Erosion Forms -Cavitation Erosion Cavitation occurs when a fluid's operational pressure drops below it's vapor pressure

causing gas pockets and bubbles to form and collapse. This can occur in what can be a rather explosive and dramatic fashion. In fact, this can actually produce steam at the suction of a pump in a matter of minutes. When a process fluid is supposed to be water in the 20-35C range, this is entirely unacceptable. Additionally, this condition can form an airlock, which prevents any incoming fluid from offering cooling effects, further exacerbating the problem. The locations where this is most likely to occur, such as: at the suction of a pump, especially if operating near the net positive suction head required ((NPSHR) at the discharge of a valve or regulator, especially when operating in a near-closed position at other geometry-affected flow areas such as pipe elbows and expansions also, by processes incurring sudden expansion, which can lead to dramatic pressure drops This form of corrosion will eat out the volutes and impellers of centrifugal pumps with ultrapure water as the fluid. It will eat valve seats. It will contribute to other forms of erosion corrosion, such as found in elbows and tees. Cavitation should be designed out by reducing hydrodynamic pressure gradients and ing design to avoid pressure drops below the vapor pressure of the liquid and air ingress. The use of resilient s coating and cathodic protection can also be considered as supplementary control methods. Forms

Make a list of important factors to apprise engineers with little or no corrosion training of the complexity and multitude of variables involved. Failure analysis involves metallurgical investigations of components, equipment, metals, alloys, coatings, linings and structures due to corrosion, environmental degradation and abuse, misapplication of the particular metal and mechanical failure. Studies of failure analysis are particularly strong in the chemical processing, refining, oil & gas and pulp & paper industries. Failure mechanisms evaluated usually include: general corrosion localized corrosion intergranular corrosion weld corrosion stress corrosion cracking fatigue & corrosion fatigue fretting & wear erosion overload brittle fracture hydrogen embrittlement hydrogen sulfide cracking microbiological corrosion oxidation, sulfidation & carburization

The identification of the factors associated with the forms of corrosion can guide failure investigators. A listing of the most important factors would ensure that engineers with little or no corrosion training are made aware of the complexity and multitude of variables involved. Inexperienced investigators would be reminded of critical variables that may otherwise be overlooked. Of all industrial problems which confronts engineers, few can be economically more important than the prevention of metallic corrosion and mechanical failure. The corrosion failure of metallic materials causes billions of dollars globally every year. The lack of understanding will not

only cost a lot of money it will also cost human life. Preventing or reducing corrosion processes increases the productivity and efficiency of any plant. Some of the factors and information to be collected before, during , and after a corrosion failure investigation include the following: Analysis of Material Failures On-site Investigations Welding, Soldering & Brazing Analysis Chemical and Mechanical Testing (ASTM and NACE) Metallographic Analysis and Investigations Fracture Mechanics Engineering Calculations Atmospheric Testing Accident Investigations and Recreation of Failure Plastic & Rubber Investigation Micro- and macro-photography Surface Analysis Fractography: Fracture Mode Determination Engineering Mechanics Analysis Corrosion Testing & Investigations (electrochemical and exposure tests) RootCause Failure Determination.

Cathodic Protection (CP) The science of cathodic protection (CP) was born in 1824, when Sir Humphrey Davy made a presentation to the Royal Society of London: "The rapid decay of the copper sheeting on His Majesty's ships of war, and the uncertainty of the time of its duration, have long attracted the attention of those persons most concerned in the naval interest of the count. ... I entered into an experimental investigation upon copper. In pursuing this investigation, I have ascertained many facts ... to illustrate some obscure parts of electrochemical science... seem to offer important application." Davy succeeded in protecting copper against corrosion from seawater by the use of iron anodes. From that beginning, CP has grown to have many uses in marine and underground structures, water storage tanks, gas pipelines, oil platform supports, and many other facilities

exposed to a corrosive environment (see Corrosion Costs Study findings). Recently, it is proving to be an effective method for protecting reinforcing steel from chlorideinduced corrosion. reference The basic principle of CP is simple. A metal dissolution is reduced through the application of a cathodic current. Cathodic protection is often applied to coated structures, with the coating providing the primary form of corrosion protection. The CP current requirements tend to be excessive for uncoated systems. The first application of CP dates back to 1824, long before its theoretical foundation was established. Cathodic protection has probably become the most widely used method for preventing the corrosion deterioration of metallic structures in contact with any forms of electrolytically conducting environments, i.e. environments containing enough ions to conduct electricity such as soils, seawater and basically all natural waters. Cathodic protection basically reduces the corrosion rate of a metallic structure by reducing its corrosion potential, bringing the metal closer to an immune state. The two main methods of achieving this goal are by either: Using sacrificial anodes with a corrosion potential lower than the metal to be protected (see the seawater galvanic series) Using an impressed current provided by an external current source Corrosion Costs and Preventive Strategies Study The cost of cathodic protection of metallic structures subject to corrosion can be divided into the cost of materials and the cost of installation and operation. Industry data have provided estimates for the 1998 sales of various hardware components totaling $146 million. The largest share of the cathodic protection market is taken up by sacrificial anodes at $60 million, of which magnesium has the greatest market share. Major markets for sacrificial anodes are the water heater market and the underground storage tank market. The costs of installation of the various cathodic protection (CP) components for underground structures vary significantly depending on the location and the specific details of the construction. For 1998, the average total

cost for installing CP systems was estimated at $0.98 billion (range: $0.73 billion to $1.22 billion). The total cost for replacing sacrificial anodes in water heaters and the cost for corrosion-related replacement of water heaters was estimated at $1.24 billion per year; therefore, the total estimated cost for cathodic and anodic protection is $2.22 billion per year. xxxx-