +50 mesh, d m = 0.43, silica sand.

Procedure
The general test conditions are given in Table 1. Following each experiment the segments were dried
and weighed prior to, and after removal of the corrosion products.
The PR was determined by scanning the potential from - 2 0 to +20 mV at 1 mV s -l, using an EG & G
PARC Model 350 A corrosion measurement system, and determining 6E/6I and 1 = 0. The weight loss
and electrochemical measurements were correlated by the determination of the B values. B values which
were much higher than those expected for 3% NaCI solutions would indicate a large contribution of pure
erosion of the base metal.
All the insulated segments were short circuited during the exposure tests and only opened for the
periodic PR measurements.
 Erosion-corrosion in two phase liquid/particle flow 97

~ ~ X ~ ~ ............

- - (a)

Acrylic electrical insulation

Dia. 2 I. I m m
I

Y///K\x,~v/,l / V/J~,'~U/'~',,~/.,,~',,~//~'%v///A~\'.,y,///~g//A

°° I I I
:38.6 mm

~//'A%'-.~/~ ~~"~,~/L'~/L'~//A ~.\~{///~\~ V//A

4 2 . 5 mm

Element I 2 ~ 4 5 6 78 9 I0 II 12 15 14 1516171819 2 0 2 t 2 2 23 24 25 26 27

no. (b)
I Electrical insulation

Fro. 2. Segmented test section: (a) construction detail; (b) segmentation detail: elements
1, 2, 14, 25, 26, 27 were 19 mm long; elements 10 and 11 were 44 mm long; remaining
elements were 13 mm long.

EXPERIMENTAL RESULTS AND DISCUSSION

Carbon steel~aerated solution
A typical corrosion geometry is shown in Fig. 3 for a single phase flow with a wall
geometry consisting of a sudden contraction followed by a sudden expansion in pipe
di,meter. The flow geometry responsible for this behaviour is comprised of (a) a
small circulating eddy in the corner just in front of the constriction, (b) separation of
the flow at the leading edge of the constriction resulting in a wake which reattaches
after a short distance within the constricted part, and (c) separation of the flow at the
expansion step associated with a recirculation area further downstream. A qualita-
tive sketch of the flow structure is given in Fig. 4. Regions of recirculation are

TABLE 1. TEST CONDITIONS

Large pipe diameter 42 mm

Small pipe diameter 21 mm
Length of constriction 222 mm
Velocity in 42 mm pipe 3.3ms I(_+O.lms 1)
Velocity in 21 mm pipe 13.2ms
Reynolds number (42 mm) 170,000
Reynolds number (21 mm) 340,000
Average particle diameter 43OHm
Particle concentration 0/2% (volume)
Temperature 30°C
Exposure time upto48h
NaC1 concentration 3 wt%
Pressure atmospheric
Initial surface smooth/fully developed corrosion roughness
98 U. LOTZand J. POSTLETHWAITE

Test section

-so
-50 0 I00 200 300 400 500
mm

20

T
~: 16

E
R- 0.34

8
o

•-~ 4

R : 0.43
R =0.6
0 I I I I
0 I00 200 300 400 500
Position in cell / mm

FIG. 3. The effectof the wall geometryof a constricted pipe on the corrosiongeometry:II,
weight loss of metal, after corrosion products removed; [3, weight loss before corrosion
products removed:material, carbon steel; gas, air: particle concentration, 0; exposure time,
48 h; initial surface, smooth; R, corrosionproduct retention factor.

characterized by strong streamline curvature, complex eddy structure and high

turbulence intensities which have been found to yield high local rates of oxygen mass
transfer 4 and a variation of the wall shear stress along the p i p e /
The relationship of mass transfer and fluid flow at the internal wall of a sudden
pipe expansion in single phase flow 6 is shown in Fig. 5. The turbulence intensity (the
root mean square of the turbulent fluctuations determined by means of a laser
doppler velocimeter 7) and the local mass transfer data are shown normalized with the
undisturbed straight pipe data.
For the present investigation it is relevant that the turbulent fluctuations are
responsible for the local increase in mass transfer rates, which in this case involves
oxygen mass transfer to the corroding pipe wall. The discrepancy in the location of

Streamlines

FIG. 4. Flowstructure in test cell---qualitative.

