Assessment of Galvanic Corrosion in Molten Salts

Journal Article · Fri Dec 08 00:00:00 EST 2023 · SolarPACES Conference Proceedings

DOI:https://doi.org/10.52825/solarpaces.v1i.654· OSTI ID:2229979

Massimi, Scott Edward; Witteman, Liam; Gauderman, Kristin; Rippy, Kerry

Molten salts are an excellent choice for thermal energy storage materials in concentrated solar power (CSP) plants, yet some salts can cause corrosion of containment alloys that damage plants and increase maintenance costs. Corrosion rates have been characterized for many salt/alloy combinations. However, corrosion rates at junctions of dissimilar alloys in molten salts are relatively poorly characterized. At such junctions, which are common in CSP plants, it is possible that galvanic interactions or other mechanisms could increase corrosion above the industry standard of 20 µm/year. Preliminary reports measured corrosion at dissimilar alloy junctions with a variety of methods, but the results are not uniform. Additionally, some reports have shown that corrosion rates are higher for single alloys than for the same alloys when paired in a galvanic couple, suggesting complex corrosion mechanisms. Here we present a discussion on measuring galvanic corrosion in molten salts that accounts for differences in results between methods and explores the possibility of other mechanisms of corrosion in the system.

• Sponsoring Organization: USDOE
• OSTI ID: 2229979
• Journal Information: SolarPACES Conference Proceedings, Journal Name: SolarPACES Conference Proceedings Vol. 1; ISSN 2751-9899
• Publisher: TIB Open Publishing
• Country of Publication: Country unknown/Code not available
• Language: English