Addition of amines to molasses and lees as corrosion inhibitors in sustainable de-icing materials

Abstract

The waste formed during sugar- and wine-making activities has attracted our attention given its ability to inhibit corrosion in the presence of brine in a de-icing formulation. Herein the addition of amines to de-sugared beet molasses and winery lees is found to improve their anti-corrosive properties. Thus, weight-loss experiments clearly show that the addition of a small amount of amines to molasses or lees results in marked corrosion inhibition on carbon and galvanized steel. Subsequent electrochemical experiments and microscopy studies supported this finding. In addition, microscopy images indicated that triethanolamine was the best candidate amongst the amines tested for use in the final de-icing formulation. Ice-melting experiments demonstrated that the presence of molasses/lees together with triethanolamine does not alter the properties of the de-icing agent. When corrosion on galvanized and carbon steel probes was measured under environmental conditions, a decrease of 88% for galvanized steel and 65% for carbon steel was achieved due to the inhibiting action of the molasses/triethanolamine mixture. These results suggest that the addition of molasses/lees and triethanolamine to brine-based de-icing agents is recommended.