Corrosion is a natural mechanism that occurs to all metals
There are 6 main types of corrosion
Corrosion failures cost the world in excess of over $2 trillion dollars
Corrosion can result even in the absence of oxygen
Corrosion protection is best addressed in the design stage
Cathodic protection works to make the corrosion reaction thermodynamically unfavorable
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Facts
Cathodic protection is an extremely powerful technology in that it has the power to almost completely stop corrosion on the structure it is deployed on. Most corrosion protection methods are passive in nature – such as paints. Cathodic protection is very much active. It attacks the corrosion problem at its heart.
In our last notes, we discussed how a leaky basement is a recipe for disaster waiting to happen. Why? Because clearly all the elements required for an effective corrosion cell (the basic building bloc of corrosion) to easily form and self replicate are present….in abundance.
But really, how bad can this corrosion get? Is it something that will make my building collapse? Is it something to worry about? Is it something to think about? How will it affect the sustainability of the building?
Lots of questions…
For starters, let us discuss how sustainability and corrosion are interlinked. If your building can be made to last an additional 20 years by stopping corrosion, then the technology that allows you to do this is a sustainable technology. This is the link between corrosion mitigation and sustainability.
What about our leaky basement? What can we expect in terms of how bad the corrosion can get.
The biggest risk posed to any structure from corrosion would be if the corrosion were to initiate in a ‘structurally sensitive’ area and remain accelerated and localized in that area. You can imagine what this would like; a gradual but accelerated reduction of the reinforcing steel diameter in an extremely short span of time. This is the nightmare situation for any building. It happens often. I have seen corrosion of structural columns in basements in under 5 years after completion that have caused massive cracking. It’s quite ugly and frightening. What does this tell us about how bad things can get? It’s very difficult to point to a specific rate of corrosion because corrosion is mix of so many factors – electrical, electrochemical reactions, temperature, moisture, pH and much much more. So in essence, it is difficult to predict – but who is prepared to take the chance? Would you? I wouldn’t! It is something to worry about.
The thing about corrosion is that it grows and gets worse as time passes – much like a tumor would. As a matter fact, in Australia, it is nicknamed ‘concrete cancer’ - and unless you move quickly to snuff it out, its going to destroy the building and cost you an arm an a leg.
Many owners have gone about attending to leaky basements in a strange kinda way. As soon as leak is seen, it is plugged by crack injection. Sometimes the situation is so bad that the top layer of concrete is removed and reinstated – all in the hope of …..wait for it…removing the salt chlorides. Now why would I care so much about the chlorides. Primarily because it is a corrosion initiator and when present in excess of a certain amount, corrosion is guaranteed.
If only we had a technology that would stop corrosion in an inexpensive way irrespective of how much chlorides were present! Well it exists. Cathodic Protection. In our next part on this blog, we will discuss how this technology works for basements.
Products that are transported for a longer period of time or stored for an extended period are often in need of corrosion protection. Corrosion protection packaging prevents corrosion without having to treat the metal with oil, grease or paint.
Corrosion is a significant problem in the handling, storage and shipping of products. Bare metal parts corrode easily. Temperature changes, contaminated air, sea salt and moisture, all create corrosion.
Due to temporary corrosion, time is diverted to handling complaints and customer loyalty is potentially lost. Delayed deliveries due to reworking of corroded components translate to avoidable losses. Therefore, planning for corrosion protection during temporary storage and transportation is a logical strategy to minimize these losses.
There are several different solutions for protecting the product from corrosion depending on parameters such as: product type, means of transportation, and the length of the transit time.
The Importance of Temporary Corrosion Protection
There are many industrial applications where temporary corrosion protection during transit and storage is critical for the final processing and end use of parts and components. If semi-finished or machined components are left unprotected, or roller bearings are not coated with a rust inhibitor during storage, or internal combustion engines are transported and stored without corrosion prevention, then they may deteriorate or become damaged due to corrosion. Any subsequent rust removal will not restore a component to its original quality and geometrical accuracy.
Permanent corrosion protection cannot be used for temporary applications because it must be removed before further processing or assembly. Because corrosion can appear within hours or days a temporary corrosion prevention method must be implemented.
During transportation and storage, fasteners (e.g., wedges, springs, bolts, nuts, washers, screws) and associated tools require protection from corrosive chemical reactions on their surfaces.
General Care for Preventing Corrosive Deterioration
Desiccants to control air humidity are used to prevent corrosive deterioration during storage and transport. Silica gels and molecular sieves are occasionally used as desiccants to absorb excess air moisture. Sealed films of high pressure polyethylene and special waterproof and airproof packaging systems are used for critical applications.
Cost, Safety and Health
Allowing temporary corrosion and rust on materials during interstage processes and transportation is costly due to the direct and indirect costs involved in rework and warranty damages. When carefully chosen, preventive solutions are cost effective for both application and subsequent removal.
For confined spaces, authorized specialists must be consulted. Ensure compliance with personal protective equipment (PPE) and firefighting regulations.
The combustion products of coatings can be highly toxic. Hence exposure control must be planned for in advance. Precautions should be taken to avoid eye contact and skin exposure with proper PPE suitable for the application method used. Respiratory protection might be needed in a few cases.
