Corrosion Properties of a Volcanic Hot Spring

Abstract

Volcanic hot pools on White Island, New Zealand provide ready access to acidic fluids at atmospheric pressure. These hot pools can be used to study the corrosion properties of construction materials that might be used for energy production from deep-seated and magma-ambient geothermal systems, or from shallow resources producing acidic fluids. corrosion results for a 1,hot pool are presented. A select group of moderate and high alloy materials appear suitable for energy plant applications. Chemistry and corrosion mechanism models provide some reasons for the experimental observations. Corrosion control experiments in fluids removed from the hot pool demonstrated that a decrease in the instantaneous corrosion rate of carbon steel can be achievedby adjustment.