Abstract
The effect of copper (metallic and up to 1 ppm. dissolved in solution), temperature (60 C to 90 C), and pH (6 to 9) on hydrogen formation from mild steel in oxygen free water was investigated. The formation rate was found independent of temperature not only up to 90 C, but a comparison with work elsewhere indicates that this observation applies over a much wider temperature range. Copper was found to have had no practical catalytic effect upon the hydrogen formation rate. The volumetric rate of hydrogen evolution was qualitatively proportional to weight loss, though not all hydrogen expected from stoichiometric considerations appeared as free gas. There was no clear evidence that black magnetite (Fe3O4) was the only solid corrosion product.
