Abstract
The action of potassium chromate as a corrosion inhibitor for mild steel in neutral aqueous solution has been studied in relation to the surface preparation of the steel, the presence of aggressive salts in the solution, and temperature.
Surface preparation of mild steel has little effect on the minimum concentration of chromate required for protection in distilled water. In solutions containing aggressive anions a linear relation exists between the logarithm of the chromate concentration and the logarithm of the maximum concentration of aggressive anion that will permit inhibition. In solutions of low chromate concentration, up to 10−1M, the order of aggressiveness of anions is chloride > sulphate > nitrate; the order changes at chromate concentration above 10−1M to chloride > nitrate > sulphate. Corrosion in non-inhibiting chromate/aggressive anion solutions is always of a localised nature but is usually stifled, thus not leading to ‘dangerous’ attack. A 5-fold increase in chromate requirement for inhibition of abraded mild steel in distilled water is found between 5° and 60°, with a further large, rather indeterminate, increase above 60°.
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