On the mitigation of erosion–corrosion of copper by a drag-reducing cationic surfactant in turbulent flow conditions using a rotating cage

Erosion–corrosion is a complex materials degradation mechanism involving the combined effects of mechanical erosion and electrochemical corrosion. It is known to be induced by high shear stresses in strong flows.One way to mitigate this phenomenon is to use additives reducing the turbulent Reynolds stresses. Oleyltrimethyl ammonium cationic surfactant and sodium salicylate as counter-ion known to form thread-like micelles behaving as drag reducers were tested in this work and successfully imaged by using AFM technique.A shear stress mapping in the rotating cage using an electrochemical method was implemented in the absence and in the presence of surfactant, showing drag reduction amounts up to 65%. In a second step, erosion corrosion of Cu in Na2SO4 0.1 M in the presence of small amounts of NaCl (1 mM) was investigated on Cu microelectrodes located at different positions on plastic coupons in the cage. The surfactant effect was found to be beneficial by preventing the removal of the pre-existing oxide films, otherwise observed in the absence of surfactant. Tests performed with benzotriazole known as a good corrosion inhibitor for Cu, could not prevent either the breaking of the oxide film in strong flow conditions.