Corrosion properties of tempered medium carbon steel in 1.0 M HCl and homemade vinegar

ABSTRACT. The consumable palm wine has never been used in heat treatment process of steels. This research therefore focuses on the utilization of the consumable palm wine and other palm tree products as quenchants. The mechanical and physical properties of the samples were also evaluated to determine which of the quenchants that influences the hardness and corrosion rate values of medium carbon steel the most. The corrosion test was performed in 1.0 M of HCl solution and homemade vinegar using potentiodynamic polarization method. The results revealed a hardness value of 431, 351, 359 and 265 HB for the samples quenched in palm wine, palm kernel oil, palm oil and as-received, respectively. The corrosion rates of palm oil tempered samples showed more susceptibity to corrosion in HCl solution with a value of 2.261e+003 mil/year. Vinegar offers the highest corrosion rate with a value of 4.017e+002 mil/year for palm wine tempered. The corrosion rate of the as-received samples pulled the lowest values while on the treated samples, palm kernel oil showed the least corrosion rate values. KEY WORDS: Consumable palm wine, Palm oil, Hardness, Corrosion rate, Austenitization, Quenching Bull. Chem. Soc. Ethiop. 2022, 36(4), 893-901. DOI: https://dx.doi.org/10.4314/bcse.v36i4.14