Department of Chemical Engineering University of Waterloo

Preliminary Report
On Experiment No. 4

Experiment 4: Corrosion Studies

ChE 391 Expt. Feb 12th 2013

Group G William Hancharek Michael Pydiah Kevin Liang

Statement of Objective The purpose of this experiment is to study and compare corrosion rates of galvanized steel with same concentration of sulfuric acid but at different temperature fully submerged. Experimental Procedure William will be responsible for data collection. Michael and Kevin will set up the experiment. Part B: Part C II and III will first be performed on plain steel samples in one of the test mediums. 1. The steel sample coupons will be measured for their diameter 2. The cylindrical coupon will be wrapped with paraffin wax to cover everything but the bottom flat face. The attachment point will be sealed with paraffin wax. A small hole will be made in the wax midway down the side of the sample. The diameter of this opening will be measured. 3. The sample will be inserted into a beaker having Co-Zn solution. Two graphie electrodes and the reference electrode will also be inserted. The reference should be close to the sample, and the electrodes should not touch each other. 4. The electroplating of a CoZn coating onto the mild steel sample will be completed. a. Michael will run the machine, Kevin will deal with anything to do with the actual apparatus. William will collect data. 5.

Equations

Where K = conversion factor based on desired corrosion rate. (units are W = mass loss in g, to nearest 1 mg A = exposed surface in cm2, to nearest 0.01 cm2 t = time of exposure in hours, to nearest 0.01 h = density in g/cm3 ( )

or

Where is measured corrosion current in A/cm2 is the density of the material tested in g/cm3 is the equivalent weight of the sample material


Where: fi is the mass fraction of element i in an alloy, ni is the valence of the i Wi is the atomic weight of element i. The corrosion rate may also be expressed in terms of a mass loss rate

This experiment will use Electrochemical Impedance Spectroscopy (EIS), Tafel, and Linear Polarization Resistance (LPR) scans to determine the corrosion current icorr. The following equations transform the sinusoidal response into rotational vector representation with the in-phase portion of the current defined as the real component and the out-of-phase portion defined as the imaginary component of the rotating vector.

The following equations are for EIS. These equations find the parameters of interest which are the impedance Z = E/I, and the shift in the phase angle between the input and output.

The double layer capacitance, or CDL of a Randles cell can be obtained from the maximum phase shift vs. log frequency data with the following equation. ( Where is the double layer capacitance is the polarization resistance is the uncompensated resistance. )

If estimates of Tafel beta are known, then the Rp value can be used to estimate the icorr with the following equation:

(12)

The Tafel equation models an electrochemical reaction that is under kinetic control. This model is for one isolated electrochemical reaction:
( )

(13)

Where is the measured current is a reaction dependant constant Exchange Current is the measured electrode potential is the equilibrium potential when I=0 is the Tafel constant in volts/decade. If the Tafel equations for both the anodic and cathodic reactions in a corrosion system are combined, they generate the Butler-Volmer Equation: [ Where ]

is the corrosion potential in volts is the anodic Beta Tafel or Stern-Geary Constant volts/decade is the cathodic Beta Tafel or Sterm-Geary Constant in volts/decade.

Safety hazards Gloves and protective eyewear should be worn at all times during the experiment. Sulfuric acid MSDS: Science lab (2012) Material Safety Data Sheet. Retrieved Feb 10, 2013 from www.sciencelab.com/msds.php?msdsId=9925146 hazardous in case of skin and eye contact (tissue damage particularly on mucous membranes of eyes and skin burns) - Inhalation may cause severe irritation of respiratory tract and potentially shortness of breath. In case of any contact with the body, ensure that cold water is used to flush any parts of body exposed to sulfuric acid. Seek medical attention immediately if serious exposure occurred. -

Galvanized Steel Plasmet (2010) Material Safety Data sheet for Galvanized Steel Products. Retrieved Feb 10, 2013 from www.plasmet.co.uk/maintainance/sd-galv.pdf

Additional Important Precautions The seal should be snuggly when tightening the assembly. However, make sure that excessive force is not used otherwise the glass tube on the headpiece will crack easily. (Che 391,Chemical Engineering Laboratory 4 Manual report)

Part B