Gareth Kear

Electrochemical corrosion of unalloyed copper in chloride media––a critical review

The literature dealing with the electrochemical corrosion characteristics of unalloyed copper in aqueous chloride media is examined. The enormous quantity of polarisation and mixed/corrosion potential data that has been made available in the literature over the last 50 years has been compiled and discussed in a comprehensive review. For a wide range of electrode geometries, the importance of the chloride ion and the mass transport of anodic corrosion products on the corrosion behaviour of copper are made clear for both freshly polished and ‘filmed’ surfaces.

Electrochemical Study of UNS S32550 Super Duplex Stainless Steel Corrosion in Turbulent Seawater Using the Rotating Cylinder Electrode

Abstract The cathodic and anodic characteristics of freshly polished and pre-reduced UNS S32550 (ASTM A479) super duplex stainless steel in a filtered and conductivity-adjusted seawater have been investigated under controlled flow conditions. A rotating cylinder electrode was used together with both steady and non-steady-state voltammetry and a potential step current transient technique to investigate the electrode reactions in the fully characterized electrolyte. Both oxygen reduction and hydrogen evolution were highly irreversible and the material exhibited excellent passivation and repassivation kinetics. Relative corrosion rates were derived and the corrosion mechanism of the alloy was found to be completely independent of the mass-transfer effects, which can contribute to flow-induced corrosion.

Patch and Whole of Surface Mass-Transfer Rate Measurements on a Stepped Rotating Cylinder Electrode

Abstract A recently developed whole of surface electroplating technique was used to obtain mass-transfer rates in the separated flow region of a stepped rotating cylinder electrode. These data are compared with previously reported mass-transfer rates obtained with a patch electrode. It was found that the two methods yield different results, where at lower Reynolds numbers, the mass-transfer rate enhancement was noticeably higher for the whole of the surface electrode than for the patch electrode. The location of the peak mass transfer behind the step, as measured with a patch electrode, was reported to be independent of the Reynolds number in previous studies, whereas the whole of the surface electrode shows a definite Reynolds number dependence. Large eddy simulation results for the recirculating region behind a step are used in this work to show that this difference in behavior is related to the existence of a much thinner fluid layer at the wall for which the velocity is a linear function of distance f...

Determination of diffusion controlled reaction rates at a solid/liquid interface using scanning electron microscopy.

A high‐resolution method has been developed for the determination of localized values of interfacial reaction rate and mass transfer coefficient in aqueous solution. Scanning electron microscopy has been successfully applied to this problem through the measurement of electroplated film thickness formed under limiting current conditions. The method involves the calculation of local values of reaction rate via Faradays laws and subsequent conversion of the data to absolute values of mass transfer coefficient. The technique has been verified in an undisturbed, turbulent flow regime (rotating cylinder electrode) through the use of Sherwood group dimensionless analysis. The resulting relationship shows comparable accuracy relative to electrochemical measurements. Favourable comparison has also been made with the generally accepted rotating cylinder correlation of Eisenberg, Tobias and Wilke. Differential rates of mass transfer to a single surface under conditions of disturbed flow have also been examined at a high spatial resolution using the stepped rotating cylinder electrode geometry. In this case, reaction rates have been measured as a function of circumferential distance within a recirculation zone situated immediately downstream of a backward‐facing step.

Electrochemical deposition of cupric ions for the determination of mass transfer rates to a stepped rotating cylinder electrode

SUMMARY The stepped rotating cylinder electrode (SRCE) geometry has been developed as a simple aid to the practical study of the flow-enhanced corrosion and applied electrochemistry problems commonly observed under conditions of disturbed, turbulent flow. The electrodeposition of cupric ions from an acid sulphate plating bath has been used to characterise differential rates of mass transfer to the SRCE. The variation in thickness of electrodeposited copper films has allowed the mapping of local rates of mass transfer over the active surface of this geometry. Both optical and scanning electron microscopy were used for the examination of metallographic sections to provide a high resolution evaluation of the distribution of mass transfer coefficient. Results are also discussed using the convective-diffusion model in combination with the existing direct numerical flow simulation (DNS) data for this geometry.

Anodic Characteristics of Copper, Wrought CuNi10, and CuAl10Ni5Fe4 in Seawater: Part 1—Polarizations Below 200 mV at Rotating Disc Electrodes and Rotating Cylinder Electrodes

Abstract The anodic, chloride ion-facilitated dissolution of copper, wrought 90-10 copper-nickel, and wrought nickel aluminum bronze, in controlled aqueous chloride electrolytes, has been examined ...

Anodic Characteristics of Copper, Wrought CuNi10, and CuAl10Ni5Fe4 in Seawater: Part 2— Polarizations Below 500 mV at Rotating Disc Electrodes

Abstract The anodic behavior of copper, wrought 90-10 copper-nickel, and nickel aluminum bronze in chloride media have been examined using a rotating disc electrode (RDE) at Reynolds numbers of 80 ...