Effect of Surface Condition and Heat Treatment on Corrosion of Type 316L Stainless Steel in a Mercury Thermal Convection Loop

Two thermal convection loops (TCLs) fabricated from 316L stainless steel and containing mercury and a variety of 316L coupons representing variable surface conditions and heat treatments have been operated continuously for 2000 h. Surface conditions included surface ground, polished, gold-coated, chemically etched, bombarded with Fe to simulate radiation damage, and oxidized. Heat treatments included solution treated, welded, and sensitized. In addition, a nitrogen doped 316L material, termed 316LN, was also examined in the solution treated condition. Duplicate TCLs were operated in this experiment--both were operated with a 305 C peak temperature, a 65 C temperature gradient, and mercury velocity of 1.2 m/min--but only one included a 36 h soak in Hg at 310 C just prior to operation to encourage wetting. Results indicate that the soak in Hg at 310 C had no lasting effect on wetting or compatibility with Hg. Further, based on examination of post-test wetting and coupon weight loss, only the gold-coated surfaces revealed significant interaction with Hg. In areas wetted significantly by Hg, the extreme surface of the stainless steel (ca 10 {micro}m) was depleted in Ni and Cr compared to the bulk composition.