Anodic Behavior of Alloy 22 in Calcium Chloride and in Calcium Chloride Plus Calcium Nitrate Brines Available to Purchase

Alloy 22 (UNS N60622) is a nickel-based alloy, which is extensively used in aggressive industrial applications, especially due to its resistance to localized corrosion and stress corrosion cracking in high chloride environments. The purpose of this work was to characterize the anodic behavior of Alloy 22 in concentrated calcium chloride (CaCl₂) brines and to evaluate the inhibitive effect of nitrate, especially to localized corrosion. Standard electrochemical tests such as polarization resistance and cyclic polarization were used. Results show that the corrosion potential of Alloy 22 was approximately −360 mV in the silver-silver chloride (SSC) scale and independent of the tested temperature. Cyclic polarization tests showed that Alloy 22 was mainly susceptible to localized attack in 5 M CaCl₂ at 75°C and higher temperatures. The addition of nitrate in a molar ratio of chloride to nitrate equal to 10 increased the onset of localized corrosion to approximately 105°C. The addition of nitrate to the solution also decreased the uniform corrosion rate and the passive current of the alloy.