Corrosion Behavior of 316L Stainless Steel Welded Joints in S-H2S-containing Environments

doi:10.11902/1005.4537.2025.008

Journal of Chinese Society for Corrosion and protection

2025, Vol. 45

Issue (6): 1725-1733 DOI: 10.11902/1005.4537.2025.008

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Corrosion Behavior of 316L Stainless Steel Welded Joints in S-H₂S-containing Environments

LI Ke¹(

), LI Tianlei¹, CAO Xiaoyan¹, JIANG Liu¹, WANG Yaxi¹, XIAO Zeyu², ZHONG Xiankang³

1 China Petroleum Engineering & Construction Corporation Southwest Company, Chengdu 610041, China
2 School of Oil and Natural Gas Engineering, Southwest Petroleum University, Chengdu 610500, China
3 School of Chemical Engineering and Technology, Xi'an Jiao Tong University, Xi'an 710049, China

Cite this article:

LI Ke, LI Tianlei, CAO Xiaoyan, JIANG Liu, WANG Yaxi, XIAO Zeyu, ZHONG Xiankang. Corrosion Behavior of 316L Stainless Steel Welded Joints in S-H₂S-containing Environments. Journal of Chinese Society for Corrosion and protection, 2025, 45(6): 1725-1733.

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Abstract

316L stainless steel is widely used in the sulfur-containing natural gas purification equipment and pipelines. But, its welded seam and heat-affected zone may pose a higher risk of corrosion, because of their lower resistance of corrosion refer to base material. Therefore, the corrosion resistance of 316L stainless steel in welded joints is crucial to guaranteeing the safe operation of the relevant equipment and pipelines. Herein, the corrosion behavior of the substrate, welded seam, and heat-affected zone of 316L stainless steel in a simulated service condition was investigated using weight loss method, ultra-depth three-dimensional scanning microscopy, and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS). The composition and semiconductor properties of the formed passive films were characterized using XPS and the Mott-Schottky method. The results show that, when H₂S is free, the steel exhibit very light corrosion, with a general corrosion rate of only 0.001~0.004 mm/a. The content of H₂S correlates with the corrosion rate, as the H₂S content increases, the corrosion rate also rises; for example, in conditions of 0.1 MPa H₂S at 120 ^oC, the general corrosion rate of the welded seam, base material, and heat-affected zone is 0.316, 0.472, and 0.551 mm/a, respectively, and the localized corrosion rates is 86.590, 42.757, and 60.861 mm/a. At 90 ^oC and 1 MPa H₂S, the general corrosion rate of them is 1.136, 1.001, and 0.861 mm/a, and the localized corrosion rateis 125.595, 90.297, and 124.291 mm/a. These results indicate that the welded seam is a high-risk area for localized corrosion, with the localized corrosion rate is approximately 1.4 to 2 times that of the base material. XPS results revealed that the main corrosion products were iron sulfides, iron oxides, and Cr(OH)₃. The analysis of the semiconductor properties of the formed passive films showed that the welded seam had the highest carrier concentration, making the passive film in this region more susceptible to damage, leading to an increased risk of localized corrosion.

Key words: welded joints 316L stainless steel XPS localized corrosion elemental sulfur

Received: 02 January 2025 32134.14.1005.4537.2025.008

ZTFLH:

TG172

Corresponding Authors: LI Ke, E-mail: like_sw@cnpc.com.cn

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	LI Ke
	LI Tianlei
	CAO Xiaoyan
	JIANG Liu
	WANG Yaxi
	XIAO Zeyu
	ZHONG Xiankang

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https://www.jcscp.org/EN/10.11902/1005.4537.2025.008 OR https://www.jcscp.org/EN/Y2025/V45/I6/1725

Table 1 Experimental parameters under simulated working conditions

Fig.1 General corrosion rates of WS, BM and HAZ of 316L stainless steel under different experimental conditions

Fig.2 3D surface morphologies of WS (a, b), BM (c, d) and HAZ (e, f) of 316L stainless steel after corrosion under 90 ^oC, pH = 3.5, 1 MPa H₂S, 1000 mg/L Cl^- (a, c, e) and 120 ^oC, pH = 3.5, 0.1 MPa H₂S, 1000 mg/L Cl^- (b, d, f)

Table 2 Localized corrosion rates of WS, BM and HAZ of 316L stainless steel under different experimental conditions

Fig.3 XPS fine spectra of Fe 2p (a, b), S 2p (c, d) and Cr 2p (e, f) for WS, BM and HAZ of 316L stainless steel after corrosion under 90 ^oC, pH = 3.5, 1 MPa H₂S, 1000 mg/L Cl^- (a, c, e) and 120 ^oC, pH = 3.5, 0.1 MPa H₂S, 1000 mg/L Cl^- (b, d, f)

Table 3 XPS characterization results of the corrosion products

Fig.4 Mott-Schottky plots of WS (a), BM (b) and HAZ (c) of 316L stainless steel

Fig.5 Carrier concentrations of the passive films for WS, BM and HAZ of 316L stainless steel

Fig.6 XPS analysis results of the passive films for WS, BM and HAZ of 316L stainless steel

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