Erosion-Corrosion-Resistant Titanium Diboride Cermets for High-Temperature Process Applications

Reactor vessels and internals used for high-temperature processes such as in refining and chemical industries are exposed to aggressive fluids often containing hard catalyst particles moving at high velocities. The protection of these vessels and internals against erosion- and corrosion-induced material degradation is a technological challenge. The life span of the state-of-the-art monolithic refractory liners currently in use is limited by excessive mechanical attrition of the liner from high-velocity solid particle impingement, mechanical cracking, and spalling. The advanced TiB(2)-stainless-steel (SS) cermets are designed for chemical stability required for long-term service and offer an order of magnitude higher erosion resistance over the state-of-the-art, high fracture toughness (K(1C)similar to 12 MPa m(1/2)) and excellent corrosion resistance (k(p)similar to 1.9 x 10(-11) g(2)/cm(4)/s at 800 degrees C in air). Materials, design, microstructure, key mechanical properties, erosion, and corrosion resistance of the newly developed TiB(2)-SS cermets are presented.