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Application of the diffusion couple to study phase equilibria in the Fe-Cr-S ternary system at 600 °C
Metallurgical and Materials Transactions A (1995)
  • Joseph Goldstein, University of Massachusetts - Amherst
Abstract

The sulfidation of Fe-Cr alloys has a large financial significance for industries that use fossil fuels, such as the electric utility industry. Therefore, the sulfidation of a series of Fe-Cr alloys was studied at 600 °C using a solid-state diffusion couple technique. The diffusion couple technique combined Fe0.95S powder and FeCr binary alloys together in a configuration that allowed for post-heat-treatment microanalysis using an electron probe microanalyzer (EPMA). The results showed that only two different diffusion couple microstructures formed in samples spanning the entire Fe-Cr binary range. The Fe-rich alloy diffusion couples contained a surface αFeCr layer and an internal sulfide precipitate layer that contained three different sulfide phases. The Cr-rich alloy diffusion couples also possessed an internal precipitate layer, as well as a thick, triplex interfacial scale. The ternary elemental diffusion was described using diffusion paths plotted on the 600 °C isothermal section of the Fe-Cr-S phase diagram. The results also showed that samples with less than 51 wt Pct Cr were more sulfidation resistant. The accuracy of the existing Fe-Cr-S 600 °C isothermal section was assessed, and it was determined that the τ phase field had a larger composition than previously published.

Publication Date
1995
Citation Information
Joseph Goldstein. "Application of the diffusion couple to study phase equilibria in the Fe-Cr-S ternary system at 600 °C" Metallurgical and Materials Transactions A Vol. 26 Iss. 1 (1995)
Available at: http://works.bepress.com/joseph_goldstein/5/