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Module 4 - Corrosion Protection

The document discusses various methods for corrosion control and protection including cathodic protection methods like sacrificial anodic protection and impressed current cathodic protection. It also discusses protective coatings techniques like hot dipping galvanizing and tinning, and the importance of surface preparation before applying protective coatings. Different design aspects and changing the environment are also mentioned as methods to control corrosion.

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Prashant Raj
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0% found this document useful (0 votes)
67 views

Module 4 - Corrosion Protection

The document discusses various methods for corrosion control and protection including cathodic protection methods like sacrificial anodic protection and impressed current cathodic protection. It also discusses protective coatings techniques like hot dipping galvanizing and tinning, and the importance of surface preparation before applying protective coatings. Different design aspects and changing the environment are also mentioned as methods to control corrosion.

Uploaded by

Prashant Raj
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
Available Formats
Download as PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
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Module-4

Corrosion Control
Topics:
Corrosion protection
• Cathodic protection – sacrificial anodic and impressed
current cathodic protection (ICCP)
• Advanced protective coatings: Anodic and cathodic coating
• Electroplating and Electroless plating
• Vapor Deposition – Physical Vapor Deposition (PVD) and
Chemical Vapor Deposition (CVD).
• Alloying for corrosion protection –
• Basic concepts of Eutectic composition and Eutectic mixtures
- Selected examples – Ferrous and non-ferrous alloys.
Control of Corrosion

Corrosion can be controlled by:

a) Proper designing
b) Proper selection of metal or alloy
c) Cathodic protection (Sacrificial and Impressed
current cathodic protection)
d) Corrosion inhibitors (Anodic & Cathodic
inhibitors)
e) Changing the environment
f) Protective coatings (Galvanizing & Tinning)

2
Design Aspects for corrosion protection
• Avoid sharp corners and sharp edges

• Avoid contact between dissimilar metals

• While working with dissimilar metals, larger anodic area and lesser cathodic
area are necessary

• Insulating materials (washers, spacers) can be used when two dissimilar


metals have to be put together in a fabrication

• When two dissimilar metals are together, painting or electroplating the


anodic metal will help in reducing corrosion

• Weld rather than rivet

• Easy replacement of vulnerable parts

• Avoid excessive mechanical stress


DESIGN
for
Corrosion
Protection
DESIGN
for
Corrosion
Protection

Bracket easier to replace than pipe!


Corrosion control
Changing the environment:
o Certain changes in the environment can be made to reduce acidic, oxygen
or humidity which will reduce corrosion.
o Oxygen can be removed by mechanical agitation or by addition of
hydrazine or sodium sulphite.
2 Na2SO3 + O2 2 Na2SO4

N2 H4 + O2 N2 + 2 H2O

o Dehumidification is carried out by introducing certain substances like


dehydrated alumina, anhydrous silica gel etc. (suitable for closed areas).

o Neutralisation of acidic environment containing H2S, SO2, HCl, CO2 etc., can
be done by introducing alkaline neutralisers like ammonia gas, lime,
naphthionic soaps, caustic etc., (Used in refinery to protect the
equipment).

6
Cathodic Protection
Principle: Metal to be protected is forced to behave as cathode
Two methods of cathodic protection known are :
i) Sacrificial anodic protection
ii) Impressed current cathodic protection (ICCP)

i) Sacrificial anodic protection:

o Metallic structure to be protected is connected through a


metal wire to a more anodic metal.
o Induce corrosion at the anodic metal.
o More anodic metal sacrifices itself and gets corroded
protecting the metallic structure.
o Sacrificial anodes known are Zn, Mg, Al and their alloys.
o Applications are: protection of underground pipelines, ship
hulls and other marine devices, water tanks.

