Development of the Test Solution for Rapidly Evaluating the Corrosion Resistance of Copper Tubes and Investigation for Effectiveness of the Initial Treatment on the Corrosion Resistance

Abstract

Copper tubes are used in refrigerator and air conditioning unit heat exchangers. However, in some cases, the areas in copper tubes subjected to mechanical processing experience pitting corrosion. Therefore, a test scheme to rapidly evaluate the corrosion resistance of copper tubes in these sections and the effectiveness of the initial treatment on corrosion resistance were investigated. The initial treatment is a chemical treatment that improves the corrosion resistance of copper tubes. The corrosion of copper tubes was investigated by observing the surface after immersing the copper tube in various solutions containing hydrogen peroxide, chloride ions, sulfate ions, benzotriazole and hydrogen carbonate ions for one day. The test solution that contained a combination of 10 mg/L hydrogen peroxide (H 2 O 2 ), 300 mg/L chloride ions (Cl ¹ ), 300 mg/L sulfate ions (SO 4 2¹ ) and 10 mg/L benzotriazole was found to replicate actual corrosion processes on the copper tubes over 1 day. The results indicated a high tendency for corrosion to occur in the mechanically processed sections. The improved corrosion resistance in these sections from the initial treatment was also confirmed in the test solution. Additionally, the corrosion resistance in the mechanically processed sections of copper tubes was weaker as the residual carbon amount increased.