DIFFUSION COATING AND PRODUCTS

Abstract: Low alloy steels are made resistant to hot sulfidation first decarburizing then chromizing then aluminizing, either in independent operations or run together in a single retort.

Description: DIFFUSION COATING AND PRODUCTS The present invention relates to the coating of metals to increase their resistance to corrosion and other chemical attacks. Among the objects of the present invention is the provision of novel coating techniques and compositions for use therewith, as well as novel coated products, all suitable for commercial operations. Additional objects of the present invention include techniques for confining protective diffusion coatings to desired locations on workpieces. The foregoing as well as further objects of the present invention will be more fully understood from the following description of several of it-s exemplifications. For increasing the resistance of steels, even low alloy steels, to attack by hot sulfur-containing materials, chromizing is very effective when it pene¬ trates more than about 3 mils and is followed by an even deeper alumihizing. Less penetrating treatment of superalloys is disclosed in U. S. Patents 3,764,371, 3,694,255 and 4,041,196, and a similar treatment is disclosed in U. S. Patent 3,656,919, but the present invention applies such a .sequence to low alloy steels such as those called chromium steels. These chromium steels of the present invention contain from about 0.6 to about 1.5% chromium, and their carbon contents can range from about 0.15% to about 1.10%. This car¬ bon content is not in stabilized form and is accord¬ ingly sufficient to seriously limit the case depth obtained by chromizing,. as well as correspondingly limit the maximum resistnace obtainable against hot sulfidatioti. Unprotected- low alloy steels used in petroleum refinery operations for example, are gener¬ ally very susceptible to hot sulfidation, so that a high degree of protection is called for. According to the present invention low alloy steels such as the above-noted chromium steels have their surfaces first decarburized to a depth of at least about 3 mils, then chromized to provide a case at least about 2 mils thick, and then aluminized to a depth of at least about 6 mils. One preferred decarburizing is to a depth of 4 to 6 mils, along with chromizing to provide a case thickness of about 3 to 4 mils, and aluminizing to a final diffusion case of about 10 to about 14 mils. The respective treatments can be applied individually in spaced operations, or they can be com¬ bined as successive stages of a single heat sequence. Each stage can be a conventional one such as: EXAMPLE I 1. A number of chromium steel tubes used for a heat exchanger in the oxidative cracking of sulfur- containing petroleum residues were cleaned, and then placed in a retort through which hydrogen having a dew point of 40 to 60°F is passed, while the retort is heated to 1800-1850°F for three hours. Before the treatment, th tubes had 0.7 to 0.87 o chromium and 0.18% carbon, their side walls were about 1/4 inch thick, their internal dia¬ meter"about 2 inches, and one end of each tube was flared out and mushroomed back. After the three hour treatment, heating was discontinued and the tubes permitted to cool to room temperature. They showed a surface decarburiza- tion about 6 mils deep. 2. The decarburized tubes were then loaded in a vertical retort, the floor of which had a four-inch thick layer.of powdered chromizing pack into which the flared ends were embedded. The interior of the tubes were filled with ^ the same chromizing pack, which was a re-fired 1:4 by weight mixture of chromium powder and the fluent tabular Al 2 0 3 described in U. S. Patent 4,208,453, with 1/2% NH4CI based on the weight of the 1:4 mixture. The retort was then covered and fired as in U.S.Patent 3,801,357 to bring its contents to 1950- 1975°F for ten hours. Upon subsequent cool-down the tubes showed a chromized case 3 to 4 mils thick, the outer quarter having a chromium-carbide-rich phase with the remainder having a columnar ferrite structure. 3. The chromized tubes were returned to the vertical retort, which this time contained a layer of aluminizing powder pack, and the tube interiors were filled with the same aluminizing pack - a pre-fired mixture of 45 weight % chromium powder, 10 weight % aluminum powder and 45 weight % powdered alumina, ' activated with 1/2%- NH^Cl. The aluminizing heat was at 1950-1975 β F for ten hours and left a consolidated diffusion case 12 to 14 mils thick. The outer surface of this case contained about 21% aluminum and about 21% chromium, whereas the middle of the case con- ■tained about 12.5% aluminum and about 13.7% chromium. These tubes showed a very high resistance against hot sulfidation, and in one instance a tube was attacked so severely that the steel base was completely eaten through leaving an almost unscathed diffusion case as a shell. A typical tube of the foregoing type is illustrated at 10 in Fig. 1, where it is shown held in a retort 12 with its reversely flared end 14 inbedded in one of the diffusion coating packs. Where the tube has an external surface portion that is not to receive a diffusion coating, as for instance because that- por¬ tion is closely fitted into a mounting sheet or the like, that surface portion can be masked. Thus a slurry type