 Erosion-corrosion in two phase liquid/particle flow 99

0 H • I ms -I

Um-4rns I

0 I 2 3 4 5 6 x/Do

I / k / k o [
/~oi "--'~/// Re = 2 , ,0 4 (c) I
• " I / \ /

/ j <. ,..,.,.,o. ,,,

i i i i i i
0 I 2 3 4 5 6

FIG. 5. Flow and mass transfer conditions after a stepwise diameter expansion of a circular
pipe: (a) time-averaged longitudinal flow velocity across the pipe diameter; (b) RMS of the
longitudinal velocity fluctuations; (c) relative mass transfer increase; (d) relative increases
of turbulence intensity perpendicular to the wall. (Index '0' refers to undisturbed pipe flow. )

the maxima in Fig. 5 are tentatively explained as follows: the strong curvature of the
back bending recirculation streamline at the reattachment point of flow shifts the
maximum of mass transfer upstream of the turbulence maximum.
In Fig. 3, the effect of wall shear stresses is reflected in the difference between the
amount of corrosion products retained in the constriction (high rw). In order to
quantify this effect of scale erosion a retention ratio, R can be defined s which relates
the amount of product retained to the amount of corrosion, where

Local mass of scale

R = Local metal mass loss" (1)
If all the corrosion products remained on the surface, R = 1.59 for F e O ( O H ) .
The rate-determining step in oxygen corrosion is usually the supply of oxygen
quantified by a liquid boundary layer mass transfer coefficient kc and a corrosion
product mass transfer coefficient kd. Oxygen is consumed in two consecutive
processes, the formation of Fe 2+ and further oxidation to Fe 3+. Since the first step is
a two-electron electrochemical reaction and the second step a one-electron direct
oxidation reaction the consumption of oxygen is divided 2/3 and 1/3 between the two
reactions. The mass balance of the oxygen flux (Fig. 6) yields
nc = n d = nw + ncp, (2)
where n~ = k c ( C b - - cj): oxygen transport through boundary layer, na = k d ( C d - - Cw):
oxygen transport through scale, nw: oxygen consumption in corrosion reaction
producing Fe 2+, ncp = 1/2nw: oxygen consumption in scale producing Fe 3+ from Fe 2+ .
100 U. LOTZand J. POSTLETHWAITE

Cb

Concentration
boundary
layer _C d

Scale ~

Base :e.tgH)2//A
metal

FIG. 6. Masstransferresistanceand massbalanceof oxygenat a corrodingsurface.

Introduction of these quantities into equation (2) results in the resistance model for
mass transfer 'resistors' in series
2/3(Cb -- Cw)
nw - 1/kc + 1/kd (3)

Under mass transfer control the wall concentration Cwis 0 and the corrosion rate
CR is given by
2/3Cb
C R = const 1/kc + 1/kd" (4)

In Fig. 7 the corrosion product mass transfer resistance kd has been calculated
using equation (4) and compared to the corrosion product retention factor R and the
liquid mass transfer coefficient kc. The latter values were taken from an earlier
investigation4 and multiplied by a factor of 2 to account for the corrosion roughened
surface.2 Accumulation of corrosion products represented by R can clearly be seen in
the corners of the flow backward-facing and flow forward-facing steps. These areas
coincide with relatively low kd values as expected. The process is mainly controlled
by the transter through the corrosion product layer and k d is much smaller than kc.
The erosion of protective layers is much more pronounced in the presence of
suspended solids (Fig. 8). This effect can be clearly seen in Fig. 8(b) where the
corrosion rate is significantly increased over the single phase values shown in
Fig. 8(a).
In the case of single phase flow (Fig. 8a) 1/3 to 1/2 of the retention of the
stoichiometric corrosion products, FeO(OH) was found outside the constriction with
R in the range of 0.5-0.7. Under particulated flow R was very small in the range
0.02-0.05. In the latter case R was actually higher in the constriction. This apparent
anomaly was due to a much more pronounced corrosion pattern with deep elongated
grooves in the constriction where the velocity was around 13 m s -1. The erodent was
not as effective at removing the corrosion products from these deep grooves.
The erosion rate directly at the leading edge was very high. This high rate could
not be measured by weight loss since the leading edge specimen was 13 mm long. A
much shorter leading edge specimen would be used in future experiments.
 Erosion-corrosion in two phase liquid/particle flow 101

n." o.o
1.0

0
0
I
I O0
i
200
i
300
I
400 500
0.4

0.3
v
0.2

0.1
kd

I I I I
0 I00 200 :300 400 .500

Position in cell / mm

FIG. 7. Corrosion product retention factor, R, and mass transfer coefficients along a
constricted pipe exposed to oxygenated saltwater. (Calculation of kd based on the following
conditions: number of electrons for oxygen reduction, z = 4; 02, diffusion coefficient; D =
2 x 10 -5 cm 2 s-l; 02 concentration, cb = 0.21 × 10 -3 mol 1-~.)

