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1146926 
Journal Article 
Stress corrosion cracking of carbon steel in ethanol 
Sridhar, N; Price, K; Buckingham, J; Dante, J 
2006 
Yes 
Corrosion
ISSN: 0010-9312 
62 
8 
687-702 
WOS:000239555700004 
This paper presents the results of a study on the effects of water. acetic acid (CH3COOH), oxygen, corrosion inhibitor, chloride. methanol (CH3OH), denaturant, and corrosion product on the stress corrosion cracking (SCC) of steel in ethanol (C2H5OH). The factor that was found to have the greatest effect on causing SCC was corrosion potential, as influenced by oxygen. The lower critical potential for SCC ranges from 25 mV vs. saturated calomel electrode (SCE) to 300 mV(SCE), depending on the presence of chloride and methanol as impurities. Galvanic contact with precorroded steel appeared to exacerbate SCC by increasing the corrosion potential. Within the fuel ethanol specification limits. chloride had a less significant effect than oxygen. SCC was intergranular when the chloride concentration in ethanol (both laboratory and field samples) was low (less than 1 ppm) and it was transgranular when the chloride concentration was high (32 mg/L). A denaturant, a corrosion inhibitor. and acidity, within the specification limits of fuel grade ethanol, did not appear to have a significant effect on SCC. Water content ranging from 170 ppm to 1% by weight did not have any significant effect on SCC. Thermodynamic calculations of iron in ethanol with a few hundred ppm water showed that iron oxide is stable over a wide range of pH. Electrochemical measurements indicated significant hysteresis in the polarization behavior of steel in ethanol under SCC conditions. 
corrosion potential; ethanol; oxygen; steel; stress corrosion cracking 
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