In the oil sands industry, it has become increasingly clear that
combined mechanical and chemical interaction of erosion or abrasion
with corrosion is responsible for severe damage (Fig. 1) and
high losses that accrue to equipment in many slurry transportation,
handling and processing operations. Main areas of concern
include tailings lines and hydrotransport pipe, pumps and pump
boxes, separation vessels and systems, vibratory screens and rotary
breaker sumps.
The erosion–corrosion properties of a range ofmaterials, including
carbon steels [1–2], stainless steels [3–5] and WC-based
overlays [6–8], have been assessed previously. However, the diversity
of complex environments encountered by the aforementioned
components requires assessment under various E–C conditions.
Hence, in order to generate data that will help address and mitigate
this situation, anovel slurrypot erosion-corrosion (SPEC) tester
has been designed and constructed to assess and compare candi-
∗ Corresponding author. Tel.: +1 604 221 3036.
E-mail address: mark.jones@nrc.ca (M. Jones).
dates for applications involving combinedmechanical and chemical
attack.
It has been demonstrated previously [9–13] that the components
of wear and corrosion are not mutually exclusive and instead
interact to exacerbate the damage to a greater extent than the
sum of the individual parts. Therefore, by incorporating a threeelectrode
cell, which allows for in situ electrochemical assessment,
the level of synergism can be established, along with the individual
contributions of erosion and corrosion.
This paper investigates the erosion–corrosion behaviour of a
selection of carbon steels, chrome white irons and stainless steelbased
materials that are either currently being used or have
potential for use in the oil sands industry.