Influence of Water Vapor and Flow Rate on the High-Temperature Oxidation of 304L; Effect of Chromium Oxide Hydroxide Evaporation

The effect of roman PH2O and flow rate on the oxidation of 304Lat 873 K in oxygen is reported. High concentrations of water vapor and highflow rates result in breakaway corrosion. The mass gain after 168 hrincreased by four to five times, compared to oxidation in dry O2. Inthe presence of H2O, the corrosion products consisted of arelatively thin (Cr,Fe)2O3 oxide plus large oxide islandsconsisting mainly of Fe2O3. A mechanism explaining theeffect of water vapor on marginal chromia formers is proposed.