Corrosion Protection of the Surfaces of Ammonium Sulfate Production Plants in Isfahan Steel Company

In the process of converting coal into coke, the volatile matter is vaporized and driven off from the coke oven chambers. Ammonia is one of the gaseous chemicals which because of its corrosive nature, its removal is a priority in coke oven by-product plants. The removal of ammonia from coke oven gas basically involves contacting the coke oven gas with a solution of gu]furic acid in specific reactors named saturators, and yield ammonium sulfB.te as a fertilizer. Saturators of ammonium sulfilte production filce extreme influences by corrosion that resuh from the highly reactive production process, the action of solid, liquid and gaseous aggressive media, UllllSWl1. thermal stresses and corrosive nature of sulfuric acid, and other chemicals. In order to develop a sulfuric acid resistant system at low cost instead of the previous system for protection of the sur:fBces of saturators of ammonium sul:fiJ.te production, in Isfilhan steel company, a group of ceramic materials and also a composite based on polyvinyl ester resin and potassium silicate as a filler were chosen. A mass loss comparison test based on ASTM C-279 performed on all of selected materials. The results showed that, 8A46 and 8A63 ceramics and polyvinyl ester composite passed the test and therefore, can be used in ammonium sulfate saturator for protecting the steel sur:filce from the attack of acid and corrosive media. Based on the resuhs. a suggestion for applying a protective layer containing a combination of rubber lined layer and brick layer with polyvinyl ester and potassium silicate as mortar and silent was proposed.

Keywords:

Ammonium sulfate , Sulfuric acid. , Surface protection , Satmators