Pitting Corrosion Inhibition of Sprinkler Copper Tubes via Forming of Cu-BTA Film on the Inner Surface of Corrosion pits

The feasibility of using benzotriazole (BTAH) to inhibit pitting corrosion in the sprinkler copper tubes was investigated by filling the tubes with BTAH-water solution in 829 households at an eight-year-old apartment complex. The water leakage rate was reduced by approximately 90% following BTAH treatment during 161 days from the previous year. The leakage of one of the two sprinkler copper tubes was investigated with optical microscopy, scanning electron microscopy, energy dispersive spectroscopy, X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy, and X-ray diffraction analysis to determine the formation of Cu-BTA film inside the corrosion pits. All the inner components of the corrosion pits were coated with Cu-BTA films suggesting that BTAH molecules penetrated the corrosion products. The Cu-BTA film was about 2 nm in thickness at the bottom of a corrosion pit. A layer of CuCl and Cu 2 O phases lies under the Cu-BTA film. This complex structure effectively prevented the propagation of corrosion pits in the sprinkler copper tubes and reduced the water leakage.