#corrosion #Infrastructure #bridge
3 Culprits That Caused Miami Bridge Corrosion
Jet Skis, waverunners and other personal watercraft shooting salt water up at the underside of the MacArthur Causeway have caused extensive corrosion on one end of the bridge, necessitating repairs to beams and columns. It's also time to replace the top three inches of concrete on the bridge's surface.
The bridge connects the city of Miami to the barrier island of Miami Beach.
Residents and commuters of the notoriously traffic-jammed region should brace themselves for a long stretch of headaches on the main causeway connecting South Beach to mainland Miami.
The Miami Herald reports the Florida Department of Transportation began a two-year, $12.9 million rehabilitation project on the corrosion of the bridge in June 2018.
Reference: https://www.nbcmiami.com/news/local/Waverunners-Jet-Skis-to-Blame-in-Miami-Bridge-Corrosion-488207961.html
Mitigating human errors requires the same careful use of protocols, supervision, and inspection as reducing other corrosion factors.
Corrosion failure happens for all kinds of reasons. Environmental conditions, the materials in question and the stresses that a material undergoes all play major roles. And while different materials, technologies and processes are thoroughly discussed in industries where corrosion is an issue, one of the least addressed contributing factors to corrosion is human error. It can occur for a number of reasons:
Lack of communication
Unwillingness to improve the situation
Lack of knowledge
Distractions
Lack of teamwork
Stress and fatigue
Lack of resources
Pressure
Lack of assertiveness
Lack of awareness
Insufficient control and supervision
Here we'll take a look at how human error contributes to corrosion failure and what can be done to mitigate its effects.
Where Human Error Occurs
Any project consists of many stages, beginning at manufacturing and design, all the way through construction, and ending with supervision and maintenance work. Human error can occur at one or all of the above stages.
The design stage of any metallic system is the most important one; if a major error occurs at this stage, it significantly raises the risk of corrosion failure. There are many factors to be considered for optimum design, including material selection, wall thickness and diameter (for pipelines), as well as corrosion allowance and corrosion control measures.
Types of Human Error
According to Neville W. Sachs in "Understanding Why It Failed," there are six key error categories that can contribute to corrosion failure.
1. Operational Errors
Operational errors occur when a system or process operates outside of or beyond the parameters of its design. For example, if specified operating practices call for a specific operating temperature, and a worker makes a decision to exceed this temperature, accelerated corrosion may be the result.
2. Design Errors
Design errors can occur when a system's design fails to match up to its application, or when the way the system is used is changed without a thorough review. This type of error can be an engineering error, or can occur when other workers install systems or machines without proper oversight.
3. Maintenance Errors
Maintenance errors occur when maintenance personnel fail to properly maintain or repair a system, or improperly install one of its components.
4. Manufacturing Errors
Manufacturing errors occur when components in a system are improperly manufactured or include flaws that can contribute to corrosion failure.
5. Installation Errors
Original installation of a system's components can cause corrosion failure if those components are installed incorrectly or without proper oversight.
6. Supervisory Errors
Supervisory errors are said to occur when a problem is noticed, but no action is taken. Often, a worker may believe that someone else will take care of the problem, or that it's someone else's responsibility.
How to Reduce Human Error
In order to mitigate human errors, human factors must be considered. Human factors are all those things that enhance or improve human performance in the workplace. As a discipline, human factors are concerned with understanding interactions between people and other elements of complex systems.
Human factors apply scientific knowledge and principles, as well as lessons learned from previous incidents and operational experience to optimize human well-being, overall system performance, and reliability. The discipline contributes to the design and evaluation of organizations, tasks, jobs and equipment, environments, products, and systems. It focuses on the inherent characteristics, needs, abilities, and limitations of people, and the development of sustainable and safe working cultures. In other words, mitigating human errors requires the same careful use of protocols, supervision, and inspection as reducing other corrosion factors. (Discover more management tools in Corrosion Knowledge Management versus Corrosion Management: An Essential Tool for Assets Integrity Management.)
Additionally, all work should be done according to applicable codes and standards, and should be completed by professionals.
Reference: https://www.corrosionpedia.com/human-error-as-a-factor-in-corrosion-failure/2/1493
Knowing what your operations are up against is crucial in preventing costly, potentially dangerous, damage.
CORROSION COSTS
There have been many studies about the cost of corrosion.
NACE International, formerly known as the National Association of Corrosion Engineers (nace.org, Houston), conducted research from 1999 to 2001 that found direct corrosion costs in the United States amounted to $276 million (about 3.2% of the country’s GDP). In March 2016, NACE released a study that estimated worldwide corrosion amounted to $2.5 trillion (about 3.4% of the GDP) and indirect costs doubled that.
In the 2016 study, NACE estimated that between 15% and 35% of those corrosion-related costs could be eliminated using current technology. Researchers also offered that, comparing corrosion costs in 1975 with those in 1999, an intelligent approach to automobile design and elimination of corrosion appeared to have reduced the cost to American consumers by about 52%.