powdered alumina masking coating can be applied as illustrated at 18 and 20. Alternatively a powder type masking mixture can be poured into the cup-shaped portion of flare 14, and if desired such powder can be held in place with the help of a steel ring fitted around the powder and resting on the up¬ turned lip of the flare. The decarburizing can be conducted in any con¬ venient way, although it is preferred to use hydrogen having a dew point at least as high as 0°F. The decar¬ burizing temperature can vary in the manner shown in the prior art, and effective decarburizing produces a weight loss of from about 0.3 to about 0.6 milligrams per square centimeter of treated surface. This can be checked by including in the retort a spare coupon of the metal being treated and withdrawing the coupon to check its weight. The diffusion chromizing and aluminizing can also be varied as disclosed in the prior art. A good chrom¬ ium pick-up is at least 15 and better still over 25 milligrams per square centimeter of surface, and a good aluminum pick-up is at least 25 and preferably over 40 milligrams per square centimeter. Another good combi¬ nation has a pick-up of over 30 milligrams of chromium per square centimeter and a pick-up of about 20 to about 40 milligrams per square centimeter. Although the aluminum pick-up appears large when measured in milligrams per square centimeter, the aluminum penetration is so deep and aggressive that the aluminum concentration at the surface can be as little as 5% by weight. The aluminizing also causes the chromiu diffusion to deepen, but the final concentration of chromium of the surface is generally at least about 15%. The separate treatments can be partially or completely run together in a single retort without removing the tubes from the retort between treatment steps. Some combinations of decarburizing with chromizing are mentioned in U. S. Patent 3,449,159, but the decarburizing of the present invention is a very substantial one in which the decarburized zone is not only deep but shows a carbon content well below 0.05%. Gas chromizing as in U. S. Patent 3,449,159 and 3,222,122 is particularly desirable when consolidatin the chromizing with both the decarburizing and the alumi¬ nizing. The only pack in contact with the tubes in such a consolidation is the aluminizing pack, inasmuch as gas aluminizing is not sufficiently effective. Fig. 2 illustrates a retorting arrangement for consolidated treatments. Two tubes 50 and 60 are here shown lowered through a perforated removable shelf 22 resting on the upper edge of a cylindrical retort shell which has welded around its upper margin a rela- tively short retort extension 28. The top of the retort is loosely covered with, a plate 30 fitted with a vent pipe 31 and a set of nozzles 32 downwardly directed over each tube-receiving perforation in shelf 22. For decarburizing, the tubes are mounted as at 50 and wet hydrogen introduced through nozzles 32 so as to pass downwardly through and decarburize the interiors of the tubes. Some of the introduced hydrogen also spills over the flared tube ends and decarburizes them as well. When the decarburizing is completed the flow of wet hydrogen is stopped, and gas chromizing streams are introduced through nozzles 32. No other change except for a shift to the chromizing temperature is needed, so that the retort can be kept at operating temperatures throughout. The next shift is to aluminizing and for this the cover 30 or the nozzles 32 are removed so that a powder aluminizing pack can be poured into the tubes. By keeping the lower ends of the tubes within an inch or so of the retort floor a low fluency pack can be poured in place without building up very much on that floor. On the other hand a more fluent pack can be used with more of the pack spreading out on the floor as well as over the flared tube ends. It will generally be desirable to cool the retort and its contents somewhat before introducing the aluminizing pack. To this end the burners aroun the retort can be shut down and a rapid flow of argon introduced through vent 31. Because no thermal insula¬ tion is present in the retort, aside from the masking layers, the tubes are fairly rapidly cooled in this way. After sufficient argon flow to flush and fill the retort with that gas, the retort cover or nozzles 32 can generally be removed even though the tubes are still at about 900 β F, especially if the rapid argon flow is maintained as a protective shield around the tubes and the openings, at th-e -retΩrt„top kept very small. The aluminizing pack can then be promptly poured through such openings into the tubes to further cool them both by contact as well as volatilization of the activator contained in the pack. To avoid pre¬ mature depletion of the activator when so added, the activator content of the pack can be somewhat elevated, such as 1 1/2% by weight, instead of the usual 1/4 to 1/2% by weight. As soon as the pack addition is completed the retort-heating burners can be re-started to carry the retort contents to the desired aluminizing temperature. Where the aluminizing pack is a chromium-free pack, the aluminizing can be very effectively conducted at tem¬ peratures as low as 1400°F or even lower, without much reduction in coating rate. Aluminizing at temperatures below about 1200°F is best effected with an aluminum halide activator ' such as AICI3. The cooling applied before the aluminizing can be to very low temperatures if desired. Thus cooling to about 630 β F will enable the introduction of an NH4Cl-activated pack without significant loss of NH^Cl by volatilization, and cooling to about 350°F will similarly minimize loss of AICI3 from an AlCl β -activated pack. Cooling to 150°F will enable withdrawal of the chromized tubes from the retort, as for example if they are to be closely inspected to check on the chromized case or to replace the masking. Cut off short pieces of tubing can be placed on shelf 22 to act as test members that can be removed when desired to check on the treatment without removing the tubes themselves. The consolidating of the aluminizing with the previous treatments requires much more than the mere consolidation of the decarburizing with the chromizing- This simpler consolidation can also be effected with the use of a chromizing pack rather than a gas phase chromizing, so that such pack is replaced by an alumi¬ nizing pack for the aluminizing step. The exteriors of the tubes subjected to the three-step treatment of decarburizing, chromizing and aluminizing, also show the effects of such treatment steps, although these effects are minimized at the masked areas. The decarburizing of the exteriors reduces the tube strengths, but this effect is insig¬ nificant when the tube wall thicknesses are greater than 1/8 nch. Also such decarburized exteriors become chromized to some degree and this strengthens those surfaces. Other chromium steels and other low alloy steels can be treated in place of the foregoing tubes, to give similarly protected products. Plain steels having about 0.1% or less of carbon are generally not strong enough or sufficiently resistant for use in hot environments, but they too can be similarly chrom¬ ized and alu inized to yield products " showing very little corrosion in hot sulfidation environments, and do not need a preliminary decarburizing. Steels that have their carbon contents stabilized as noted in U. S. Patent 3,449,159, likewise need no decarburizing. A high degree of decarburizing is desirable for unstabilized carbon contents, inasmuch as this enables very heavy diffusion chromizing. The following is an exe plification EXAMPLE II The procedure of Example I is followed, with the following changes: A. The decarburizing is conducted at 1825 to 1875°F for six hours with wet hydrogen having a dew point at least as high as 20°F to yield a decarburized surface 8 to 10 mils deep. B. The chromizing is conducted- with a non- prefired pack of 20% chromium and 807> non-fluent alumina, activated as in Example I. The chromizing is at 2050 to 2100°F for 10 hours, leaving a chromized case 11 to 12 mils deep essentially all columnar ferrite and with littl or no distinguishable chromium-carbide-rich phase. It is noted that the chromizing causes a little increase in the decarburizing depth, and is as deep as the resulting decarburizing. The surface chromium content is about 50 milligrams per square centimeter. The chromizing also causes significant loss of carbon from the body of the substrate. C. The aluminizing is conducted with a non- prefired pack of, by weight: 5.4% aluminum 46.47e> chromium balance alumina activated as in Example I. The aluminizing temperature is 2050 to 2100°F for 10 hours. The resulting case is about 20 mils deep and the aluminum concentration at the surface is about 12%. Modifying Example II by reducing the aluminum content of the aluminizing pack to 2.5% and its chromium to 43.5% yields a case depth of about 18 mils and a surfa aluminum content of about 6%. The products of Example II shows a somewhat better resistance than that of Example I, to oxidative attack by air at 1500°F. The masking compositions used in the process of the present invention are preferably free of metallic aluminum or metallic alumini-des. Alumina alone is an OV I effective maskant for the techniques of the examples, inasmuch as the masking is not in a location contacted by a diffusion coating pack. On ordinary irons and steels as well as low alloy steels, a localized layer of powdered iron appropriately diluted with inert diluent such as alumina, can be applied to reduce or prevent diffusion coating under the layer. This layer can be covered by a sheath-forming layer, but such covering is not needed where the workpieces are not roughly handled during treatment. Powdered iron containing chromium can also be used, suitably diluted, particularly to mask chromium steels against aluminizing. Nickel can also be present in such a masking powder, even though it tends to diffuse into the masked surface. It is generally more important to keep aluminum from diffusing into the surfaces to be masked, inasmuch as the aluminizing is so aggressive and leaves a surface difficult to weld. It takes at least about 20% diluent powder of non- metallic masking composition to the point that it does not sinter to the workpiece. Where the presence of a little aluminum can be tolerated, the masking compositions of U. S. Patent 4,208,453 can be used. Obviously many modifications and variations of the present invention are possible in the light of the above teachings. It is therefore to be understood that within the scope of the appended claims the inven¬ tion may be practiced otherwise than as specifically described.

