The effect of coating with nano oxide on

pitting corrosion of gas turbines blade

Cite as: AIP Conference Proceedings 2144, 040013 (2019); https://doi.org/10.1063/1.5123114
Published Online: 23 August 2019

Khairia Salman Hassan, Ahmed Ibrahim Razooqi, and Ayad Khudhair Al-Nadawi

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AIP Conference Proceedings 2144, 040013 (2019); https://doi.org/10.1063/1.5123114 2144, 040013

© 2019 Author(s).
The Effect of Coating with Nano Oxide on Pitting Corrosion
of Gas Turbines Blade
Khairia Salman Hassan1, a), Ahmed Ibrahim Razooqi 2,b) and
Ayad Khudhair Al-Nadawi 3,c)
1
Middle Technical University (MTU) / Institute of Technology -Baghdad
2
Middle Technical University (MTU) - Engineering Technical College/Baghdad
3
Middle Technical University (MTU) / Institute of Technology-Baghdad/ Electronic Technologies Department, Iraq.
a)
Corresponding author: almaden20002000@yahoo.com
b)
ahmedtcb@mtu.edu.iq
c)
ayadkhudhair@yahoo.com

ABSTRACT. The pitting corrosion of the gas turbines blade of the electrical power plant in south Baghdad was evaluated
in this study. A number of corrosion samples with dimensions of (20 * 20 * 3mm) according to the standard (G70-30ASTM)
were manufactured from blade metal which subjected to corrosion due to the long service of the turbine. First, the oxidizing
layer was removed from the surface by grinding and polishing, then the electrolytic coating process was carried out by
Nano oxides TiO2, Al2O3, ZrO2. After that the evaluation of pitting corrosion after the corrosion test using the potainsial
state method and the application of the tafel equation to calculate the corrosion rate was done. The results showed that all
nano oxides contributed to the improvement of the corrosion rate compared to the base metal and that the nano-zirconium
oxide gave the highest improvement by 37% followed 24%by Nano aluminum oxide after that the titanium oxide17%
compared with base metal.

INTRODUCTION
Engineering materials expose to attack from all different hostile medias during the use which leads to create a
superficial layer over it. The result of interaction of the metal with these medias creates a layer plays very important
role in determining the effective age of any of these materials. Corrosion takes place in front of the damage, which
attacks the material, and it depends on several factors such as temperature, surface properties, effective force, and
chemical composition for these materials. There are different forms and types of corrosion. One of the important types
of these is the hot corrosion, which occurs at high temperature, and it called High Temperature Corrosion. It is similar
to oxidation but occurs with the availability of other contaminated elements except oxygen. This corrosion type
happens in boilers and gas turbines, and the reason for that is the use of the fuel, which contains many contaminated
elements. So, when these elements burn it will pollute and convert the sedimentations to ash causing corrosion and
consequently reduce the effective age [1,2].Vanadium, Sodium, and the Sulfur are the most important impurities in
fuel, which are volatile substances with combustion gases that settle on the surface of the metal facing it. It is composed
of various preparations, the most important of which is the sodium compound of (Na2O.V2O5.5V2O5) Sodium
Vanadium, which is deposited on the surface of the turbine blades and the flame which has a relatively low melting
point (550 ° C) [3,4]. There are several methods to treat this type of corrosion; first, using corrosion resistant alloys
and this one is the most important way to reduce hot corrosion. Second, removing sodium and vanadium from fuel
before using it in incinerators [5]. Third, using protection applications by inorganic cover adjacent to the surface that
inhibits or inhibits deposition of most corrosive compounds and reduce its activity against the metal [6]. Finally,
removing process of sediment, which is done by adding chemical compounds that are capable of increasing the melting
point and changing the structure of the sediments. Many researchers have studied the possibility of reducing corrosion
and increasing the age of turbine.

