Creepy Corrosion

From Dean Cemetery, Edinburgh, Scotland. Photo by David Ross, used by permission. From an image search on Flickr.

Corrosion art

http://electromagneto-studio.blogspot.com/

US Department of Defense Corrosion Defense website

The DoD Corrosion Defense (CorrDefense) Web Site is a state-of-the-art corrosion prevention and control information management and distribution e-portal sponsored by the Office of the Under Secretary of Defense for Acquisition Technology and Logistics (OUSD(AT&L)), Office of Corrosion Policy and Oversight. The website has been designated as one of the cornerstones in the DoD's long-term strategy for corrosion prevention and mitigation detailed in 10 U.S.C. 2228, which was enacted by the Bob Stump National Defense Authorization Act for FY 2003. CorrDefense is a free service for all individuals and organizations from Industry, Academia, and Government who have an interest in corrosion, particularly as it relates to DoD weapon systems, equipment, related commercial assets, and infrastructure.

CorrDefense.org

Cycle of Corrosion

http://www.corrosion-club.com/cycle.htm

Rectifier safety

http://employment.alberta.ca/documents/WHS/WHS-PUB-FR_2004-08-09.pdf

Nations's First B.S. Degree in Corrosion Engineering

The University of Akron will launch the nation's first baccalaureate program in corrosion engineering when the fall 2010 semester begins in August. The innovative program and its potential impact on our everyday lives and the regional economy, were highlighted in this editorial by Michael Douglas
, the Akron Beacon Journal editorial page editor, on Sunday, June 6, 2010.

For the entire article, see the University of Akron's newsroom here. For more information, see the UA Corrosion and Reliability Engineering homepage here.

Onshore Oil and Gas Industry Leads Industrial Maintenance Coatings Segment

According to the “U.S. Paint & Coatings Industry Market Analysis (2008-2013),” which was published by The American Coatings Association (ACA) and The Chemark Consulting Group, Inc., industrial maintenance coatings accounted for approximately five percent of the volume of paint sold in the U.S. and about six percent of the total value of paint sales.

U.S. Census data revealed that total industrial maintenance shipments for 2008 were 73.3 million gallons equaling $1,225.3 million. This represents a slight decrease in volume of three percent and a one percent decrease in value over 2007.

Commercial architectural is the fastest-growing end-use segment of industrial maintenance coatings. This segment also commands the highest gross profit margins, according to the report.

From Coatings World.

Onshore Oil and Gas Industry Leads Industrial Maintenance Coatings Segment

According to the “U.S. Paint & Coatings Industry Market Analysis (2008-2013),” which was published by The American Coatings Association (ACA) and The Chemark Consulting Group, Inc., industrial maintenance coatings accounted for approximately five percent of the volume of paint sold in the U.S. and about six percent of the total value of paint sales.

U.S. Census data revealed that total industrial maintenance shipments for 2008 were 73.3 million gallons equaling $1,225.3 million. This represents a slight decrease in volume of three percent and a one percent decrease in value over 2007.

Commercial architectural is the fastest-growing end-use segment of industrial maintenance coatings. This segment also commands the highest gross profit margins, according to the report.

From Coatings World.

Sticking Your Hand into Molten Lead

Making a batch of lead anodes and accidentally stick your wet hand briefly into the casting pot? You'll probably be okay, according to the MythBusters show. The Leidenfrost effect works in this case the same way you can touch a hot iron and not get burned. The good stuff starts at around 1:55.


From kottke.org, home of fine hypertext products.

Just to be clear, I am telling you not to try this yourself.

Keeping Corrosion at Bay

http://www.che.com/news/Keeping-Corrosion-at-Bay_5725.html

Given the recent focus on cost control, it’s likely that chemical processors will suffer sticker shock when they learn that industry spends $276 billion annually on corrosion prevention, monitoring and repair. Even more abrasive is the fact that this figure does not include the cost of downtime or accidents resulting from corrosion damage. However, as capital spending allowances continue to come under tighter scrutiny, asset management and sustainability become crucial, and installing the right corrosion monitoring system can help bolster these efforts, while actually controlling corrosion prevention, monitoring and repair costs.

As the economy is slow to rebound, there are two key phrases in the chemical process industries (CPI): asset management and sustainability, notes Michael McElroy, business development manager with Pepperl + Fuchs (P+F; Twinsburg, Ohio). “People are paying more attention to anything related to reliability and sustainability, especially when it concerns safety and environmental discharges. And, all of these hot-button topics are affected by corrosion,” he says. “To ensure both proper management of assets and sustainability of equipment, processors must know the condition of their piping, tanks, valves, pumps and other assets. They must know when they need maintenance to avoid shutdowns or accidents. And, corrosion monitoring is an integral part of these focus areas.”

Corrosion monitoring perks are many. They range from high-value benefits (such as accident and shutdown avoidance) to mid-range value advantages (including optimizing the life of equipment by not having extensive wear) to lower-range, but still significant, value that stems from knowing when and what kinds of maintenance are actually needed based on knowledgeable predictions (instead of replacing parts on a time-based schedule) to recognizing and maintaining the sweet spot of corrosion inhibiting chemicals.

Netherlands reactor repairs to be fixed this week

http://www.healthimaging.com/index.php?option=com_articles&view=article&id=22657:netherlands-reactor-repairs-to-be-fixed-this-week

The final welding of the High Flux Reactor (HFR) in Petten, Netherlands, will be completed this week and root cause of the deformations was galvanic corrosion, according to the Nuclear Research and Consultancy Group (NRG) of the Netherlands.

The welding activities on the High Flux Reactor’s reducers have started, and three out of four corroded parts of the reducers have been welded and inspected, said NRG.

