Corrosion

Cathodic Protection Technology
Fundamentals of Corrosion
Prepared by
Eng. Mohamed Khaled El-Sayed
Head of Technical Affairs Sectors
What is Corrosion?
Definition:
Corrosion can be defined
as a chemical or
electrochemical reaction
where the metal or metal
alloy, combines with
oxygen to form less
energy-rich stable
compositions.
It produces a deterioration Corrosion
of the material and its Costs Money!
properties).
What is Corrosion?
All materials have tendency to return back to its
stable condition.
So, corrosion is the process where a material
reverts back to its naturally occurring form.
It is destructive attack on materials through
chemical and electro-chemical reactions.
What is Corrosion?
Why Does Corrosion Occur?
The corrosion of metals occurs because the metal
interacts with the local environment (which can
be either soil or water).
In the case of steel, man has mined iron ore and
processed it into steel.
However due to certain characteristics of the steel, it
is not ‘stable’ once in contact with an aqueous
environment and interacts with the local
environment in an attempt to return to its naturally
occurring state.
So, steel reverts back to iron oxide which is
exactly the way it is found in the earth.
This Process Is Corrosion.
Electron Configuration of Iron’s Atom:
Iron is a chemical element with symbol Fe (from Latin: ferrum)

In nature most metals are found as compounds
with other elements.
So to obtain pure metal (iron), steel mills will
separate the metal from the other elements by
adding energy.
So, to obtain pure metal from the earth we must
add energy.
Corrosion occurs when the metal begins to
release this energy after oxidizing agents in the
environment trigger a chemical reaction.
The most common oxidizing agent being oxygen
The basic process at an anodic site is the release of
iron (Fe) from the steel surface into the environment
and can be expressed as:
Fe → Fe++ + 2e-
During the process two electrons (2e-) are generated
which must be consumed by the environment and
can be expressed as:
4H+ + O2 + 4e- → 2H2O
A summary of the pervious reactions can be
expressed as:
2Fe + 2H2O + O2 → 2Fe (OH)2
The term Fe(OH)2 is iron hydroxide which can be
oxidized to Fe(OH)3
The resulting hydroxides of iron now undergo
dehydration to yield the iron oxides that constitute rust.
This process involves many chemical reactions, some
of which are listed below.
Fe(OH)2 ⇌ FeO + H2O
4Fe(OH)2 + O2 + xH2O → 2Fe2O3.(x+4)H2O
Fe(OH)3 ⇌ FeO(OH) + H2O
FeO(OH) ⇌ Fe2O3 + H2O
Fe2O3 is the brown red coulor iron oxide (Rust).
One similarity between all the chemical reactions listed
above is that all of them are dependent on the
presence of water and oxygen.
Rusting of iron can be controlled by limiting the
amount of oxygen and water surrounding the metal.
Basic Corrosion Cell
The Principle Of Iron Corrosion
Rust Never Sleeps:
Choosing the right protective coating for your assets
is crucial to maximizing its:
- Lifespan,
- Quality,
- Appearance and
- Functionality.
Depending on how and where the materials will be
used will determine the ideal protective coating.
Specialists team in asset protection, particularly
those made of steel can help to get the perfect
protection for any material.
From bridges, machines and buildings, to antiques,
bikes and cars.
Factors Controlling rate of Corrosion:
1- Nature of the Metals:
Metals with higher electrode
potentials do not corrode
easily.
They are noble metals like,
gold, platinum, silver.
Metals with lower electrode
potentials, readily undergo
corrosion.
e.g. metals like, zinc,
magnesium, aluminum.
2- Nature of the Corrosion Product:
The corrosion product formed like metal oxide may
act as protective film, if it is:
- Stable,
- Insoluble, and
- Non porous.
If it acts as protective film it prevents further
corrosion by acting as barrier between metal
surface and corrosion medium.
Example of this is Aluminum Oxide or Alumina
(Al2O3).
On the other hand if corrosion product is unstable,
porous, and soluble, it further enhances corrosion.
3- Soil Corrosivity:
3-1- Resistivity:
Corrosion progresses faster at low resistivity soil.
3-2- Soil pH:

