Abstract
The corrosion characteristics of carbon steel in an organic solvent containing fatty acids were determined. The investigations were conducted by means of mass loss tests. Stable corrosion potentials could not be measured and electrochemical evaluations rendered meaningless results. Iso-octane was used as the solvent. The acids investigated include acetic acid, propionic acid, butyric acid, valeric acid, and hexanoic acid as well as all the heavier acids with an even number of carbon atoms up to and including stearic acid. Temperatures from 60 to 250°C and acid numbersfrom 5 to 25 mg KOH/g solution were investigated. It was found that corrosion by the heavier acids (hexanoic acid and heavier) are activation controlled while the lighter acids (valeric acid and lighter) have more complex characteristics owing to film formation.
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