Accelerated Corrosion of Copper in Flowing Pure Water Contaminated with Oxygen and Sulfide

Studies of the corrosion of OFHC copper in water contaminated with sulfide, oxygen, or sulfide plus oxygen have shown that the presence of either sulfide (48 to 1940 ppb) plus low oxygen (29 to 60 ppb) or oxygen alone (865 to 6950 ppb) leads to low corrosion rates. However, when both sulfide and oxygen are present in certain concentration ranges, dramatic increases in the corrosion rate result. As little as 56 ppb sulfide in water containing 870 ppb oxygen can increase the corrosion rate by an order of magnitude. A mechanistic model that explains the synergism has been developed.