The 7th International Conference on Applied Science and Technology (ICAST 2019)
AIP Conf. Proc. 2144, 040013-1–040013-10; https://doi.org/10.1063/1.5123114
Published by AIP Publishing. 978-0-7354-1889-9/$30.00

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 Rajeh et.al [7] studied the hot corrosion of two types of steel (1045, 213T11), which is used in steam pipes of
boilers in South of Baghdad power plant. In this study, the samples were taken from different places of the combustion
chambers of the boiler, then subjected to different temperatures (550, 650, 750) and constant time (3hr). Samples were
coated before heating with metal sediments (Ash) with a weight percentage (67% wt.V2O5: 33% wtNa2SO4). The
corrosion process was studied and samples weight was taken before and after the heating in a furnace at different
temperatures. Other samples were coated by magnesium oxide as an inhibitor in all conditions. The result showed that
magnesium oxide was good inhibitor.
Davydov et.al [8] studied the reason for various damaged parts of the turbine blades which work with gases fuel
for a long time. The metal of the blade is Inconel738C alloy. Specimens were cut from it and restored to the base by
heat treatment. The results of the examination showed that the existence of the σ phase and some continuous carbides
such as M23C6 were found on the grain boundaries of the blades metal, and confirmed the existence of M23C6 carbide
as a result of the diffusion process of MC carbide resulted in softening the metal of the alloy. The alloy also showed
that the existence of these two phases leads to weak mechanical and metallurgical properties of the blade.
Patil et. al [9] studied the failure of the gas turbine blades by microscopic and mechanical tests of the failed blades.
The blade is made of nickel- (Inconel 738LC). The turbine engine had been in operation for approximately 73,500
hours. A comprehensive visual examination of turbines and blades surface was done, followed by breakage of fracture
surface membrane, chemical analysis and hardness measurement. The observation showed that there was a serious
rupture on the blades surfaces and that there were signs of fatigue at the fracture surface due to the hot erosion from
the front edge and spread fatigue. A parallel analytical calculation of the finite element method was used to determine
static stresses due to the large centrifugal force. The dynamic characteristics of turbo feathers was assessed by the
development of finite elements and harmonic analysis. Campbell scheme was used and there was a good agreement
between the failure signs and the FEM results that showed that the broken badminton was sometimes vibrated before
the failure occurred.
Oluokun [10] found that the heat resulting from the ignition of the fuel is the main cause of damage to the gas
turbine blades and that the optimal selection of the material especially alloys such as cobalt, nickel contribute to reduce
corrosion. He used brazing welding by copper in the repair damage of the blade gas turbine instead of arc welding
that requires high amount of heat needed for welding, but this method led to the appearance of pores, stress
contractions, hereditary which can be treated by heat treatment and welding of yellow copper in the center of the
vacuum of air.
In this paper, the corrosion of the gas turbine blades was hot corrosion due to deposition of oxides including sodium
oxide and vanadium oxide on the surface of blade, due to the use of heavy fuel. Hence, the objective of the research
was to improve the corrosion resistance by removing the oxide layer, using the coating by nano material technology,
and studying its corrosion resistance and selecting the material that gives the highest resistance.

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 EXPERIMENTAL WORK

Selected metal

The used metal was cut from Inconel - 738 LC gas turbine blade from electrical power plant in South of Baghdad
which was exposed to hot corrosion (oxidation) as shown in Figure.(1). The chemical composition of the blade metal
was analyzed using a spectrometer and the results are as shown in Table (1).

FIGURE 1. Image show the gas turbine blade of electrical power plant in south Baghdad subjected to corrosion.

TABLE 1. Chemical analysis of IN- 738 LC alloy.

Element C Co Ti Cr Al W Cu Fe Ta Si Nb Mo Ni
Real
0.12 8.6 3.29 16.07 3.45 2.8 0.4 0.4 1.80 0.2 0.89 1.7 3.9
value%

Preparation of test samples and Microstructure test

Samples of corrosion test were cut from impaired blades metal with a dimension of (20 * 20 *3mm) according to
the standard-G70-30 ASTM)) using a wire cut method and then were prepared according to the following steps:
x Grinding by emery paper having different grain sizes (180, 250, 400,500, 800, and 1000) with the use of
water.
x Polishing using a polishing cloth with aluminium oxide Al2O 3 and granular volume 0.3μ.
x Solution Treatment: The treatment was done on two samples for the purpose of microscopy using a
solution consisting of 5molHNO3 + 4molHCl for three minutes.
x Microstructure test by Computerized Optical Microscope in the Technical College / Baghdad, as shown
in Figure. (2).

