Investigating accuracy of the Tafel extrapolation method in HCl solutions

This paper discusses the validity and accuracy of the Tafel extrapolation method for determining corrosion rates of carbon steel in 1, 2 and 3 M HCl solutions open to air. Corrosion rates obtained from polarization experiments were compared with that of weight loss method. For analysing data obtained from polarization experiments electrochemical impedance spectroscopy (EIS) measurements were performed before polarization experiments. The results showed that formation of a corrosion product film and increasing the polarization resistance (R(p)) of this film with time cause the corrosion rates obtained from Tafel extrapolation tend to be higher than corrosion rates obtained from weight loss test. (C) 2009 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.