Atmospheric corrosion of steels prepared from the magnetic fraction of urban refuse

The magnetic fraction of urban refuse was used as melting stock in the preparation of a high-strength, low-alloy (HSLA) steel and a carbon steel. Product steels were made from incinerated steel can scrap, nonincinerated-nondetinned steel can scrap, nonincinerated-detinned steel can scrap, and dilutions of these scraps with No. 1 heavy melting scrap. In continuing tests, 101.6 x 152.4 x 3.2 mm panels of the product steels were exposed to industrial, rural, and marine environments to determine their atmospheric corrosion properties. Panels of the respective commercial steels were exposed at the same time to establish baseline data for the test sites.

Weight-loss data are reported for atmospheric exposures of 0.5, 1.0, 1.5, and 3.8 years. The marine environment was the most corrosive; the industrial environment was the least corrosive. The atmospheric corrosion resistance of the carbon steel was improved 25% by using incinerated scrap and nonincinerated-nondetinned scrap in the steelmaking process. In no case was the atmospheric corrosion resistance of the carbon steel degraded by using the magnetic fraction of urban refuse as melting stock.

The residual elements responsible for improving the corrosion resistance of the carbon steel were identified as tin and copper. At the levels present in the product steels, chromium, nickel, and lead had no observable effect on the corrosion resistance of either the HSLA steel or the carbon steel.