Evaluation of influence of dissolved oxygen on corrosion behaviors of FeCrW model alloys in 360 °C water

The dissolved oxygen in a coolant can affect the oxidation properties of structural materials. A desirable oxide phase formation is achieved by manipulating the oxygen level in the coolant, which can mitigate structural material degradation in nuclear power plants. Therefore, the role of dissolved oxygen in the corrosion of structural materials in aqueous environments needs to be understood. In this study, a short-term corrosion test (up to 300 h) of Ferritic/Martensitic steels (F/M steels; FeCrW model alloys), namely, Fe12Cr1W, Fe9Cr1W, and Fe9Cr, in stagnant water at 360 °C was performed in a pressurized autoclave with the dissolved oxygen concentration controlled to 1 ppm or a very low level (<1 ppm). The results of the corrosion tests showed that an increase in the oxygen level in the water elevated the corrosion potential, allowing the phase transition of iron oxide from magnetite (Fe3O4) to hematite (Fe2O3), whereas there was no significant correlation between the concentrations of the alloying elements Cr and W and the oxide growth rate. In addition, hematite was found to mitigate further oxide growth. Finally, a mechanism for the growth of the initial oxide layer was proposed based on the experimental results.