Dew Point Corrosion in Heat Exchangers
Project example electrolytic corrosion
• Specific test setup
• Aggressive media
Issue
- When natural gas is combusted, sulphur dioxide and water are produced
- Formation of sulphuric acid contained in low concentrations in the exhaust gas
- Condensation leads to concentrated acid and thus to so-called dew point corrosion
- For the dew point corrosion of aluminium heat exchangers, a corrosion model had to be developed through detailed studies
Approach
- Design and construction of a special test setup for the simulation of dew point corrosion conditions
- Mechanistic investigations and modelling of dew point corrosion on cast aluminium alloys
Customer Benefit
- A corrosion model was developed based on the simulation of dew point corrosion on aluminium heat exchangers
- This enables an assessment of the service life and the derivation of optimised operating conditions