Pourbaix diagrams for iron-chromium alloys in lithium bromide absorption machines

The influence of lithium bromide concentration on the Pourbaix diagrams for iron-chromium alloys is evaluated in this work, which allows for predicting the corrosion to stainless steels exposed to the aggressive operating conditions of lithium bromide absorption machines (concentrations ranging from: 400-992 g/L). The novelty of this work is found in the development of Pourbaix diagrams for the Fe-Cr-Br--H2O quaternary system in aqueous solutions with a high concentration of lithium bromide, a topic which has not yet been studied. Results show that the corrosion region at acid pH corresponding to the aqueous species FeBr2(aq), FeBr3(aq), Cr+2, CrOH+2, Cr+3 or CrBr+2 shifts to higher pHs with increasing lithium bromide concentration, which decreases the immunity region of iron and chromium and decreases the passivation region of the solid species FeCr2O4, Fe2O3 and Cr2O3.