Claims: CLAIMS -14- 1. The process of increasing the resistance to high-temperature attack by sulfur-containing petroleum ingredients of low alloy carbon steel refinery equip¬ ment, which process is characterized by decarburizing to a depth of at least about 3 mils the equipment face exposed to the attack, diffusion chromizing the decar¬ burized layer to produce a chromized case at least about 2 mils thick the inner portion, of which has a columnar ferrite structure, and diffusion aluminizing the chromized case to provide a final diffusion case thicker than the chromized case and deeper than the original case. 2. The combination of claim 1 in which the steel is a chromium steel containing carbon in an unstabi¬ lized condition, the decarburizing is to a depth of at least about 4 mils, and the chromized case has a thick¬ ness of at least about 3 mils. 3. . A low alloy chromium steel member at least partially exposed to hot sulfur-containing petroleum residues, said member having its exposed portion de¬ carburized to a depth of at least 3 mils, chromized through most of the decarburized depth and then alumi- nized to a depth greater than the decarburized depth. 'B^RE 4. The combination of claim 1 in which the equip¬ ment is a tube and the diffusion coating is applied essentially only to the surface of the tube exposed to the attack. 5. The combination of claim 4 in which mounting surfaces on the external face of the tube are masked to minimize coating formation in those locations. 6. The combination of claim 1 in which the de¬ carburizing, chromizing and aluminizing are conducted in a retort from which the equipment is not removed until after the aluminizing is completed 7. The process of diffusion coating a workpiece with chromium and then with aluminum, which process is characterized by loading the workpiece in a dif¬ fusion coating retort, then subjecting the retort to a diffusion-coating heat while introducing into it a chromizing vapor to cause the vapor to contact and chromize the workpiece, then without removing the workpiece, introducing into the retort an aluminizing powder pack to cause it to contact the workpiece, and then bringing the retort to diffusion aluminizing temperature to cause the chromized workpiece to be aluminized by said pack before the workpiece is remov¬ ed from the retort. 8. The combination of claim 7 in which the work¬ piece is a carbon steeL that has its surface decarbur- r!6- ized before the chromizing. 9. The combination of claim 8 in which the decar¬ burizing is effected in the retort and the workpiece is not removed from the retort between the decarbur¬ izing and the chromizing. 10. In the pack diffusion coating of the interior of a tubular metal workpiece, the improvement accord¬ ing to which the coating is effected while the tubular workpiece is positioned inside a diffusion coating retort with its tubular axis vertica ' l, the tubular interior of the workpiece is filled with diffusion coating pack, and additional diffusion coating pack built up between the lower end of the tubular interior and the floor of the retort keeps the pack within the workpieces from spilling out the bottom of the tubu¬ lar interior. 11. The combination of claim 10 in which the work¬ piece is supported in that retort by the pack built up under it. 12. The combination of claim 10 in which a sup¬ port within the retort supports the exterior of the workpiece. 13. The combination of claim 10 in which the work¬ piece is a tube enlarged at one end, and the work¬ piece is fitted through an opening in a supporting shelf in the retort, the opening is not as large as " VJREA the enlarged end, and the enlarged end rests on the shelf and supports the workpiece. 14. The combination of claim 10 in which the work¬ piece has mounting sites on its exterior, and those mounting sites are coated with diffusion-blocking masking coating. 15. The combination of claim 12 in which the top of the retort has a covered opening over the upper end of the tubular workpiece interior, and that open¬ ing is large enough to permit the pouring of the • ■■ - ■ diffusion coating pack through it into that tubular interior. 16. The combination of claim 1 in which the steel is a chromium steel containing carbon in an unstabilized condition, the decarburizing is to a depth of at least about 6 mils, the chromized case has a thickness at least about 6 mils, and the final aluminized case has a thickness greater than the chromized case. 17. The combination of claim 16 in which the chrom¬ ized case is deeper than the decarburizing effected in the decarburizing step.

Inventors: BALDI ALFONSO L
Applicants: ALLOY SURFACES CO INC, BALDI ALFONSO L
Application year: 1982
Main classification: B05D7
IPC codes: C23C10