Corrosiveness of Palm Biodiesel in Gray Cast Iron Coated by Thermoreactive Diffusion Vanadium Carbide (VC) Coating

Palm biodiesel is a currently used biofuel, principally as an additive or substitute of diesel fuel in vehicular internal combustion engines. In the present work, vanadium carbide (VC) coatings were deposited on gray cast iron (GCI) using the thermoreactive diffusion process (TRD) to evaluate the corrosiveness of palm biodiesel and compare it with gray cast iron corrosion behavior. VC coated and uncoated gray cast iron samples were tested by immersion corrosion tests (291 K and 313 K), cyclic oxidation test (CO), and the electrochemical impedance spectrometry test (EIS). The corrosion test showed the reduction of the corrosion rate for the VC coating when compared to gray cast iron. EIS tests of coated samples showed higher values of polarization resistance when compared with uncoated gray cast iron samples. Results confirmed that while biodiesel was more corrosive than diesel on both coated and uncoated gray cast iron, the VC coating was efficient in protecting the substrate exposed to both fuels.