Methods of corrosion protection on how to protect your assets
Deterioration of a substance, such as a metal, happens naturally. It is mostly due to a reaction with the substance’s surrounding environment.
This process is called corrosion. Corrosion causes damage, which can be dangerous, to pretty much everything including appliances, bridges, vehicles, and water systems. However, corrosion protection can be employed to prevent this deterioration.
Factors leading to corrosion
Before attempting to control corrosion, one must understand certain factors such as:
• Environmental conditions that cause corrosion
• The lifetime of a structure
• A substances proximity to conditions that will cause corrosion
• Methods of preventing or lessening the risk of corrosion
Corrosion always involves an anode where metal loss and oxidation occur; a cathode where the protective and reduction effects occur; metallic paths between the cathode and anode which allow the flow of electronic and ionic current; and a difference that drives the corrosion cell.
This difference is often between qualities of dissimilar metals, the environment, and the metals’ surface conditions.
Methods of Protection
There are different ways to protect a substance from corroding, many of which are heavily used in industries using corrosion prone materials and systems.
Selecting appropriate materials: Although every material has risk of corrosion, there are factors to take into consideration that may reduce the risk of corrosion, or control it in an effective way.
These include corrosion resistance in the particular environment, cost, availability, maintainability, compatibility with other components of the system, reliability, life expectancy, and mechanical properties.
Design of the system: Designing a system in an appropriate manner can also protect a system from corrosion.
This includes the selection of appropriate materials, allowing for proper drainage, separation of dissimilar metals or avoiding the use of them altogether, sealing any crevices, and ensuring appropriate maintenance and inspection requirements are met.
Using protective coatings: Approximately 50% of all costs related to corrosion are preventable especially if the right coatings are used.
Certain protective coatings can be placed on the system and its materials in order to prevent or cause the material to be resistant to corrosion.
The NACE International Coating Inspector Program has set stringent standards used to inspect protective coatings.
Cathodic protection: Protecting cathodes are better than other industry methods as they have a simple design and are able to be monitored continuously.
Chemical inhibitors: Corrosion inhibitors reduce the corrosion rate of a particular substance exposed to a corrosive environment.
This is often used with carbon steel pipes and vessels as an alternative to coatings and other materials. Oil and gas production, petroleum refining and water treatment industries use these.
Although no material is 100% resistant to corrosion, there are ways to reduce costs associated with this natural process.
Corrosion protection is a common and useful method to reach the goal of cost reduction.
To save your assets form wasting away call Dennis and the Team at Diamond Protective Coating Services on 07 4942119 or email here.