Corrosion of 304 stainless steel in molten-carbonate fuel cells

The corrosion behavior of 304 stainless steel was characterized with cyclic voltammetry in a eutectic Li/K and Li/Na carbonate melt under anode and cathode gas of the molten-carbonate fuel cell (MCFC). The corrosion rate of 304 steel was determined in four different environments of the MCFC with electrochemical methods and from cross-sectional analysis of corrosion layers. These four environments were open-circuit and MCFC-load conditions both under anode and cathode gas. At open-circuit conditions corrosion was more severe under the oxidizing cathode gas than under the reducing anode gas. On the contrary, at load conditions corrosion was more severe under anode than under cathode gas. The anodic polarization under anode gas enhances corrosion, whereas the high anodic polarization under cathode gas leads to anodic protection. Corrosion currents were measured with chronoamperometry and determined with Tafel extrapolation from quasi-stationary polarization-curve measurements. The difference between the corrosion layer thickness estimated from these corrosion currents and the corrosion layer thickness determined from cross-sectional analysis is mainly due to contributing currents of either the MCFC-anode gas reaction under anode gas or the MCFC-cathode gas reaction under cathode gas. (C) 1999 The Electrochemical Society. S0013-4651(98)10-018-6. All rights reserved.