The B values which correlate the PR measurement and the weight loss measure-
ments, were determined from
B
i.... (equivalent to total wt loss) - Rp" (5)

where Rp is the integrated value of the polarization resistance measured periodically

during the test. The B values were in the range 16-51 mV (Fig. 9). A value of B can
be calculated using the S t e r n - G e a r y equation:

B = 1 ba" bc
2.-3' ba + bc" (6)
For diffusion control the cathodic tafel slope is b c --* ~. In the present corrosion
system anodic tafel slopes are usually around ba = 50 mV which results in B = 22 mV.
Values for steel in seawater have been reported 9 in the range 20 + 9 mV. The
value for the leading edge specimen with solids present was 47 mV and without solids
23 mV although, as pointed out above, the severe erosion occurred immediately at
the leading edge and this could have probably resulted in a much higher B value had
a much shorter specimen been used. At every measured position the B values with
particles present were greater than those without particles indicating a greater
contribution of erosion of the base metal. If the difference in the B values with and
without solids is assumed to relate wholly to an erosion component wl-en the solids
are present, then the erosion component is in the range 1-27%: apart from the higher
102 U. LOTZ and J. POSTLETHWAITE

Test section
5o-

E 0-

-50 0 I00 2 0 0 mm 300 400 500

50
(o)

7= 40

E
"-. 30-
D
R-0.3

= 20-
o

•~ I0

0 I I I I
0 I00 200 300 400 500
50
105 gm-2 h-=
(b)

40
E
Ob

30
E

o 20

.T:
o,
IO- N=O.05

0 I I I I
0 I00 200 300 400 500

Position in cell /ram

FlG. 8. The effect of solid particles on oxygen corrosion in a constricted pipe: II, weight
loss of metal after corrosion products removed; F1, weight loss of metal before corrosion
products removed; material, carbon steel; gas, air; exposure time, 25 h; initial surface,
roughened by erosion-corrosion; (a) particle concentration = 0; (b) particle concen-
tration = 2 vol.%.
 Erosion-corrosion in two phase liquid/particle flow 103

A4

,N
E 5
o

o
B
4 A5
]=
o At3

i
>o 3
t4&
g
o

E
P
i.
2
AI7 +13 +4 +14
3
• At6
15A 3 ~2 +5
16+1 et4
e4
15
o 3 + + +2
16
15~ el7
2

0 I i ] I I I I
0 0.02 0.04 0.06 0.08 0.10 0.12 0.14 0.16

Integrated value of I / o h m _ I cm_ 2

Rp

Fw,. 9. Determination of the B value for carbon steel, the symbols refer to the experi-
ments displayed in: O, Fig. 3; +, Fig. 8(a); ~ , Fig. 8(b).

value at the leading edge. However, the polarization results are not considered
sufficiently accurate to enable the contribution of erosion of the bare metal to be
quantified with confidence at this s t a g e - - a p a r t from its obvious major contribution
at the leading edge of the sudden contraction.

Carbon steel~C02
The results in Fig. 10 were obtained in CO2-saturated 3.0 wt% NaCI solution with
and without solids present. The corrosion rates were an order of magnitude lower
than those obtained in aerated solutions. The corrosion rate for a film-free carbon
steel corroding under activation control can be determined from the de W a a r d -
Milliams equation 1° (temperature t in °C, partial pressure of C O 2 Pco~ in bar,
corrosion rate CR in m m y - l )

log CR = 7.96 2.23 x 103 5.5 x 10-3t + 0.67 log Pco~, (7)
t + 273
 104 U. LoTz and J. POSTLETHWAITE

Test section

E O- ~

-5° o ,oo .oo

mm
(0)

E
ob 4-

o
P
3-
=
o
2
.c
.o,

0
0 I00 200 300 400 500
6
(b)

E 4
G=

0
3
==
o
- 2
.c
._o,
o
~= I

0 I [ I I
0 I O0 200 300 400 500
Position in cell / mm

FIG. 10. The effect of solid particles o n C O 2 corrosion in a constricted pipe: It, weight loss
of metal, after corrosion products removed; I-q, weight loss before corrosion products
removed; material, carbon steel; gas, CO2; exposure time = 26.5 h; (a) particle concen-
tration = 0; (b) particle concentration = 2 vol.%.

