Table 1 — Uniform corrosion rates alloys in a variety of standard laboratory environ-

ments (Table 1 ). Eliminating tungsten and copper

of some Ni-Cr-Mo alloys in mils per year* and reducing the iron content to very low levels re-
Boiling media C-276 22 686 2000 59 sulted in an alloy with superior thermal stability
ASTM 28A 240 36 104 27 24 characteristics, as shown in Table 2. Not only is the
ASTM 28B 55 7 38 4 4 uniform corrosion behavior and the thermal stability
Green Death 26 4 8 — 5 improved, but also its localized corrosion resistance
10% HNO3 19 2 — — 2 is improved over alloy C-276, 22, and 2000 (Table 3).
65% HNO3 750 52 231 — 40 Localized corrosion has caused more failures in the
10% H2SO4 23 18 — — 8 chemical process industries than any other single
50% H2SO4 240 308 — — 176 corrosion phenomenon, and has led to many un-
1.5% HCl 11 14 5 2 3 scheduled shut downs, causing huge economic
10% HCl 239 392 — — 179 losses. Uniform corrosion in these high alloys has
10% H2SO + 1% HCl 87 354 — — 70 not generally caused any major problems or un-
10% H2SO4 + 1% HCl (90°C) 41 92 — — 3
scheduled shut downs. A description of these alloys
* To convert to mm/y multiply by 0.0254
is presented below:
• Alloy C (1930s to 1965): The compatibility of
Table 2 — Corrosion rate in mils per year* nickel with chromium and molybdenum, and op-
Media C-276 22 686 2000 59 timization between Ni-Cr and Ni-Mo alloys, led to
G 28A >500 1 >500 1 872 1 116 1 40 2 the first alloy of the “C” family, alloy C in the 1930s.
G 28 B >5001 3391 171 >5001 42 (The development of this alloy was well described
*As shown in ASTM G-28A and G-28B after sensitization at 1600°F (871°C) for 1 hour. by McCurdy in 1939.) It was the most versatile cor-
1. Alloy C-276, 22, 2000 and 686 - Heavy pitting attack with grains falling due to deep inter-granular at- rosion-resistant alloy available in the 1930s through
tack. 2. Alloy 59 - No pitting attack mid 1960s to handle the needs of the chemical
process industry. However,
Table 3 — Localized corrosion resistance in “Green Death” solution it had a few severe draw-
Pitting resistance Critical pitting Critical crevice backs. For example, in the
Alloy equivalent, PRE temperature, CPT, °C temperature, CCT, °C as-welded condition, alloy C
was often susceptible to se-
22 65 120 105
C-276 69 110 105 rious intergranular corrosion
2000 76 110 100 attack in the heat affected
686 74 >120* 110 zone in many oxidizing, low
59 76 >120* 110 pH, halide-containing envi-
* Above 120°C, the Green Death solution (11.5% H2SO4 + 1.2 % HCl + 1% FeCl3 + 1% CuCl2) chemically breaks down. ronments. This meant that
for many applications, ves-
welded condition without the need for a post-weld sels fabricated from alloy C had to be solution heat-
heat treatment. Further research led to the alloy treated to remove the detrimental weld HAZ pre-
20Cb3, known as alloy 20, by increasing the nickel cipitates. This put a serious limitation on its
content. This modern version of alloy 20 has been usefulness.
successful because of its superior corrosion resis- During the late 1940s and 1950s, the chemical
tance in sulfuric acid media and its resistance to process industry was constantly coming up with
stress corrosion cracking. new processes, which needed an alloy without the
Among its applications are the manufacture of limitation of “solution heat treating” after welding.
synthetic rubber, high octane gasoline, solvents, ex- Another drawback was that in severe oxidizing
plosives, plastics, synthetic fibers, chemicals, phar- media, this alloy did not have enough chromium
maceuticals, food processing, and many others. to maintain useful passive behavior, thus exhibiting
However, it contains insufficient molybdenum for high uniform corrosion rates.
localized corrosion resistance in low pH acidic chlo- • Alloy C-276 (1965 to present day): To overcome
ride media. one of the above serious limitations, the chemical
composition of alloy C was modified by a German
C-Family Ni-Cr-Mo alloys company, BASF. The modification basically con-
Alloy C, the oldest alloy of this family (now ob- sisted of reducing both the carbon and silicon levels
solete), was superseded by Alloy C-276 in the early by more than ten-fold, to the very low levels of typ-
1960s as a direct result of improvements in melting ically 50 ppm carbon and 400 ppm silicon. This was
technology. Between 1983 and 1996, four new al- possible only because of a new melting technology
loys of this family were commercially introduced known as the argon-oxygen decarburization (AOD)
to the market place: alloy 22 in 1983, alloy 59 in 1989, process. This low carbon-and-silicon content alloy
alloy 686 in 1995, and alloy 2000 in 1996. As the came to be known as alloy C-276, which then was
chemical composition shows, alloy 2000 is in reality produced in the United States under a license from
alloy 59 with the addition of 1.6% copper to cir- BASF Company. (Their patent expired in 1982.)
cumvent the alloy 59 patent. The corrosion resistance of both alloys was es-
Alloy 59, the purest ternary alloy of the Ni-Cr-Mo sentially similar in many corrosive environments,
family , has the highest PRE (pitting resistant equiv- but without the detrimental effects of continuous
alent ) number and the lowest iron content. This pro- grain boundary precipitates in the weld HAZ of
vides for improved corrosion resistance over other alloy C-276. Thus alloy C-276 would be suitable for

50 ADVANCED MATERIALS & PROCESSES/AUGUST 2001