Title: Vapour condensation and corrosive attack in exhaust systems

Authors: P.J. Shayler, N. Collings

Addresses: Department of Mechanical Engineering, University of Nottingham, Nottingham, UK. ' Department of Mechanical Engineering, University of Nottingham, Nottingham, UK

Abstract: The service life of mild steel exhaust systems is limited mainly by corrosion. A useful life of two or three years is typical. Design changes can be made to extend this period, but because the process of corrosive attack is poorly understood, the changes are not necessarily as cost effective as possible. To address this problem, the way exhaust vapours condense and accumulate in a standard system has been studied. Dew point temperatures have been measured to be 48°C, and the time dependent accumulation of condensate in the rear muffler box has been recorded. The relationship between system temperature, condensate accumulation, and corrosion is discussed. The use of thermal insulation to reduce problems of condensate accumulation has been investigated. Experiments show that the increase in system temperature results in a substantial reducton in liquid accumulation at points prone to corrosive attack.

Keywords: exhaust systems; corrosion; vapour condensation; dew point temperature; thermal insulation; vehicle exhausts.

DOI: 10.1504/IJVD.1982.061292

International Journal of Vehicle Design, 1982 Vol.3 No.4, pp.477 - 484

Published online: 25 May 2014 *

Full-text access for editors Full-text access for subscribers Purchase this article Comment on this article