w h i c h for t h e p r e s e n t s y s t e m gives a v a l u e o f 1.4 m m y - a ; close to t h e v a l u e s o b s e r v e d

in Fig. 10(a). H o w e v e r , t h e r e w e r e s o m e o b v i o u s effects o f d i s t u r b e d flow on t h e s e
results with m a x i m a a s s o c i a t e d with t h e e n t r a n c e to t h e c o n s t r i c t i o n a n d a p o i n t
d o w n s t r e a m of t h e s u d d e n e x p a n s i o n , the l a t t e r m a x i m u m p o s s i b l y r e l a t i n g to t h e
r e a t t a c h m e n t o f t h e d i s t u r b e d flow.
T h e p r e s e n c e o f t h e solids r e s u l t e d in a large i n c r e a s e in the e r o s i o n - c o r r o s i o n
 Erosion--corrosion in two phase liquid/particle flow 105

rate in the constriction. The B value at the leading edge segment of the constriction
was 182, again an indicator of the large contribution of erosion of the base metal at
this point. In the presence of solids the B values determined in the constriction
(B = 50 mV) were significantly higher than the values in the large diameter sections
(B ~ 19 mV) indicating a major contribution of erosion of the bare metal by the
suspended particles.
Comparison of the corrosion maxima in Fig. 10(a) and (b) shows the maximum in
particle laden flow to be further downstream than for single phase flow. This effect is
thought to be due to the inertial forces of the solid particles being responsible for
reattachment further downstream.

304 Stainless steel/C02, air, nitrogen

The weight-loss rates for 304 stainless steel (Fig. 11) were similar for aerated,
de-aerated and CO2-saturated solutions indicating the wear was almost entirely
erosion of the base metal with R = 0. The B values indicated in the diagram are as
high as 2000 mV confirming this hypothesis. Again the large wear rate at the leading
edge and maxima downstream of the leading edge and the sudden expansion are
related to the effects of disturbed flow.
The sharp decrease of erosion rate from around 100 mm y-l at the leading edge
to ca 0 mm y-I at the adjacent flow elements can be explained on the basis of the wear

Test section

E O- ~-

-50 0 I00 200mm 500 400 500

I°T I',-,96 gm-Zh-' 1

-~ I o80 gm-'h-' I

4 173

17l

v I 1 I ----I I I
0 I00 200 500 400 500

Position in cell / mm

FiG. 11. The effect of particle-laden flow on the wear of a constricted pipe made of 304
stainless steel; the numbers refer to B values which relate mass loss to time-averaged inverse
polarization resistance: II, CO 2 purge; U], N2 purge; 0 , air purge; particle concen-
tration = 2 vol. %; exposure time, 20 h; initial surface, smooth.
106 u. LoTz and J. POSTLETHWAH-E

m o r p h o l o g y . T h e leading edge was strongly e r o d e d and r o u n d e d . H o w e v e r , a cold

d e f o r m e d lip r e m a i n e d causing the particles to ' j u m p ' over a range of a p p r o x i m a t e l y
3 m m w i t h o u t touching the surface on their way d o w n s t r e a m , as shown by the
machining marks which still r e m a i n e d visible.

CONCLUSIONS
(1) Variations in the e r o s i o n - c o r r o s i o n along the length of a tubular flow cell
containing an e x t e n d e d constriction show effects o f disturbed turbulent flow with
m a x i m a in the constriction and d o w n s t r e a m of the constriction. Such effects can be
o b s e r v e d u n d e r corrosion, erosion--corrosion and erosion conditions.
(2) In aerated conditions c a r b o n steel c o r r o d e d u n d e r o x y g e n mass transfer
control along the length of the flow cell with the o x y g e n mass transfer controlled by
the presence o f a rust film. Small c o n c e n t r a t i o n s of s u s p e n d e d solids give a large
decrease in the a m o u n t of corrosion p r o d u c t s retained on the surface resulting in a
higher e r o s i o n - c o r r o s i o n rate along with s o m e erosion of the base metal.
T h e effect of solid particles on corrosion is a c o m b i n e d action of r e m o v a l of
corrosion p r o d u c t s by erosion and the increase of mass transfer by turbulence
(stirring). It is not possible at the m o m e n t to discriminate the effects of scale r e m o v a l
f r o m the effects o f mass transfer e n h a n c e m e n t by solid particles/surface interactions.
(3) C a r b o n steel in CO2-saturated solution c o r r o d e d at an o r d e r of m a g n i t u d e
lower than in a e r a t e d solutions, with a substantial increase in the presence of
s u s p e n d e d solids which is attributed to erosion of the base metal.
f4) T h e m a j o r m o d e o f metal loss for stainless steel in aerated, CO2-saturated
and N2-saturated solutions containing s u s p e n d e d solids, was erosion.
(5) A s might be expected the presence of solids results in very high rates of
erosion at the leading edge of the constriction.
(6) T h e use of s e g m e n t e d flow cells along with weight loss and electrochemical
m e a s u r e m e n t s should enable the effects of disturbed flow to be evaluated for m a n y
of the c o m p l e x situations f o u n d in industrial systems.

Acknowledgements--This work has been carried out with financial support of the National Science and
Engineering Research Council of Canada and the Stiftung Volkswagenwerk, F.R.G.

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