7
Sacrificial anodic protection
Sacrificial anodic protection - concept

e-

Mg

Mg2+

8
Corrosion control
ii) Impressed current cathodic protection:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QYd9ENn1nP0
o Impressed direct current is applied in the opposite direction to the
corrosion current to nullify it.
o Usually, one terminal of a battery is connected with an insoluble
anode e.g. graphite electrode is immersed in black fill containing
coke, gypsum, bentonite and sodium sulphate for good electrical
conductivity.
o The other terminal is connected to the metallic structure to be
protected.
o Since the current is impressed on the metallic structure, it acts as
cathode and thus gets protected.
o This method is usually used to protect underground water pipe
9
lines, oil pipe lines, transmission lines, ships etc.
Impressed current cathodic protection
Impressed current cathodic protection - concept
Corrosion current of equal magnitude but opposite in direction applied to nullify corrosion current
e-

DC Source
/Rectifier

10
Coating Techniques
Methods of metallic coatings:

a) Hot dipping
b) Metal cladding
c) Electroplating
d) Electrolessplating
e) PVD
f) CVD

a) Hot dipping:

Two types of hot dipping techniques are known:

i) Galvanizing: Dipping the base metal iron in molten zinc metal solution

ii) Tinning : Dipping the base metal iron in molten tin metal solution.

11
Protective coatings
Metallic coatings:
a) Anodic coatings
b) Cathodic coatings
a) Anodic coatings (Using sacrificial anodic coating):
o Anodic coatings are given on cathodic metals using metals which
are more anodic.
o Zinc, aluminium, cadmium coatings on iron are anodic coatings.
o If the coating breaks, then a galvanic couple is set up and
corrosion rate gets enhanced.
o During this process, the anodic coating gets disintegrated but it
protects the cathodic base metal.
o Hence, the anodic metal sacrifices itself to protect the base metal.
o This type of coating is known as galvanisation.
12
Protective coatings
Cathodic coatings:

o Cathodic coatings are given on anodic metals using metals which


are more cathodic.
o Coating of tin, chromium, nickel on iron surface are cathodic
coatings.
o If there is a discontinuity in the coating, then galvanic couple will
form with base metal as anode and the coated metal as cathode.
o Then the process of corrosion will start by the base metal ions going
into solution and the metal deteriorating.
o To avoid this, the article is checked and re-plated periodically so
that there is no discontinuity in the coating.

13
https://youtu.be/NuU0JOwp31g

ANODIC AND CATHODIC COATING (Hot Dipping)

• Galvanizing: More anodic metal coating. It protects the


underlying base metal sacrificially. The base metal get
exposed only when the coating is completely worn out.
Coating of Zn over Fe (Anodic coating)

• Tinning: More noble metal coating. It is best as long as


there are no cracks. Once cracks develop, it is the worst
coating as it exposes the underlying anodic metal.
Coating of Sn over Fe (Cathodic coating)
Galvanising and Tinning
Hot dipping is also a technique of metallic coating
Two types of hot dipping techniques are known

i) Galvanizing: Dipping the base metal iron in molten zinc


metal solution.

Eg. Galvanised iron pipes used for water lines

i) Tinning : Dipping the base metal iron in molten tin metal


solution.

Eg. Tin coated steel containers for storage of food stuff such
as Fruit pulp etc.
Surface preparation before coating
The most important step before protective coatings are applied to metals is
surface preparation.
o Surface preparation is a process to remove rust, oxide scales, oil, grease, dust etc.

o If these materials are not removed, the protective coating will not be smooth,
uniform, cohesive and will not adhere to the metallic surface.

o Hence, mechanical and electrical methods are used to prepare the surface of the
metallic article to be coated clean and free of these impurities.

o Mechanical cleaning, sandblasting, solvent cleaning, alkali cleaning, acid pickling


and etching are normal processes followed for surface preparation of the article to
be coated.

a) Mechanical cleaning:
o Useful for removing loose scales and rust.
o Hammering, wire brushing, grinding, pneumatic blasting, polishing are the methods
commonly used.
16
b) Sandblasting:
o Fine sand or abrasive material along with air stream at a pressure of 25-100
atm. is impinged on the metal surface.
o This will produce enough roughness for good adherence of the protective
coating.
o Though the method is expensive, it is quite fast and useful.

c) Solvent cleaning:
o Solvent cleaning is mainly used to remove oil, grease and rust from the base
metal.
o Alcohols, xylene, toluene, chlorinated hydrocarbons are used.
o Hot water cleaning is followed after solvent cleaning is done.

17
d) Alkali cleaning:
o Cleaning of the base metal with sodium hydroxide, trisodium
phosphate, sodium silicate, soda ash etc., is carried out to remove old
paint coatings soluble in alkaline medium.
o After alkali cleaning, washing is done with 1% chromic acid solution.

e) Acid pickling and etching:


o Base metal is dipped inside the acid solution at higher temperature for long
periods of time.
o This treatment ensures cleaning of the base metal surface free from all kinds of
impurities including oils, greases, rust etc.,
o H2SO4, HCl, HF, H3PO4, HNO3 are the acids commonly used for pickling and
etching.

