CORROSION RESISTANCE OF DUPLEX STAINLESS STEELS IN THERMAL DESALINATION PLANTS S. Jacques, J. Peultier, J-C. Gagnepain and P. Soulignac, INDUSTEEL, ArcelorMittal group CORROSION 2008, March 16 - 20, 2008 , New Orleans LA 2008. NACE International Key Words: duplex stainless steel, pitting corrosion resistance, crevice corrosion resistance and thermal desalination processes ABSTRACT The number of countries, which suffer from a shortage of fresh water resources, is increasing continuously. For this reason, the number of desalination projects (production of fresh water from sea water) is booming. In the past, carbon steel, clad steels, copper-nickel alloys, or austenitic stainless steel grades such as 316L were the primary materials used for the walls of thermal process evaporation cells. More recently the duplex grades UNS S32304 and UNS S32205 have been selected for this application. This paper provides some of the technical reasons, which brought about this change in the choice of materials selected. Initially, the results of an extensive corrosion study, performed in a representative environment for evaporation cells and including both duplex and austenitic grades, are presented and discussed. Then a joint corrosion testing program conducted in cooperation with a well established desalination plant designer and run under actual plant conditions is outlined. The results of these field tests led to the development of a new concept for evaporation cells based on utilizing duplex stainless steels.

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• Industeel

• Alloy Steel

• Desalination

• Corrosion

• Article