Effect of Flow on Corrosion of Pulp Mill Equipment, 2009 TAPPI Engineering, Pulping, Environmental Conference

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Areas with high flow rates are prone to accelerated flow-induced corrosion. Pipes, pumps, evaporator tubes, splash plates, and other areas with high fluid velocity may experience higher corrosion rates. For carbon steel in green liquor and black liquor, the effect of flow on corrosion rate was gradual compared to that for the stainless steels tested in this study. Stainless steels, which develop a passive film on the surface in pulping liquor environment showed a critical velocity above which the passive film was either unstable or did not form and the corrosion rate increased significantly. Flow-induced corrosion or erosion corrosion depends upon the alloys used, chemical environment, temperature, suspended solids in the process stream, and the flow rate. Critical flow rate for green liquor and heavy black liquor was above ~5 meters/sec under tested conditions.