18
Electroplating
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qI6YY634MOA

o It is a process by which a coating metal is deposited on the base metal by


passing direct current through an electrolytic solution, containing the soluble
salt of the coating metal.
o Electroplating is done for improving
a) corrosion resistance
b) wear resistance
c) chemical resistance
d) surface hardness
e) commercial and aesthetic value
o Both ferrous and non-ferrous metals are plated with Ni, Cr, Cu, Zn, Pb, Al, Ag,
Au, Sn etc.
o Electroplating is mainly used in automobile, aircraft, refrigerator, chemical
and electrical appliances etc.
Applications

• In Internal combustion engines, an electroplated chromium coating


not only avoids the wear but also improves the efficiency.

• Steel articles used in automobile industry – given three successive


coatings of Cu, Ni and Cr. This is done for corrosion protection and
to impart shining and metal appearance.

• Base metal such as Fe, Cu and Al and their alloys are electroplated
with Au and Ag to increase commercial and decorative value.

• To prevent nitriding of steel, electroplating of tin or cu-tin alloys is


done on steel portions (engineering of metals).

• Many parts used in aircraft, radio, radar and automobile industries


are electroplated with thick layers.
Current density & Organic Additives
• Current density: Good deposit has good adhesion, fine grained texture, uniformity
in thickness, good covering power and brightness. Current density is current per
unit area of the electrode surface.

• When current density is low, it forms well formed deposit. Because electron
transfer is slow compared with surface diffusion and the adatoms finds the most
favourable position.

• As the applied voltage is increased, the current density rises till it reaches a
limiting value. Surface diffusion is slowed down compared to electron transfer as
the current density is increased. Due to this reason, the adatoms may not reach
the most favourable positions.

• Organic Additives:
• Levellers – To facilitate even deposition. Levellers occupy those regions to
reduce electron transfer there. e.g., sodium allyl sulphonate
• Brighteners: to produce microscopically fine deposits. Enhances the ability
to reflect light. Glossy, shiny and bright appearance e.g., coumarin,
thiourea
• Structure modifiers or stress relievers: Electrodeposits are internally
stressed and develops microcracking of of deposits. e.g. Sachharin
• Wetting agents: facilitate H2 gas evolution and entrapment is prevent
which may make it brittle and forms blisters. e.g., sodium lauryl sulphate
Important Factors of electroplating
o Cleaning of the article is essential for strong adherence of the electroplating:
- Scraping, grinding, sand blasting, wire brushing, solvent cleaning and acid pickling
are used for surface cleaning.
- A well cleaned and properly pre treated surface of any material to be electroplated
is necessary for obtaining the coating of long life.
o Concentration of the electrolyte is another important factor:
- Low concentration of metal ions will give uniform coherent deposition.
- To maintain low conc. of metal ions, complexing agents are added to the electrolyte.
o Thickness of the deposition should be optimised to get a strong and adherent
deposition:
- For corrosion protection multiple coatings are given to get impervious coating
without any discontinuity.
- For decorative purpose, thin coating is given.
o Current density
- Current density is the current per unit area of the article being plated (amps cm-2).
- The C.D should be maintained at optimal level to get uniform and adherent
deposition. 24
Important Factors of electroplating
o Additives to electrolytic bath
Additives to electrolyte are added in small quantities to get
strong adherent deposition.
Commonly used additives are gelatin, glue, glycine, boric acid
etc. and brighteners for bright plating.

o pH of the bath:
For a good electrodeposit, the pH of the bath must be properly
maintained. For most plating baths, pH ranges from 4 to 8.
o Method of Electroplating:
Method depends upon the type of metal to be electroplated,
the size and type of article to be electroplated.
Its main objectives and economics are also considered.
25
Plating bath solution
o It is a highly conducting salt solution of the metal which is to be
plated.
o However, non-participating electrolytes are added to the bath
solution to increase the conductivity and the throwing power.
o The level of the plating bath should cover completely the cathode
and sufficient area of anode.
o Heating if required is provided by heating coils or hot gases.
o Air sparger or nitrogen sparger is employed to introduce convection
current in the plating bath solution.
o It should possess sufficient throwing power. Hence mixture of two or
more electrolytes is used for preparing electrolytic bath.
o It should be good conductor and highly soluble.
o It should not undergo hydrolysis, oxidation, reduction and other
chemical changes.

