Corrosion Testing
The MTC has world class corrosion facilities for corrosion testing of materials. This includes the facility to perform a wide range of conventional and unconventional tests and exposures. Corrosion tests are conducted for various reasons, some of which include:
- To provide insight into corrosion mechanisms
- To compare resistance of one alloy to another under standard conditions (in alloy development work for example)
- As a quality control test for a given heat of alloy
- To provide a basis for service life estimation of process equipment
- As part of a failure investigation to confirm the cause of failure
Accurate monitoring of corrosion rates in any environment is critical when considering costs associated with the selection of the incorrect material of construction, maintenance, repair and also material failures. Test coupons can provide an inexpensive means of pre-selection to identify and effectively measure and compare the corrosion resistance of several alloys within a system. By observing the corrosion rate of an exposed coupon, valuable information can be provided regarding the material's life expectancy.
Our capabilities include:
- Laboratory and field corrosion tests.
- Sour corrosion testing, focusing on hydrogen induced cracking (HIC) NACE TM0284, and sulphur stress cracking (SCC) NACE TM0177. We are currently the only facility in the country that can offer this kind of corrosion testing.
- Electrochemical corrosion testing, which include cyclic polarisation scans (pitting scans), Tafel plots, rotating cylinder electrode (RCE) testing, critical pitting temperature (CPT) analysis.
- High temperature corrosion (Metal dusting) tests, designed and commissioned by Mintek for testing the degradation of Fe- and Ni-based alloys under synthesis gas environments at 400-800°C.