The Fundamentals of Asset Integrity Management

Online Training Series Course Summary

COURSE C: THE FUNDAMENTALS OF CORROSION MANAGEMENT

Module 1: Corrosion language and terminology

What is Corrosion?

Corrosion is spontaneous it happens all by itself. It is the exothermic reaction of a metal with its environment to
form compounds.
When we make metals (smelting, or reduction) we use chemical reactions to put energy into the ore material. These
processes convert an oxide into a metal that we can use for engineering. Thus metals contain more energy than rust.
During corrosion the metal reverts back to its natural form found in nature ore.
A metal contains trapped energy when it rusts it releases that energy and goes back to its normal state in the
environment.

What is the cost of Corrosion?

On a country-to-country basis annually, between 3~ 6% of GDP this is huge.

1999 US Dept for transport study worked out tha the direct cost of corrosion for the US came to 276 Billion annually.
This is equal to dept of defense budget i.e. the entire military cost the same as what corrosion cost US economy in
the same year.
In the UAE the GDP in 2008 was 792 Billion Dhs. Cost of corrosion was therefore between 24 and 48 Billion Dhs.
Between 20 and 40% is preventable using current best practices, technology and services
The UAE economy could therefore save between 5 and 10 Billion Dhs annually if best practices were implemented.
If youre working in the corrosion field you can very easily save your company a lot of money. Usually the main
problem with corrosion is that corrosion engineers are promoted out of their job.
Current world annual cost of corrosion: $3.3 Trillion.

What are the direct costs of corrosion?

Replacement of infrastructure same with industry.

Product loss when talking about storage tanks, pipelines etc corrosion will relate to product loss consequences of
this will depend whats going down the pipeline. It can lead to fires, contamination etc. Leaks are not good in the oil
and gas industry as you may have to close down plants for a period of time, thus decreasing the number of barrels
you produce during that period.
Cost of controlling corrosion corrosion resistant materials e.g. stainless steel, corrosion resistant alloys they can
work very well but are very expensive. Carbon steel is popular because its cheap.
Cathodic protection using electricity to prevent corrosion.
Coatings e.g. paint but in the corrosion industry theyre called coatings because theyre sophisticated coatings.
Inhibitors materials we can add to metals to reduce corrosion rate. It is a bespoke process hire an inhibitor
specialist to design for you.
Inhibitors can prevent corrosion rate by 10,000 to one.
Cost of manpower whether its the repair crew, or cost of inspection.
Can lead to loss of life or injury.

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The Fundamentals of Asset Integrity Management
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Loss of reliability if you cant rely on your structure to do its job but you need 24 hour operation then you might
need to consider redundant equipment so that you have spares in case one thing stops working.

What are the indirect costs of corrosion?

Loss of consumer confidence hard to measure.

Disruption to society could be as simple as a transport bridge being closed for maintenance. People using
alternative routes could cause traffic delays
Litigation people sue you because you cause some form of disaster. Fines imposed by government e.g. BP oil spill.
If you do cause an engineering disaster due to not looking after corrosion on your structure the government may
increase the amount of costly regulations that you have to follow which increases the cost for operators.
Fines some companies believe that an environmental fine is just a cost of doing business. Government has
responded by introducing punitive costs.
Coming up with new technologies we need constant better ideas and technologies to control corrosion.
Education and training There is no such thing as an undergraduate degree in corrosion.

An overview of the many forms of corrosion

Uniform corrosion metal corrodes due to exposure to the environment. The entire surface slowly corrodes away.
This is the kind of corrosion that we normally see in the atmosphere with a red/brown surface.
Galvanic corrosion where two dissimilar metals in contact. Dissimilar metals can cause one to be noble and the
other to be active. The active one will dissolve the noble one will not dissolve. Alloys often contain two dissimilar
metals, which will accelerate the rate of corrosion of one of them. The alloy is formed because it gives good
properties, not because it controls corrosion.
Dealloying Dealloying is a rare form of corrosion found in copper alloys, gray cast iron, and some other alloys.
Dealloying occurs when the alloy loses the active component of the metal and retains the more corrosion resistant
component in a porous "sponge" on the metal surface. It can also occur by redeposition of the noble component of
the alloy on the metal surface.
Pitting corrosion happens on a bare surface, not uniform. Happens in one place and drills through the metal.
Crevice corrosion differential aeration cell can cause crevice corrosion e.g. underneath the flange joint in a
pipeline. Crevice corrosion is rapid.
Stress corrosion/Cracking can happen remarkably quickly.
Intergranular corrosion.
Erosion corrosion caused by flowing fluids.
Fretting where metals rub against each other in a corrosion environment.
Bacteria eat steel. Can do all sorts of damage to pipelines, storage tanks etc
High temp corrosion flu gasses.
Hydrogen damage atomic hydrogen dissolves into the metal and can cause all sorts of damage. If the metal is soft
it will blister. If its hard it will shatter the metal. There is no protection from hydrogen damage except trying to stop
it from happening.
Hydrogen Sulfide Hydrogen damage but caused by hydrogen sulfide. If you use high strength engineering
materials to control your hydrogen sulphide you end up with sulphide stress corrosion/cracking, which causes rapid
crack failure of materials.

