Metal dusting is a major issue in plants used in the production of hydrogen-and methanol-reformer systems, and syngas (H-2/CO mixtures) systems that are pertinent to the chemical and petrochemical industries. Usually, metal dusting corrosion has two stages: incubation and growth resulting in propagation of metal dusting pits. The two stages were studied by scanning electron microscopy and profile mapping to evaluate the scale of the surface oxide in the initiation and propagation of metal dusting attack. The initiation occurs because of the presence of defects, and the propagation is determined by the diffusion of carbon into the alloy. The carbon diffusion pathways can be blocked by periodically oxidizing alloy surface at moderate temperatures in controlled atmospheres. It was concluded that metal dusting degradation can be mitigated by selecting an alloy with a long incubation time and subjecting it to intermediate oxidation. (c) 2006 International Association for Hydrogen Energy. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.