Two approaches are being utilized to assess a range of materials for service in erosion-corrosion
(E-C) conditions that occur during processing and transportation of aqueous slurries in oil sands
operation.
These are (1) using a custom-built slurry pot erosion-corrosion (SPEC) evaluation system and (2)
compiling E-C maps using data from separate slurry erosion and static corrosion tests.
Using slurries containing 3.5wt% NaCl solution and 20wt% silica sand, the SPEC system confirmed
that bi-metallic high Cr steel pipe product and WC/Stellite 21 PTAW overlay have provided the highest
erosion-corrosion resistance of materials tested to date.
The E-C maps confirmed that Stellite Co-based alloys exhibited the superior corrosion resistance
whilst WC-based overlays produced the best erosion resistance of the material classes evaluated.
Despite having certain limitations, both approaches provide satisfactory means of assessing materials
in erosion-corrosion environments. Test conditions for both systems can be tailored to simulate
particular industrial operations.