A laboratory study on metal corrosion by ammonia gas

The effects of aerial ammonia on metal corrosion was examined in this study. Tests were conducted using three environmentally controlled chambers at three different ammonia levels (0 ppm, 100 ppm, and 200 ppm). Four types of metal products (uncoated 1010 carbon steel, galvanized steel, Galvalume, and pure zinc) were evaluated for weight losses and corrosion rates over a two-month test period. The test results showed that aerial ammonia, instead of accelerating metal corrosion, reduced the corrosion rates for steel. Weight losses for uncoated 1010 carbon steel samples in the chamber without ammonia were three and six times higher than those in chambers with ammonia levels of 100 ppm and 200 ppm, respectively. The corrosion rates were greatly reduced from 7.3 μm/year to 1.2 μm/year over the two-month period when ammonia level increased from 0 ppm to 200 ppm. For galvanized steel and pure zinc samples, the influence of ammonia on the corrosion processes was not apparent; however, there was a slight increase in corrosion rate for Galvalume samples with the increase of aerial ammonia concentrations.