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Corrosion evaluation and resistance study of alloys in chloride salts for concentrating solar power plants

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Abstract

Thermal energy storage (TES) systems based on molten salt are widely used in concentrating solar power (CSP) plants. The investigation of the corrosion behavior of alloy materials in molten salt is crucial for the correct selection of alloy materials and the design of TES systems. In this study, the corrosion behavior of 304, 310S, 316, and In625 alloys in molten chloride salts (27 mol% NaCl-22 mol% KCl-51 mol% MgCl2) was investigated. The evolution of mass loss of the alloy samples with corrosion time and temperature and the analysis of the experimental results by scanning electron microscopy (SEM), energy dispersive spectrometer (EDS), and X-ray diffraction (XRD) revealed the corrosion mechanism of the alloy samples in molten chloride salts. The main factors affecting the corrosion of the alloy samples were further analyzed. It was found that the loose multi-layer corrosion was formed on the surface of the corroded alloy samples with the increase in corrosion degree. Moreover, the experimental results showed that Mo played a positive role in improving the corrosion resistance of the alloy samples because the presence of Mo could inhibit the outward diffusion of alloying element Cr. This work enriches the molten salt corrosion database and provides a reference for the selection of alloy materials for TES systems with potential application in CSP plants.

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摘要

基于熔盐的热能储存 (TES) 系统被广泛应用于聚光太阳能热发电。研究合金材料在熔盐中的腐蚀行为对于合金材料的正确选择和TES系统的设计至关重要。在这项研究中，评估了304、310S、316和In625 四种合金在熔融氯化物盐（27 mol% NaCl-22 mol% KCl-51 mol% MgCl2）中的腐蚀行为。研究了合金样品的质量损失随腐蚀时间和温度的演变规律。通过扫描电子显微镜、能谱仪和X射线衍射对实验结果的分析揭示了合金样品在熔融氯化物盐中的腐蚀机理。还进一步分析了影响合金试样腐蚀的主要因素。随着腐蚀程度的增加，被腐蚀的合金试样表面形成疏松的多层腐蚀层。此外，实验结果表明Mo对提高合金样品的耐蚀性起到了积极作用，Mo的存在可以抑制合金元素Cr的向外扩散。该工作丰富了熔盐腐蚀数据库，为光热发电厂TES系统合金材料的选择提供了参考。

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Acknowledgements

This study was financially supported by the China National Key Research and Development Plan Project (No. 2018YFA0702300) and the National Natural Science Foundation of China (Nos. 52227813 and 51950410590).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. School of Energy Science and Engineering, Harbin Institute of Technology, Harbin, 150001, China

    Dong-Mei Han, Yong Shuai, Bachirou Guene Lougou, Bo-Xi Geng, Xi-Bo He, Tian-Tian Yan & Jia-Meng Song

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Han, DM., Shuai, Y., Lougou, B.G. et al. Corrosion evaluation and resistance study of alloys in chloride salts for concentrating solar power plants. Rare Met. 43, 1222–1233 (2024). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12598-023-02506-7

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