26
Electroplating

27
Electroplating with Nickel on Copper

Copper Cathode is reduced Nickel Anode is oxidized


(accepts electrons) (gives electrons)

Ni2+ ions within solution become attracted


to Copper cathode
Electroless plating
Electroless plating, also known as chemical or auto-catalytic plating, is a non-
galvanic plating method that involves several simultaneous reactions in an aqueous
solution, which occur without the use of external electrical power.
The process is a chemical reaction and is autocatalytic.

It is mainly different from electroplating by not using external electrical power.


The deposition rate is normally 12.5 – 25 um (.0005 – .001 in).
Plating thickness tends to be uniform compared to electroplating due to the absence of
electric fields and the associated problems in making them uniform.
Typically nickel and copper are used in electroless platings.
In the case of nickel, the deposits are dense, relatively hard and brittle.
Electroless Nickel is not as bright as electroplated, easy to solder and braze, but difficult to
weld.
Autocatalytic platings are widely used for machine frames, base plates, fixtures, some
machine parts where metal-to-metal wear applications are needed and the conventional
oils and greases can not be used.
Electroless Plating: Without using electrical energy, the deposition
of metal from its salt solution on a catalytically active surface by a
suitable reducing agent is known as electroless plating.

Metal ions reduced to the metal wth the help of reducing agents.
Once a metal is formed, it gets plated over a catalytic surface.

Metal ion + reducing agent Metal plated over a catalytic surface


+ Oxidized product
1) Driving force is the autocatalytic redox reaction over a pretreated catalytic
surface
2) Anode reaction takes place on the surface of the substrate and there is no
separate anode.
3) Plating on semiconductors and insulators is easy.
4) Throwing power is less as compared to electroplating.
Theory of Autocatalytic Platings
In autocatalytic platings, the metal ion is reduced to a
metal only on a specific surface, which must have a
catalyst present before the reaction can begin.

The electroless plating involving a nickel sulfate bath has


the following reaction:
NaH2PO2 - sodium hypophosphite
NaHPO3 – sodium hydrogen phosphite
Copper electroless deposition is done by reduction of alkaline solution
containing copper (II) ion Stabilized by EDTA. Here formaldehyde acts as
reducing agent.
Electroless Plating Electroplating
Physical Vapour Deposition
o This is a process of depositing some material by atom by atom or molecule by
molecule or ion by ion.

Applications:
1. This process is widely used to produce decorative coatings on plastic parts those are
resembling shiny metal.

2. Many automobile parts are plastic with a PVD coating of aluminium.

3. A lacquer coating is applied over the decorative coating to provide corrosion


protection.

4. This process is also used to apply relatively thick (1mm) coatings of heat resistant
materials on jet engine parts, A special alloy of chromium, aluminium and yttrium is
used for this type of coating.

34
PVD: – 1. Thermal Evaporation Method

Al and Au are quite usable in thermal evaporation system with heated


crucible, for they can be melt in crucible and generate enough quantity of
vapours.
However, W and Ti are not suitable for their low vapour pressure.
Typical deposition rates in industry is around 0.5 µm/min (~8 nm/s, for Al) 35
PVD: 2 – Sputtering Method
Sputtering :
A popular method for adhering thin films onto a substrate.
Sputtering is done by bombarding a target material with a charged gas (typically
argon) which releases atoms in the target that coats the nearby substrate.
It all takes place inside a magnetron vacuum chamber under low pressure.
1. High technology coatings such as ceramics, metal alloys and organic and inorganic
compounds are applied by sputtering.
2. The substance to be coated is connected to a high voltage DC power supply.
3. When the vacuum chamber has been pumped down, a controlled amount of argon or
another gas is introduced to establish a pressure of about 10-2 to 10-3 torr.
4. On energizing current supply, plasma is established between the work and the material to
be coated.
5. The sputtering gas is often an inert gas such as argon. For efficient momentum transfer, the
atomic weight of the sputtering gas should be close to the atomic weight of the target, so
for sputtering light elements neon is preferable, while for heavy elements krypton or
xenon are used. Reactive gases can also be used to sputter compounds.

