Field Corrosion Detection of Nuclear Materials using Electrochemical Noise Techinique

Abstract

Some critical issues when applying electrochemical noise (EN) in field corrosion detection of nuclear materials are solved. In this work, a portable EN measurement system for field test is established by using Compact RIO modular instrument and zero resistance ammeter (ZRA) module. The electrode system for EN measurement is built by using platinum wire or stainless steels coated with thermal sprayed ceramic coatings as counter electrode. Two EN sensors are developed based on the electrode system mentioned above, and field corrosion detection is successfully achieved. The corrosion of stainless steel pipeline surface in nuclear power plant and internal-surface corrosion of continuous blowdown piping are successfully evaluated by the established new EN measurement system.