High Temperature Corrosion of A106 Gr B Steel Weldments at

600-800
o
C in N
2
/H
2
S-mixed Gases
Chunyu Xu and Dong Bok Lee*
School of Advanced Materials Science and Engineering, Sungkyunkwan University, Suwon 440-746, South
Korea
*Corresponding author: Email dlee@skku.ac.kr

Abstract: The A106 Gr B steel with a
composition of Fe-1Mn-0.25Si (wt.%) was
welded, and its corrosion behavior was
studied at 600, 700 and 800
o
C at 1 atm of
N
2
/H
2
S-mixed gases. Corrosion occurred
mainly via sulfidation owing to the H
2
S
gas. The base metal had better sulfida-
tion resistance than the weld metal. How-
ever, the morphology and the composi-
tion of the scales formed on base metal
and weld metal were similar. The scales
were generally thick and fragile. Since
FeS was present throughout the whole
scale, the steel was non-protective. The
alloying elements of Mn and Si tended to
incorporate in the lower part of the scale.
1 Introduction
The A106 Gr B low carbon steels are
used as main stream pipes and headers
in the electric power plants and heavy
chemical plants [1,2]. Pipes are joined by
welding, and exposed to high-
temperature corrosive atmospheres dur-
ing service. Their service lifetimes are
limited by creep, fatigue and corrosion.
Although creep and fatigue properties of
weldments are extensively studied, their
high-temperature corrosion was not ade-
quately investigated yet. The fundamental
knowledge on high-temperatures corro-
sion of welded joints is of great impor-
tance. Traditionally, materials designed
for use at high temperatures have been
developed primarily for their mechanical
properties, but there is now a growing re-
alization that corrosion also limits lifetime,
either directly through metal wastage or
indirectly through raising local tempera-
tures due to low thermal conductivity of
the scale.
On the other hand, H
2
S gases are ma-
jor concerns in current and future power
generation systems, high-temperature
gas turbines, and petrochemical units [3].
They dissociate into sulfur and hydrogen,
and reacts with metal according to the
reaction; H
2
S+M MS+H
2
. Hydrogen
atoms from H
2
S ingress into the steels
interstitially, form hydrogen clusters, and
cause hydrogen embrittlement, accelerat-
ing the corrosion rates significantly. In this
study, the A106 Gr steel was corroded
between 600 and 800
o
C in N
2
/H
2
S-mixed
gases in order to understand its corro-
sion.
2 Experimental Procedure
An eleven-pass welded A106 Gr B
steel pipe was tested in this study. Its
chemical composition is listed in Table 1.
It is widely used in industrial facilities
such as nuclear power plants and heavy
chemical plants. The cross-section of the
multi-pass welded pipe is shown in Fig. 1.
The weldments were corroded at 600,
700 and 800
o
C in N
2
/H
2
S-mixed gases,
and characterized by SEM/EDS, XRD,
and EPMA
Table 1. Chemical composition of A106 Gr B steel
(wt.%).
C Mn Si P S Ni Cr Mo Cu
0.
2
1.0
2
0.2
5
0.01
7
0.00
5
0.0
2
0.0
6
0.0
1
0.0
1



Fig. 1. Multi-pass welded pipe.

3 Results and Discussion
Weight gains measured after corrosion
are displayed in Fig. 2. Large weight
gains were recorded, indicating vastly fast
sulfidation kinetics. The scale failure be-
came more serious as sulfidation pro-
gressed. The sulfidation appeared to fol-
low the linear rate law, implying negligible
protection owing to the formation of FeS.
The scales formed were usually very thick
and highly susceptible to spallation during
corrosion and subsequent cooling stage.
Figure 3 shows the SEM cross sec-
tional image and EDS line profiles of the
base metal. The outer thick FeS scale de-
tached off and the inner fragile FeS scale
split into a few layers. The scale was
~400 m thick, implying poor sulfidation
resistance. The outer FeS layer had ei-
ther an equiaxed or a columnar structure,
and the inner layer consisted of fine
grains. Mn and Si were rather uniformly
distributed. Cracks developed in the scale
owing to stresses developed in the thick
oxide scale. Similar scale morphology
was also obtained in the weld metal, indi-
cating that the principal sulfidation mode
was the same in H
2
S/N
2
atmospheres.
The main difference was the acceleration
of corrosion rates in weld metal.

Fig. 2. Sulfidation kinetics of A106 Gr B base
metal and weld metal at 600-800
o
C for 20 h in
H
2
S/N
2
gases .

Fig. 3. A106Gr B base part after sulfidation at
700
o
C for 20h in H
2
S/N
2
gases,(a) SEM cross
sectional image, (b) line profiles.
4 Conclusions
The A106Gr B steel had poor sulfidation
resistance. Both the base metal and weld
metal displayed similar scale structures.
FeS was the main corrosion product. The
formed scales were usually very thick and
quite fragile. The base metal sulfidized
slower than the weld metal.

Acknowledgements
This work was supported by the Human Resource
Development Project of the Korea Institute of En-
ergy Technology Evaluation and Planning
(KETEP) grant funded by the Korea government
Ministry of Knowledge Economy (No.
20114010203020).

References
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