Corrosion Behavior of Stainless Steels in CO2 Absorption Process Using Aqueous Solution of Monoethanolamine (MEA)

The corrosion behavior of two stainless steels (316L and 304L) was evaluated using a CO2-loaded aqueous solution of 30 wt.% monoethanolamine (MEA) with a view to simulating corrosion related mechanisms in amine treatment procedures. Corrosion behavior was experimentally evaluated as a function of CO2 loading and solution temperature, using electrochemical techniques (polarization curves, cyclic polarization, and EIS measurement). The results reveal that the aqueous MEA solution containing CO2 creates a favorable environment for the corrosion of both stainless steels. The rate of corrosion is accelerated when the temperature of the loaded MEA solution rises, which was attributed to the thermal degradation of the loaded MEA, thus causing higher kinetics of the cathodic reactions at higher temperatures. More specifically, for the SS 304L the corrosion rate is almost doubled when the solution temperature is increased from 25 °C to 40 °C and is quadrupled when the solution temperature rises to 80 °C. For the SS 316L, the corrosion rate becomes almost threefold and sixfold upon increasing temperature of the load amine solution to 40 °C and 80 °C, respectively. The overall corrosion rate of SS 316L is lower with respect to the SS 304L for the same temperature and loading conditions. The essential dependency of corrosion rate on solution type (unloaded and loaded MEA solution) demonstrates that the corrosion process and reactions are controlled by a diffusion mechanism.