NDE techniques for corrosion monitoring in industrial systems

Abstract

Corrosion is recognized ac significant degradation mechanism that affects the integrity of ageing plants. It can lead to failures in plant infrastructure and machines which are usually costly to repair, costly in terms of lost or contaminated product, in terms of environmental damage, and ultimately it may be costly in terms of human safety. Correct and effective corrosion monitoring strategies should, therefore, be used as a proactive tool to assist with operating a plant more effectively, thereby prolonging its life and gaining optimum throughput. Corrosion monitoring can help in several ways: (a) by providing an early warning that damaging process conditions are developing, (b) by revealing the correlation between changes in process parameters and their effect on system corrosivity, (c) by diagnosing a particular corrosion problem, identifying its cause and the rate controlling parameters, such as pressure, temperature, pH, flow rate, etc., (d) by evaluating the effectiveness of a corrosion control/prevention program and (e) by providing management the information necessary to relate maintenance requirements to ongoing conditions of operation.