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 FIGURE 2. Microstructure of blades Metal at amplification (20x).

Categorizing of test samples

After the completion of the preparation, the samples were classified into groups to facilitate the tests and as shown
in Table (2).
TABLE 2. Shows the classification of samples.
Sample code State
A blades metal as received
B Coating by TiO2
C Coating by Al2O3
D Coating by ZrO2

Coating process
The Coating of samples was performed by solid chromium solution which contains of ceramic materials. The
preparing of this solution comprises:
x Chromium Oxide 275 CrO3 g / L.
x 75 ml/LH2SO4 Sulphuric acid.
x Nano materials are metallic ceramic materials as :
ƒ Nano titanium oxide TiO2 at amount of one gram and with 25nm grain size.
ƒ Nano aluminium oxide Al2O3 with 25nm grain size was added also of one gram.
ƒ Nanoparticle of Zirconium oxide ZrO2 with 25nm grain size was added of one gram.

Current used 25 amp / 100 cm 2, magnetic mixing at 1500 rpm for 15 minutes inside the container coating solution.
Coating cell is a cubic container of dimensions (20x20x20cm). It contains two electrodes made of lead and 7%
antimony in addition to coating solution. Etching is carried out for one minute that the specimen join with anode.
Coating was carried out through join the specimen with cathode while anode joined with power supply of DC current.
The distribution on Nano oxides was carry out by optical microscope as shown in Figure.( 3)

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 FIGURE 3. Nano oxide distribution by optical microscope at 50 x.

X-ray diffraction examinations

X-Ray diffraction examination was carried out for recognition the phases of Nano oxides on specimens groups (C,
D) in Table (2). The device of kind (Shimadzu- 6000XRD) in Nano technology center in university of technology was
used for this purpose. The examination was done at conditions of; Cu target; (current=30mA) (voltage=40 kV); and
scan range (20-80) degree and phase analysis results for specimens group (C, D) are shown in Figure. (4).

FIGURE 4A. X-ray diffraction for all Nano oxide specimen(C).

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 Figure 4B. X-ray diffraction for all Nano oxide specimen(D).

Corrosion test

Media in which the immersion was composed of seawater (3.5% NaCl), consisting of 35 gm of sodium chloride
salt with 1000 ml of distilled water, has been formed. The PH ratio was measured by PH meter of( 6.7). Potential
dynamic polarization and electrochemical cyclic method was applied for corrosion examination by a Wenking Mlab
multi channels potent dynamic and SCI-Mlab corrosion measuring system from Bank Electronics-Intelligent control
GmbH, Germany 2007, see Figure. (5A). In this test, samples were used as working electrode (WE), the reference
electrode used in this work was calomel electrode (SCE) and auxiliary electrode was made of Platinum that connects
to the cell through the conductivity, as shown in Figure.(5B).

FIGURE 5A. Corrosion test device.

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 FIGURE 5B. Scheme to bond corrosion cell with electrodes and device.
Corrosion test took place at constant voltage for metal which selected from an open circle as mentioned equal to
(-400mv) , and then increase to 10 m volt to show cathode and anode behave until access to final value of increasing
equal to (േͳͲͲͲ݉‫ݐ݈݋ݒ‬ሻ, so the current should be read at every rise and draw carve between current and voltage. The
current and voltage of corrosion determined from intersection of its tangents, then this value compensated in Tafel
equation ---(1)[11]
ୣ୯Ǥ୵୲
C.R (m.p.y) = ͲǤͳ͵ ൈ …‘”” ൈ   (1)
ఘ
Where
(m.p.y) refers to mille-inches per year.
(Icorr) is the corrosion current density (μΑ/cm2).
(Eq.wt) refers to equivalent weight of the corroding species.
ρ= density of the corroding species, (g/cm3)., theses value are shown in table (3) and
Figure. (6) and Figure. (7) show the form of corrosion for all specimens.

