Monel(Alloy-400) is a very popular alloy for CDU overhead systems. I've dealt with fabrication of such towers, comprising of top 4/5 rows of trays made of alloy 400, as well as the top dome/dished head fabricated from C.S+3mm of alloy 400 cladding. Monel exhibits high resistance to many corrosion mechanisms in CDU, however may not be 100% immune. Following are the extracts of Corrosion damages of Monel from relevant refining industry publication:-
**D[highlight #FCE94F]issolved oxygen, at even small concentrations, often drastically increases corrosion of carbon steel, brass alloys, and alloy 400, all of which are often used in overhead systems. Alloy 400 is particularly sensitive to the presence of oxygen in acid service.
**[highlight #FCE94F]Alloy 400 can experience accelerated corrosion by H2S[/highlight].
**Oxygen contamination can accelerate overhead corrosion, especially on the Ni-Cu alloy 400.
**Alloy 400 performs well under shock condensation conditions if the overhead system is air free;
**however, [highlight #FCE94F]it can suffer from under deposit corrosion by chloride salts.
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As one see the issues are complex, involving multiple factors. It may be a good idea to do a SEM/EDAX of the corrosion deposit, as well as failure analysis to get the comprehensive picture.
Look forward to your response.
Thanks.
Pradip Goswami,P.Eng.IWE
Welding & Metallurgical Specialist
Ontario,Canada.
ca.linkedin.com/pub/pradip-goswami/5/985/299
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