Effect of magnetite as a corrosion product on the corrosion of carbon steel overpack

Taniguchi, Naoki; ; Kawasaki, Manabu*; Masugata, Tsuyoshi*

JNC TN8400 2001-001, 56 Pages, 2000/12

JNC-TN8400-2001-001.pdf:2.05MB

It is necessary to clear the effects of corrosion products on the corrosion life time of carbon steel overpack for geological isolation of high-level radioactive waste(HLW). Especially, it is important to understand the effects of magnetite because magnetite as a simulated corrosion product is reported to accelerate the corrosion rate of carbon steel. In this study, corrosion tests to reproduce the acceleration of corrosion due to magnetite was performed and the mechanism of the acceleration was investigated to evaluate the effects of magnetite as a corrosion product. Based on the results of experiments, following conclusions are obtained ; (1)Magnetite powder accelerates the corrosion rate of carbon steel. The main reaction of corrosion under the presence of magnetite is the reduction of Fe(III) in magnetite to Fe(II), but the reaction of hydrogen generation is also accelerated. The contribution of hydrogen generation reaction was estimated to be about 30% in the total corrosion reaction based on the experimental result of immersion test under the presence of magnetite. (2)Actual corrosion products containing magnetite generated by the corrosion of carbon steel protect the metal from the propagation of corrosion. The corrosion depth of carbon steel overpack due to magnetite was estimated to be about 1 mm based on the results of experiments. Even if the effect of magnetite is taken into the assessment of corrosion lifetime of overpack, total corrosion depth in 1000 years is estimated to be 33 mm, which is smaller than the corrosion allowance of 40 mm described in the second progress report on research and development for the geological disposal of HLM/ in Japan. It was concluded that the effect of magnetite on the corrosion life time of carbon steel overpack is negligible.