TABLE 3. Result of pitting corrosion test.

Symbol Ico࢓࡭ ECor.mv Corrosion Rate m.p.y.

A 0. 0613 -151.3 0.22

B 0.0 295 -198.3 0.0 129
C 0.002 -237 0.009
D 0.014 -131.5 0.006

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FIGURE 6. (Polarization curves) for all samples used in the test.

FIGURE 7. Show samples pictures after exposed to corrosion test.

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 DISCUSSION

From the obtained results of the microstructure which are shown in Figure. (2) and chemical analysis in table (1),
it can be concluded that the alloy contains many elements which have a high corrosion resistance from its combination
with each other. The formation of phases with a dendritic structure of elements give the alloy a good corrosion
resistance. However, when the alloy works at high temperatures (up to 1000 Ԩ) and pressure with metal impurities
in the fuel, this encourages corrosion and oxidation on the surface resulting in significant physical damage Figure.(1),
see Figure.(5A). Also, by using the results, which can be seen in Table (3), the electrochemical corrosion test in the
sea water was down and relationship between current and voltage can be concluded. Additionally, by determining the
current of the corrosion and intersect their tangents and that these values were offset in the Tafel equation to calculate
the corrosion rate. Nano materials played a major role in improving the corrosion rate of all sample (B,C,D). The
coating process reduce the residue causing corrosion by removing it and then using paint to achieve economic
feasibility. The different in Nano coating corrosion results due to using various Nano metals having different melting
temperature which increase the resistant metal to high temperature where zircon oxide have high melting temperature
and alumina oxide have the few melting temperature as shown in the Figure. (3). Indications the consequence of X-
Ray diffraction (XRD) patterns of samples (C,D) in Table (2). Agreeing the XRD pattern of 2θ the intensity peak,
referred to Nano oxide peaks which represented the real phases.
Cyclic polarization magnitudes was applied on all that is connected with the ruin of defensive film .The potential
of ruin (Ebr) is demonstrated on the increase of the anodic current when the potential is applied. The potential, at
which the hysteresis loop is complete at reverse polarity scan, is famous as the re passivation potential. Ruin potential
is a sign of site of corrosion, but the ability of pitting is recognized the dissimilarity among the ruin potential and the
re passivation one. The defense of potential epitomizes the potential at the node of hysteresis curve by negative field.
Under this potential the dissemination of the pitting corrosion will not happen. If the difference among breakdown
and the passivation potential is increase, the existence of pitting is greater and its propagation in depth is extra strong.
In other words, the hysteresis loop growths as the susceptibility of metal to corrosion increases. The cyclic
polarization of Nano coating specimens and base metal are shown in Figure. (6) in sea water shows that the reverse
scavenge gave the lowest current density area. The kind of cyclic polarization curve is famous to be fewer react to
place of corrosion. The potentials for the forward and reverse scavenge was more negative than that of base metal. In
addition, pitting potentials (Epit) evaluate which are more negative than pitting potential of as received sample. The
data of forward and reverse scavenge were mentioned in the Table (4). Usually, the data of corrosion test indicates
that the Nano material by different metal decrease the aptitude of the alloys to rust compared with the base metal, see
Figure (7).

CONCLUSIONS
(Use the Microsoft Word template style: Heading 1)

x The process of coating by nanoparticles with different materials improves the rate of corrosion compared
to the base metal without coating.
x The corrosion was improved by 37%, 24% and 17% for ZrO2 oxide, aluminum oxide and the titanium oxide
respectively. This behavior is due to the different in properties of each of the oxidation grade and hardness.
x Fuel, which used in gas turbine, must have metal impurities less than 1%.
x Though titanium oxide has high melting temperature, it gives few improvements in corrosion rate comparing
with alumina oxide due to few coating porosity.

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