"Chlorobenzene corrosion of Stainless Steel"

Question:

"Query of water contaminated chlororbenzene corroding 316L. Water will settle on top of MCB and will contain traces of HCl and hydrolysed PCl3. Concern for corrosion pitting at water mark. Can stainless steel be used as a material of construction? The grade of stainless steel we would like to use is 316L/317. The temperature would be 10 degC. There may be an instance when the temperature reaches 90 degC. Normally it would be 10 degC."

Answer:

At 10C the driving force for pitting with 316SS/317SS will be low. You may experience some pitting on a long term basis at the interface, particularly if the vapor space contains oxygen (air), but penetration rates should be acceptable. I would avoid temperatures of 90C on a long term basis (repeated short term intervals) due to the real risk of chloride stress corrosion cracking (SCC).

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