HOW CORROSION OCCURS
Energy is needed to convert mined ores into useful metals. Corrosion is the natural result of those metals trying to revert back to their original states. Consider, for example, that there’s very little difference between the rust from corroded steel and the iron ores that were originally refined to make that steel.
Fig. 1 Depicting a steel bar in liquid, this diagram shows how corrosion occurs. The liquid contains water. When iron ions (Fe) off the bar unite with oxygen in the water, different kinds of rust can form.
he actual corrosion process is an electrochemical reaction. Depicting a steel bar in a liquid, Fig. 2, shows how this reaction takes place. In the diagram, corrosion is attacking the anode, with iron ions being released into the solution, while hydrogen is being generated at the cathode. Water (H2O), is made up of two hydrogen ions and one oxygen ion. The iron ions from the anode (the Fe symbols) will ultimately unite with oxygen in the water, whereupon several different types of rust can form.
At the cathode site of the piece, atomic hydrogen is being released. Most of those hydrogen ions then mate with another hydrogen ion and form molecular hydrogen, the readily flammable gas we’re used to thinking about. But some of the ions remain solitary and they are the cause of the many forms of hydrogen damage including hydrogen embrittlement, cracking, and blisters.
For wet corrosion, a liquid must be present to provide the complete circuit required by the electromechanical reaction. Electrons that flow from the cathode to the anode have to eventually return to the cathode, and they do so by traveling through the liquid.
Chemicals such as road salt are in the silt. As the moisture in it evaporates, the chemical concentration increases. The chemicals, in turn, make the water more electrically conductive and significantly increase the rate of corrosion.
Temperature is a third important factor in corrosion. Below freezing, ice can’t conduct corrosion currents. But, as the temperature increases, the corrosion rate increases. A good example is the rapid attack on hot piping with moist insulation. The exact solution chemistry has a major effect, but up to about 175 F (80 C), the corrosion rate usually rapidly increases, then drops off and ceases when the liquid vaporizes.
TYPES OF CORROSION
Uniform corrosion causes about 80% of all corrosion. It occurs where anode and cathode sites relatively uniformly swap position. Examples include the railroad-bridge-support column shown in Fig. 1, buried steel water lines, nooks and crannies on vehicles where deposits build up, and machine frames and bases in damp areas.
Pitting corrosion manifests as isolated areas of attack. With carbon steel, it may take years before leakage occurs while stainless-steel pitting might progress at a rate of 0.001 in. (0.025 mm)/day. Steel examples frequently include water and wastewater tanks. Stainless-steel examples include external areas with dirt deposits on them.
Galvanic corrosion occurs when two chemically different metals are joined. One is always the anode and continuously attacked, protecting the other piece. A common example involves a joint between steel and copper pipe, where the steel will always be attacked.
Fig 2. A common example of galvanic corrosion involves a joint between steel and copper pipe where the steel will always be attacked. This joint was submerged in water for only nine months before damage occurred.
Figure 3 shows a bronze fitting and a steel pipe that had been submerged in water. Perforation of the freshly cut pipe threads happened in only nine months.
Selective leaching is essentially galvanic corrosion within a metal. The common industrial application involves buried cast-iron water or waste lines where the graphite in the iron acts as a cathode, and the iron is eaten away, leaving a weak and brittle graphite pipe. When initially excavated, the pipe may appear almost undamaged, but sandblasting will rapidly remove the graphite leaving proof of the mechanism. (A frequent problem with buried-pipe replacement is that the new piece is always anodic to the older sections. The new one will rapidly corrode and leak, and personnel will blame the material, not knowing that the actual problem is their lack of corrosion knowledge.)
Crevice corrosion occurs in a small gap between two pieces of metal. It allows a corrosion mechanism to act in a way that’s similar to pitting corrosion. Although it’s not a common industrial mechanism, it can happen with poor joint control on welded assemblies.
Intergranular corrosion involves galvanic attack at the grain boundaries within a metal. It’s usually associated with a poor choice in materials of construction for chemical processes.
Erosion corrosion is a combination of actions. Corrosion results in an oxide on a metal’s surface. The oxide, though, slows the attack because it prevents fresh corrodent from reaching the surface. If there’s a fast fluid flow that scrubs the oxide off the surface, corrosion continues at a very rapid rate. A common site for erosion corrosion is the outer radius of piping elbows in steel lines with untreated waters and flow rates exceeding approximately 10 ft./sec. (3 m/sec). It’s also been seen in pumps as a result of poor choices of construction materials.
The previous seven categories/types are basically different-looking versions of galvanic corrosion. Two other corrosion types—stress-corrosion cracking and hydrogen damage—result in metallurgical damage leading to often hard-to-detect catastrophic failures.
Stress corrosion cracking (SCC) can occur with almost any metal and is the result of a combination of stress, a chemistry that attacks the metal’s structure, and a susceptible metal. Industrially, although it is sometimes seen with nitrates and steel, the most common situation involves 300 series (austenitic) stainless steels and chlorides.
KEEP IN MIND
The battle against corrosion is never ending. In summary, if an area is wet and metal isn’t protected, there will be corrosion. What’s worse, the seriousness of the damage caused by this scourge may not be recognized for years.