In general rate of corrosion is higher in acidic pH than
in neutral and alkaline pH.
3-3- Salts:
Rate of corrosion increases with increase in
concentration of salts in soil composition.
4- Temperature:
Steel and other metals corrode at faster rates at
higher temperatures than at lower temperatures.
As a result,
- Hot areas,
- Regions adjacent to the engine room, or
- To heated cargo tanks,
will tend to corrode faster or preferentially.
5- Bi-metallic effect:
When two dissimilar metals come into direct contact
and an electrolyte such as moisture is present, a battery
cell is created and an electrical current flows.
This causes the more electronegative or anodic metal as
determined from the electro-chemical series to
corrode more rapidly.
The rate of corrosion is influenced by relative size of
cathodic to anodic area.
If the metal has small anode and large cathodic
region, corrosion rate is very high.
When two dissimilar metals are in contact, Corrosion
is more rapid and severe.
Corrosion occurs between two
dissimilar metals.
In galvanic cell, the more active metal
(the anode) corrodes at an
accelerated rate and the more noble
metal (the cathode) corrodes at a
retarded rate.
6- Effect of oxygen:
If the metal is exposed to different concentration
of oxygen, differential aeration corrosion takes
place.
The region which is less exposed to oxygen
acts as anode hence undergoes corrosion and
region exposed to high oxygen concentration
acts cathode hence doesn’t undergo
corrosion.
Forms of Corrosion:
Forms of Corrosion:
• Uniform (General) Corrosion
• Pitting
• Crevice
• Galvanic Corrosion
• Erosion Corrosion
• Inter-granular
• Selective leaching/de-alloying
• Stress Corrosion Cracking
• Solar Ultraviolet degradation
• Others (e.g. Exfoliation, Environmentally
Assisted Cracking, Corrosion Fatigue).
Forms of Corrosion:
•General:
Identified by uniform formation of corrosion products
that causes an even thinning of the substrate steel.
•Pitting
It is a form of localized corrosion that occurs when a
corrosive medium attacks a metal at specific points
and results in deep cavities in the metal
•Crevice
A form of corrosion that occurs when an electrolyte
becomes trapped and stagnant in particular locations
such as in joints, corners, and under debris.
It can be hard to find and extremely aggressive causing
high pitting rates and subsequent unexpected failures.
Forms of Corrosion:
•Galvanic/Dissimilar Metal:
• Caused when dissimilar metals come in contact, the
difference in electrical potential sets up a corrosion
cell or a bimetallic couple.
•Erosion corrosion:
Due to the increased rate of deterioration and loss of
a material from the combined effects of corrosion and
the repeated motion of the surrounding environment.
Most often found in high velocity areas or in fluids
containing abrasive materials
•Inter-granular
• A form of corrosion that attacks grain boundaries in
materials.
Forms of Corrosion:
•Selective Leaching or De-alloying
A localized form of corrosion where a particular element
within a material is preferentially attacked and extracted
from the material.
Many copper alloys are susceptible alloy to this attack
•Stress Corrosion Cracking (SCC)
Cracking process involving the combined factors of a
susceptible material, corrosive environment and a
sustained tensile stress
•Solar Ultraviolet Degradation
The process by which organic-based polymers, used in the
building and construction industry, undergo photolytic and
photo-oxidative reactions during exposure to solar UV
radiation
Methods of Corrosion Control:
1- Barrier Protection:
Provided by a protective coating that acts as a
barrier between corrosive elements and the metal
substrate.
2- Cathodic Protection:
Protecting one metal by connecting it to another
metal that is more anodic, according to the
galvanic series.
3- Corrosion Resistant Materials:
Materials inherently resistant to corrosion in
certain environments.
1- Barrier Protection:
• Paint:
• Powder Coatings:
• Galvanizing:
(Galvanic Zinc application)
- Zinc Metalizing.
- Zinc-rich Paints.
- Hot-dip Galvanizing.
Galvanic Zinc Application:
1- Zinc Metalizing (Plating):
Feeding zinc into a
heated gun, where it is
melted and sprayed on
a structure or part using
combustion gases
and/or auxiliary
compressed air.
2- Zinc-rich Paints:
Zinc-rich paints contain various amounts of
metallic zinc dust and are applied by brush or
spray to properly prepared steel.
3- Hot-dip Galvanizing:
Complete immersion of steel into a vessel of
molten zinc.
Hot-dip galvanizing process consists of:
1. Surface Preparation.
2. Galvanizing.
3. Inspection.
Comments
And
Questions
Thank You
For
Attention
Please write your comments & feedback to

khaled.mks@gmail.com
Mohamed Khaled El-Sayed

Corrosion

Uploaded by

Copyright:

Available Formats

Corrosion

Uploaded by

Document Information

Copyright

Available Formats

Share this document

Share or Embed Document

Sharing Options

Did you find this document useful?

Is this content inappropriate?

Copyright:

Available Formats

Corrosion

Uploaded by

Copyright:

Available Formats

Cathodic Protection Technology

Iron is a chemical element with symbol Fe (from Latin: ferrum)

3-2- Soil pH:

Please write your comments & feedback to

Mohamed Khaled El-Sayed

You might also like