Toward a mechanistic understanding of the magnetic field effect on N-80 carbon steel corrosion in aqueous HCl solution

Abstract

Purpose This study aims to describe the effect of magnetic field (MF) on the corrosion rate of N-80 carbon steel [N-80 carbon steel (CS)] in concentrated (12.5 Wt.%, 3.8 M) hydrochloric acid (HCl) using gravimetric weight loss (WL) measurements and potentiodynamic polarization (PDP) in various conditions at ambient temperature. Design/methodology/approach The effects of MF intensity, magnetization time and elapsed time on corrosion rate (CR) reduction (η) were studied. Findings The experimental results show that pre-magnetization of HCl sharply decreases the corrosion rate of N-80 carbon steel (CS) in acid. The maximum η was found to be 94%. The surface of CS was analyzed with scanning electron microscope in normal and magnetized acid. Originality/value To the best of the authors’ knowledge, no studies have delved into the effects of magnetization on the corrosion rate of CS in concentrated HCl solutions. All of the previous research studies deal with an external MF that is applied on the reaction cell, but the magnetization of fluid before coming in contact with CS is investigated for the first time. In the present work, the influence of MF on the corrosion rate of CS in HCl is illustrated using gravimetric WL and PDP methods. The effects of MF intensity as well as period of magnetization and elapsed time were verified in more than 35 tests.