Stress corrosion cracking (SCC) of Alloy 625 (N06625) has been investigated in pH 2 aqueous solution
at high temperatures (300-426oC) and high pressure (24.1MPa) to understand the corrosion behavior in
supercritical water oxidation (SCWO) systems, which can destroy aqueous organic waste water with
high efficiency with no harmful byproducts. Alloy 625 was exposed to 11 operational (chemical,
thermal, pressure) cycles. SCC at subcritical temperature comes from the chemical stability of the
elements, which produces a dealloyed oxide layer where Ni is selectively dissolved and Cr forms stable
oxides. Its growth is accelerated along the grain boundaries, where SCC develops during the operational
cycles. Due to the defective dealloyed oxide layer structure, the diffusivity of Ni is fast, intermediate
between the surface and grain boundary diffusivities. SCC at supercritical temperature comes from the
direct chemical attack of associated HCl molecules.
Keywords: Supercritical water oxidation, high temperature corrosion, corrosion in SCWO systems,
Stress corrosion cracking