Simple Measurement of Carbon Films on Copper Tubes and Their Effects on Corrosion

It has been reported that pitting corrosion in copper tubes occurs due to the effect of a carbon film produced by the influence of undergoing an oil and heat treatment. As a quantitative method for determining the residual carbon amount, it has been reported that the inner surface of a copper tube can be dissolved with a mixed acid to collect and analyze the adhering carbon; however, this method is dangerous and difficult. Therefore, two methods were examined as a simple quantitative method for obtaining the residual carbon amount using copper tubes with known residual carbon amounts. One method utilizes X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS), and the other method utilizes the potential difference between the carbon film-adhered surface and carbon film-removed surface. In regard to XPS measurement, a linear correlation was found between the spectral intensity of C and the residual carbon amount; therefore, XPS measurements were considered to be effective as a simple measurement method for the carbon film on the inner surface of a copper tube. In the evaluation method by measuring the corrosion potential, a correlation was observed between the potential difference ΔE and the residual carbon amount of the inner surface of the tube and the outer surface of the polished tube. It is considered possible to estimate the residual carbon amount from the prepared calibration curve. Through these studies, it is suggested that the carbon film was non-uniformly present on the surface of the copper tube. Therefore, the galvanic current was measured, and the effect of a non-uniform carbon film on corrosion behavior was investigated. As a result, in the measurement of galvanic current, the current flowed from the copper tube with a large amount of residual carbon (cathode) to the copper tube with a small amount of residual carbon (anode). In addition, the higher the area ratio of the carbon film was, the larger the galvanic current tended to be.