THIS IS A CONFIDENTIAL SUMMARY OF THE CONTENTS OF AN ONLINE TRAINING COURSE FOUND AT WWW.OILANDGASFUNDAMENTALS.COM.
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What is the fundamental chemistry of corrosion?

Everything is made up of atoms. Atoms have a nucleus containing protons and neutrons. Electrons spin around the
outside (orbiting).
All of chemistry involves the movement of electrons (adding and subtracting) from one element to another to form
compounds.
Elements are unique types of atoms and are listed in the Periodic Table of Elements.
The main engineering materials are:
o Iron
o Chromium
o Titanium
o Nickel
o Copper
o Zinc
If you take a metal each atom has the same number of electrons as there are protons in the nucleus but they are
unbalanced arrangements so elements will try to get rid of or gain electrons to make there electron structure stable.
When they do that they form ions.
Since electrons are charged, the resulting IONS have electrical charge.
However, electrons are negatively charged, so removing electrons makes the ion positively charged.
Compounds are a positive ion and a negative ion held together by electrostatic attraction. Overall the compound is
neutral e.g. Fe3+ + 3Cl- = FeCl3
In water, some ions are soluble and are surrounded by a solvation sphere of water molecules. State symbol: (aq).

What is meant by spontaneous or unspontaneous chemical reactions?

Chemical reactions are either spontaneous or unspontaneous.

Spontaneous means it happens all by itself put two things together and they instantly react.
Non-spontaneous have to put energy in to make them happen.
All spontaneous reactions are exothermic release heat as they do it.
Reverse the direction of reaction and change the energy changes to endothermic.

Corrosion is electrochemical, what does that mean?

Corrosion is electrochemical the movement of electrons from one substance to another substance.
Spontaneous chemical reactions liberate energy. This energy can be used to push electrons around a circuit, giving
them a voltage.
During the process of corrosion the materials properties change.
In order for corrosion to happen we need four things:
1. Anode an electrode. Where the oxidation happens
2. Cathode an electrode.
3. Electrical path
4. An electrolyte a liquid for it to happen in

Remove any one of these and you stop the corrosion.

THIS IS A CONFIDENTIAL SUMMARY OF THE CONTENTS OF AN ONLINE TRAINING COURSE FOUND AT WWW.OILANDGASFUNDAMENTALS.COM.
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The Fundamentals of Asset Integrity Management
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About the Anode

Oxidation (loss of electrons) - The anode is where oxidation (the loss of electrons) occurs.
Corrosion - It is also where the corrosion occurs. Oxidation is known as corrosion because the metal goes from FE to
FE2+ its lost its electrons thats oxidation and corrosion because its gone from a solid to an ion in solution.
Source of electrons - the anode is the source of electrons if youve got two metals.
More Active metals.
Low [O2] - If youve got one metal but a low oxygen environment in conjunction with a high oxygen environment e.g.
a crevice (low oxygen) or a deposit of mud on the bottom of the pipeline then the anode will be the low oxygen
concentration region. Thats why crevices corrode and thats why deposits of mud cause corrosion as well.

About the Cathode

Reduction (gain of electrons) - The cathode is where the opposite occurs where substances consume electrons.
One of the worst for this is oxygen. This process is called reduction.
Protection from corrosion - If your metal is a cathode it is protected from corrosion one of our simplest ways of
protecting from corrosion is to make all of the metal the cathode.
More Noble metal - Sometimes it is the cathodic reaction that determines the rate of corrosion. If youve got two
metals the more active metal will be the anode and the more noble metal (that which is closer to gold) will be the
cathode.
High [O2] - If youve got a differential aeration cell then the low oxygen is the anode and high oxygen concentration
is the cathode.

Two conductive paths are required for corrosion to take place. What are they?

1. The Metallic Path

Allows the movement of ELECTRONS.
From the anode to the cathode.
Must be made of metal. Electrons cannot travel through a solution.
REAL CURRENT - Electron path is called real current.

2. The Electrolytic Path

Allows the movement of IONS - In the electrolytes the electricity flows by the movement of positively and negatively
charged ions.
Positive ions flow from the anode - The positive ions flow away from the anode.
Must be an electrolyte (water or a molten salt) - i.e. It must have ions that are able to move. E.g. sugar is not an
electrolyte nor is solid salt crystals. If you melt salt it is an electrolyte if you put sugar in water. If you dissolve salt in
water it will become an electrolyte.
CONVENTIONAL CURRENT - the movement of ions.

When drawing diagrams to represent these things standard practice is to put the anode on the left hand side.
Conventional current flows from the anode to the cathode in a counter clockwise direction.
Electrons flow in a clockwise manner in the electric path.
The Anode tends to have a negative charge because the anode is producing electrons.
Cathode tends to have a positive charge because it is consuming electrons.

THIS IS A CONFIDENTIAL SUMMARY OF THE CONTENTS OF AN ONLINE TRAINING COURSE FOUND AT WWW.OILANDGASFUNDAMENTALS.COM.
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