skip to main content
OSTI.GOV title logo U.S. Department of Energy
Office of Scientific and Technical Information

Title: Materials of construction for high-salinity geothermal brines. Rept. of investigations/1992

Technical Report ·
OSTI ID:5036089

The high-temperature, high-salinity geothermal brines in the Salton Sea Known Geothermal Resources Area (KGRA) are a valuable source of energy and mineral values. The brine and steam produced from them are corrosive and cause early failure of many common materials of construction. Mass-loss and electrochemical corrosion measurements were conducted on over 60 metal alloys in brine and steam environments produced from geothermal well Magmamax No. 1, located at the Salton Sea KGRA, at temperatures from 180 to 215 C, and in synthetic Magmamax brine at 105 and 232 C. General corrosion, crevice and pitting corrosion, and stress corrosion were examined along with the effects of dissolved gases. The alloys with the most acceptable corrosion performance in high-temperature, high-salinity geothermal environments were the high-chromium ferritic stainless steels, the Inconels and Hastelloys, and the titanium alloys.

Research Organization:
Bureau of Mines, Albany, OR (United States). Albany Research Center
OSTI ID:
5036089
Report Number(s):
PB-92-186493/XAB; BUMINES-RI-9402
Resource Relation:
Other Information: Library of Congress catalog card no. 91-25177
Country of Publication:
United States
Language:
English