Development of Advanced Electrochemical Emission Spectroscopy for Monitoring Corrosion in Simulated DOE Liquid Waste

In this work, the examination of electrochemical noise data comprised three main approaches: one, a computer simulation of the anodic and cathodic activity relating to corrosion on a metal surface; two, experimental modeling of the electrochemical environment inside nuclear waste storage containers and collection of EN generated; and three, Wavelet analysis of the EN data from the first two parts. The simulation of EN proved to be effective in replicating the EN data of both general and pitting corrosion. Using competition mechanisms for the anodic and cathodic sites on the surface, the long-term, low-frequency data generated by localized pitting corrosion was reproduced. Disabling one or more of the rules of the simulation eliminated the low-frequency character of the data, and eliminating all of the rules effectively reproduced general corrosion noise. The simulation accuracy benefited from comparison to experimental data, and conversely, it improved the EN analysis by providing theory for the underlying mechanisms. The experimental electrochemical cell modeled the important factors in nuclear waste storage containers for this EN study; mainly increased temperature and the concentrations of corrosion-inducing or inhibiting chemicals. It also provided a platform for studying how the EN was affected by the competing chemicals.