Study of Polyaniline/Silicon Dioxide Based Coating on Carbon Steel in Artificial Geothermal Brine

Abstract

Geothermal brines are corrosive in nature because of their salt contents and high temperatures. Therefore, they pose a major challenge to geothermal power-plants, which are mostly built of low alloyed steels, e.g., carbon steel. Carbon steel is susceptible to uniform and localized corrosion when exposed to geothermal brines having acidic-saline properties. To overcome this limitation, geothermal power plants should be built by either high alloyed materials or by integrating protection systems on carbon steel, such as coatings and inhibitors. We studied a coating system containing polyaniline/silicon dioxide basing on locally available resources that provides protection against corrosion of carbon steel and enhance the thermal resistance in geothermal environments. Here, exposure and electrochemical tests of coated carbon steels were performed in an artificial geothermal brine. The solution had a pH of 4, with the composition of 1,500 mg/L of chlorides, which is based on the chemical analysis of geothermal brine found in Sibayak, Indonesia. All exposure tests were conducted using autoclaves at 150 °C with a total pressure of 1 MPa, which was performed for up to six months to evaluate the durability of the coating system. Post-experimental analyses were performed by assessing the surface of specimens using optical and electron microscopes. On the other hand, electrochemical tests were performed for seven days at 25 °C and 150 °C to investigate the kinetics of electrochemical reactions by measuring open circuit potential and electrochemical impedance spectra. Experimental results showed the corrosion resistance of PANI/SiO2 composite coatings, where polyaniline and SiO2 play their roles as stabilizers.