Corrosion of carbon steel and the passivating properties of corrosion films formed under high-PT geothermal conditions.

Corrosion is a major obstacle to a safe implementation of geotechnical applications. Using a novel approach that includes vertical scanning interferometry (VSI) and electrochemical impedance spectroscopy (EIS) we discuss time-dependent carbon steel corrosion and film formation at geothermally relevant temperatures (80-160 °C) in CO-saturated mildly acidic NaCl brine. Iron dissolution kinetics follows a logarithmic rate at 80 and 160 °C and a linear rate at 120 °C.