Sulfide stress cracking (SSC) and hydrogen induced cracking (HIC) can cause severe damage in steel equipment exposed to wet H2S environments. Metallic thermal spray coatings based on aluminum have been used in some cases to protect carbon steel from the corrosive media, when wet H2S environments are a concern. In this program , a series of electrochemical tests were conducted. These tests involved exposure of coated samples to various environments containing H2S, ammonia, chloride and cyanide to study the behavior of the aluminum coating associated with a stainless steel interlayer both
applied by thermal spray. Results showed that the aluminum layer was corroded rapidly in solutions with pH higher than 11. In alkaliie solutions with pH lower than 9 a protective deposit was formed on the aluminum layer and the corrosion rate was very low.
Keywords: thermal spray, aluminum, hydrogen sulflde, H2S, corrosion, electrochemical impedance, spectroscopy, petroleum