The high temperature oxidation behaviour of Ni-Cr-B-Si coatings with a higher Si-content was investigated in order to evaluate the suitability of such materials especially for novel applications concerning highly aggressive environments like metal dusting. Metal dusting is a corrosion phenomenon that occurs in reducing-, carbon-supersaturated (ac>1) gaseous atmosphere, containing CO, H2, CO2 and H2O, at elevated temperatures between 400 and 800°C. Metal dusting reactions can be classified into two types. The first one concerns Fe-alloys, where Fe3C is growing on the surface. The second one is related to the reaction of Ni, Co and their alloys, where the destruction takes place through inward growth or direct ingrowth of graphite, without forming the metastable Fe3C. Regarding to the literature, metal dusting is typically encountered in industrial furnaces, but mainly in the chemical or petrochemical industry. The way to suppress metal dusting is to stop the dissociation of the carbon source or to stop the carbon ingress in the material. One possibility in order to avoid the carburization of Fe, Ni, Co and their alloys is to preoxidize the samples. Based on the reducing atmosphere, where metal dusting occurs, the isothermal outsourcing for the formation of a protective Al-, Cr- or Si-oxide layer on the samples in air is mostly necessary. The role of a stable Al2O3 and Cr2O3-layer on the sample as a diffusion barrier against the carbon ingress, based on their low solubility for carbon, has already been investigated and proved by many scientists. The formation of a protective and thermodynamically very stable SiO2 scale was also investigated. Within the scope of this work, the influence of a higher Si-content (4,5 wt%) in NiCrBSi-alloys, depending on the temperature, was analyzed. For this purpose the samples were oxidized in air at 600, 700 and 800°C respectively. The surface morphology and the phase composition of the grown oxide scales were characterized by means of scanning electron microscopy combined with energy dispersive X-ray (SEM/EDX) and by X-ray diffraction (XRD) technique. The experimental results demonstrate the importance of silicon content on the coatings properties, respectively on the stability of the formed oxide scale (free of micro cracks, no spallation). This element is able to form beside chromium, a dense oxide layer on the sample surface, protecting it against further degradation induced by the atmosphere in different high temperature applications. Moreover, the increased chromium content of the feedstock powder (from 10 wt% in previous work to 12,5 wt%) demonstrated that the Ni-Cr-B-Si coatings exposed at 600°C, 700°C as well as at 800°C were not susceptible to internal oxidation.