NRG has been investigating and defining the root cause of the deformations. Analyses showed that the galvanic corrosion resulted from electolytic contact between steel and aluminium, and the presence of water was the root cause of the deformations. This interaction between the steel and aluminium (galvanic corrosion) was hardly known at the time that the High Flux Reactor was designed.

“Executing this repair has been a good decision. Galvanic corrosion is a process, that will be stopped by breaking the connection between the steel and aluminium and that is exactly what we are doing now,” said Jan-Willem Rensman, material scientist of NRG.

The date of the HFR restart remains planned for the second half of August. The remaining phases of the project will be planned in detail, added NRG.




Last updated on June 11, 2010 at 8:55 am EST

http://fastflip.googlelabs.com/search?q=corrosion&type=search

Google Fast Flip is a web application that lets users discover and share news articles. It combines qualities of print and the Web, with the ability to "flip" through pages online as quickly as flipping through a magazine. It also enables users to follow friends and topics, discover new content and create their own custom magazines around searches.

Corrosion Concerns at U.S. Nuclear Reactors

In 2002, the plant, Davis-Besse, in Oak Harbor, Ohio, developed leaks in parts on the vessel head, allowing cooling water from inside the vessel, at 2,200 pounds per square inch of pressure, to leak out.

The cooling water contains boric acid, which is used to control the speed of the nuclear reaction, and the acid ate away a chunk of the steel the size of a football, leaving nothing but a thin stainless-steel liner to maintain the reactor’s integrity.

The company assumed it had solved the problem. But recently the new vessel head showed the same leakage pattern. Once again, the parts prone to leaking are nozzles through which the control rods for the reactor pass.

From the New York Times' Green blog.

Congress must work to preserve the United States' critical infrastructure

Our critical infrastructure -- from bridges to pipelines, water and sewer mains to energy generation, transmission and exploration equipment -- is in trouble. Much of this infrastructure has reached or exceeded its design life, yet we are expecting many more years of service from it. Regardless of whether it is publicly or privately owned, the common denominator in all of these infrastructure problems and, in many cases, imminent failure, is corrosion.

In a recent address, Congresswoman Betty Sutton, of the 13th District, said, "Corrosion is not a sexy topic [What? ed.]. It's not a topic that will dominate the cable news networks or garner the top headline of a major newspaper . . . until something bad happens. But it's real, and it's a major concern." No one wants to see another bridge collapse like the one in Minneapolis, whose failure was contributed to by corrosion.

From Cleveland Dealer, Letters to the Editor (Russell Schabel, Strongsville)

For more information about Congresswoman Betty Sutton's fight against corrosion, see this previous post and her site here.

MnDOT Finds Corrosion on Gusset Plates on Mississippi River Bridge

The Minnesota Department of Transportation said it found corrosion in several gusset plates in the Mississippi River Bridge at Winona. Those are the same structural components that bridge's sudden close June 3, 2008. Officials are restricting weight limits until Tuesday's repairs.

From Associated Press

Under-designed and corroded gusset plates were determined to be a major cause of the I-35W bridge collapse in Minneapolis. More information about that failure at Wikipedia and the NTSB's report on the failure here (PDF, 4.2M).

Attributes of a Corrosion Engineer

In the NACE Resource Center, an article Attributes of a Corrosion Engineer lists some of the characteristics a corrosion engineer needs in order to be successful:

• Knowledge of corrosion
  
• Knowledge of corrosion resistant characteristics of materials
  
• Knowledge of corrosive characteristics of chemicals
  
• Information on physical and mechanical properties of materials
  
• Information on availability and cost
  
• Information on fabrication techniques
  
• Knowledge of special requirement of what is being produced
  
• Proficiency in planning, executing, and interpreting test programs
  
• Ability to get along with others
  
• Common sense

Norm Moriber’s hilarious article (PDF, 84k) "Out of the Norm" in November, 2001 issue of Materials Performance listed some more characteristics of a corrosion engineer, in the style of Jeff Foxworthy (i.e. "you might be a corrosion engineer if ...").

I've added a few to Norm's list:

You might be a corrosion engineer if you think the expression “watching paint dry” is misapplied to boring situations.

You might be a corrosion engineer if you can’t explain what you do for a living without 20 minutes, a PowerPoint presentation, a voltmeter and a reference electrode.

To the corrosion engineer, all matter in the universe can be placed into one of two categories:
(1) things that need to be protected against corrosion, and
(2) things that can be consumed to protect category 1.

To the optimist, the glass is half full.
To the pessimist, the glass is half empty.
To the engineer, the glass is twice as big as it needs to be.
To the corrosion engineer, it needs more copper sulfate crystals.

You might be a corrosion engineer if ...

• in college you thought Spring Break could have been an environmentally-assisted cracking failure.
  
• you can type 70 words per minute with two fingers but can't read your own handwriting.
  
• you see a good design and still have to change it.
  
• you spent more on your calculator than you did on your wedding ring.
  
• you still own an analog multi-meter larger than a television set and know how to use it.
  
• you window shop at Radio Shack
  
• people groan at the party when you pick out the music.
  
• your hot water heater will last longer than you expect to live.
  
• you've already calculated how much you make per second.
  
• your idea of good interpersonal communication means getting the decimal point in the right place.
  
• you have used coat hangers and duct tape for something other than hanging coats and taping ducts.
  
• you own one or more white short-sleeve dress shirts. With a pocket. And you wear them with ties. For extra credit: with clip-on ties.
  
• you have a habit of destroying things in order to see how they work.
  
• you can remember the galvanic series potentials of forty different metals but not your anniversary.
  
• you take a cruise so you can go on a personal tour of the engine room. You make maintenance suggestions.
  
• you are offended by any of these jokes. Extra credit if you write a scathing letter to the editor. Double points if written on a typewriter.
  
• you write a follow-up to an MP article published nine years ago.