Open Access

In Germany the “BAM-List – Requirements for Tanks for the Transport of Dangerous Goods” is the basis for substance-related prototype approvals for tank containers designed for the carriage of dangerous goods. Such approval is undertaken by the Federal Institute for Materials Research and Testing (BAM). Compatibility evaluations of selected metallic material groups as well as of polymeric gasket and lining materials under the influence of dangerous goods and water-polluting substances are published in section 5 of the BAM-List. According to the relevant regulations for rail, road and sea transportation a compulsory internal inspection after certain intervals is required. The required corrosion resistance depends on the length of the inspection interval. There is a large number of dangerous goods with a high corrosivity to metals, where the standard steels are not corrosion resistant. Chemical companies, transportation providers and tank producers need tanks made of corrosion-resistant materials in order to protect the tank shell and prevent contamination of high-value cargo as well as the environment. One solution is to line the tank with a polymeric material, an alternative solution to corrosion problems is the application of high-alloyed materials. Only a narrow limited number of corrosion test results of these high-alloyed materials under the influence of corrosive dangerous goods are available. In order to change this situation and include the superaustenitic steels X1NiCrMoCuN25-20-7 (Alloy 926), X1NiCrMoCu32-28-7 (Alloy 31) and the nickel-based alloy NiCr23Mo16Al (Alloy 59) in the BAM-List, BAM, IKS Dresden and ThyssenKrupp VDM started an comprehensive test program with welded specimens made. The program comprises corrosion resistance evaluations of the high-alloyed materials in substances representing 12 major groups of corrosive dangerous goods (e.g. inorganic halogenides, organic acidic halogenides, halogenic carbonic acids, chlorosilanes, chlorates, perchlorates, chlorites, hypochlorites and hydrogen sulphates). The test results, presented in this paper, will be included in the upcoming 8th edition of the BAM-List and therefore available for the costumer.

Five distinct analytical techniques were compared for the quantification of the H2O (0·1-7·4 wt%) and D2O (up to 5·5 wt% D2O) contents in rhyolitic glasses. The hydrogen concentration in obsidians was measured using nuclear reaction analysis (NRA) and converted into H2O concentration. The bulk water content (H2O+D2O) of synthesised glasses was determined using thermal extraction in conjunction with Karl–Fischer titration (KFT). Unextracted H2O was measured by infrared (IR) spectroscopy after remelting the KFT products at high pressure. These well characterised glasses were subsequently used to calibrate secondary ion mass spectrometry (SIMS), infrared and evolved gas analysis (EGA). The calibrations of SIMS for H2O and D2O show a significant matrix effect at H2O and D2O concentrations larger than ~3 mol/l with the relative sensitivity factor (RSF) decreasing with bulk water content. Molar absorption coefficients for the OH stretching vibration band at 3570 cm-1 and the OD stretching vibration band at 2650 cm-1 in the infrared absorption spectra were reinvestigated. In the range 0·1-6 wt% the H2O content of glasses could be reproduced within analytical error using a constant linear molar absorption coefficient. However, it appears that the absorption coefficients for the 3570 cm-1 band as well as for the 2650 cm-1 band both decrease systematically with concentration of dissolved H2O and D2O (epsi3570=80 (±1) - 1·36(±0·23)CH2Ot and epsi2650=61·2(±1) - 2·52(± 0·30)CD2Ot). EGA allows quantification of the H2O content as well as the study of dehydration kinetics. It is shown that H2O is released under vacuum already at room temperature from glasses containing >7 wt% H2O.

The structural investigation of hydrated borate glasses provides new insights on the influence of water on boron speciation using spectroscopic methods. In the present study three soda–lime–borate glasses (NCBx with x = 5, 15 and 25 corresponding to xNa2O, 10CaO, 90 - xB2O3 in mol%) were prepared with water content up to 8 wt.%. The water speciation in the glasses was derived by near-infrared (NIR) spectroscopy while boron speciation was investigated by 11B MAS NMR (Magic Angle Spinning Nuclear Magnetic Resonance). For the three glasses effective molar absorption coefficients were determined experimentally for the bands at 5200 cm- 1 and 4600 cm- 1, corresponding to combination modes of H2O molecules and OH-groups, respectively. In contrast to silicate glasses, in which at most ~ 2 wt.% H2O are dissociated to OH-groups, the amount of dissociated H2O may even exceed 5 wt.% in borate glasses. The fraction of tetrahedral to total boron (N4 = BIV / BIV + BIII) is predominantly controlled by the ratio of Na2O + CaO / B2O3, but only weakly affected by the water content of the glasses. When increasing the H2O content from 0 to 8 wt.%, N4 increases from 25% to 26% for NCB5 and from 42% to 47% for NCB25 glasses.

The structural properties of a borosilicate glass with nominal 16 mol% Na2O, 10 mol% B2O3 and 74mol% SiO2 and water contents between 0 and 8wt% H2O (0–22 mol% H2O)were investigated with IR, Raman and 11BMAS NMR spectroscopy. In addition to the pronounced OH stretching vibration band of weakly H-bonded species at 3580 cm−1 the MIR spectra show a triplet at 2900, 2350 and 1750 cm−1, similar as observed in water-bearing silicate glasses. These bands are assigned to OH groups and water molecules which are strongly H-bonded, to non-bridging oxygen. Water species contents determined from absorption bands in the NIR at 5200 cm−1 (molecular H2O), 4700 cm−1 (B\\OH), and 4500 cm−1 (Si\\OH) indicate that hydroxyl groups dominate up to ~6 wt% total H2O. Based on the absorption coefficients known from literature for silicate and borate glasses the B\\OH/Si\\OH ratio is estimated to be ≈0.8. As indicated by density, Raman and NMR data the incorporation ofwater has strong structural impacts in particular at low water contents up to 3 wt% H2O. While the nominally dry glasses still contain a significant fraction (12%) of three-fold coordinated boron, almost all boron is four-fold coordinated in hydrous glasses. The increase of band components in the Raman spectra near 900 cm−1 relative to the region N 1050 cm−1 gives evidence for depolymerization of the network upon hydration. Fitting of the spectra with Gaussians implies that silica tetrahedra with two non-bridging oxygen (Q2) are preferentially formed by reactionwithwater on expense of tetrahedra linked to four tetrahedra (Q4).