This work deals with studying mild
steel corrosion resistance in
ethanol–gasoline and butanol–gasoline blends (EGBs and
BGBs, respectively) with an alcohol content of 10–100 vol %.
These fuels were tested in two forms: pure (noncontaminated) and purposely
contaminated with water and trace amounts of acids, chlorides, and
sulfate ions. Electrochemical methods, such as open circuit potential,
electrochemical impedance spectroscopy, and polarization characteristics
measurements in three-electrode arrangements were used for the study.
A three-month-long static immersion test was performed as a supplementary
method. The obtained results showed that the contamination led to
an increase in aggressiveness of the tested fuels against the mild
steel. This effect was surprisingly more noticeable for the BGBs,
in which the corrosion rate increased by up to 3 orders of magnitude
compared with their noncontaminated form. For the EGBs with an ethanol
content of 60 vol % or more (E60 and higher), an initial quasi-passive
state was observed, which was not persistent. Pitting corrosion was
observed especially in the E100 fuel and in the fuels containing 40
vol % or more of butanol (B40 and higher). The E10 and B10 fuels showed
very low corrosion aggressiveness even after the contamination. In
the B10 fuel, the lowest mild steel corrosion rates were measured,
which corresponded to the lowest corrosion current densities (3.6
× 10–3 μA cm–2) and
the highest polarization resistance (13.7 MΩ cm2).