36
PVD: 2 – Sputtering Method
Sputtering is a process whereby particles are ejected from a solid target material due to
bombardment of the target by energetic particles.

Sputtering is done either using DC voltage (DC sputtering) for metals or using AC voltage
(RF sputtering) for dielectric materials and polymers.
The gas atoms are ionized and they
bombard the material to be coated.

The energy of imposing ions cause


atoms of the target material to be
sputtered off and they are transported
through the plasma to form a coating.

Direct current sputtering is used when


the target is electrically conductive.

Radio-frequency sputtering, which uses


a RF power supply is used when the
target is a non conductor such as
polymer. Figure : PVD by sputtering process37
PVD: 2 – Sputtering Method
Plasma is a “state of matter similar to gas in which a certain portion of the particles are
ionized”
• The main principle is to build a vaccum chamber and fill with Argon

• By adding a high voltage, the argon will arc to plasma state

• The argon ion (Ar+) will move toward to cathode with high speed and sputter the
target material (use target as cathode).

• The target atom or molecular will be hit to substrate surface and condense as a
film.

• Instead of heat melting in evaporation method, the plasma Ar+ ion hit and sputter
the target is the main mechanism in plasma sputtering method.

• The target atom is knocked out by Ar+ ion, the knock force is so big and can
accelerate target atom a high speed. With such velocity, the target atom can hit
and attach to substrate surface deeply.

• The film density is good compared to thermal evaporation.


PVD: 2 – Sputtering Method
Applications of Sputtering method:

o This method is used in VLSI fabrication


(Very-large-scale
integration (VLSI) is the process of creating an integrated circuit (IC) by
combining hundreds of thousands of transistors or devices into a single chip)

o Sputtering is used extensively in the semiconductor industry to deposit thin films of


various materials in integrated circuit processing.
o Thin antireflection coatings (MgF2 and Fluoropolymers; mesoporous silica materials;
titanium nitride and niobium nitride) on glass for optical applications are also
deposited by sputtering.
o An important advantage of sputter deposition is that even materials with very high
melting points are easily sputtered while evaporation of these materials in a resistance
evaporator or Knudsen cell is problematic or impossible. Sputter deposited films have
a composition close to that of the source material.

39
Sputtering offers the following advantages over other PVD methods used in VLSI
fabrication:
1) Sputtering can be achieved from large-size targets, simplifying the deposition of thins
with unifrom thickness over large wafers;
2) Film thickness is easily controlled by fixing the operating parameters and simply
adjusting the deposition time;
3) Control of the alloy composition, as well as other film properties such as step
coverage and grain structure, is more easily accomplished than by deposition through
evaporation;
4) Sputter-cleaning of the substrate in vacuum prior to film deposition can be done;
5) Device damage from X-rays generated by electron beam evaporation is avoided.

Sputtering, however, has the following disadvantages too:

1) High capital expenses are required;


2) The rates of deposition of some materials (such as SiO2) are relatively low;
3) Some materials such as organic solids are easily degraded by ionic bombardment;
4) Sputtering has a greater tendency to introduce impurities in the substrate than
deposition by evaporation because the former operates under a lesser vacuum range
than the latter.
PVD – 3 - Ion Plating Method
1. A third variation of the PVD process is ion implantation method

2. Metal is evaporated thermally and plasma is established to ionize


the evaporating species

3. Evaporant ions bombard the substrate with energy

4. They physically implant into the substrate to produce an


extremely strong coating bond.

5. Sputter and ion plated coatings are used in design for very thin
films for electrical, optical and wear-resistant applications.

6. The wear properties of tools are widely enhanced by hard thin


film coatings.
41
Applications of PVD

42
43
44
Applications
1. This process is widely used to produce decorative coatings on
plastic parts those are resembling shiny metal.

2. Many automobile parts are plastic with a PVD coating of


aluminium.

3. A polish coating is applied over the decorative coating to provide


corrosion protection.

4. This process is also used to apply relatively thick (1mm) coatings


of heat resistant materials on jet engine parts;

- A special alloy of chromium, aluminium and yttrium is used for


this type of coating.
Chemical vapour deposition
Chemical vapour deposition or CVD is a generic name for a group of
processes that involve depositing a solid material from a gaseous phase
and is similar in some respects to physical vapour deposition (PVD).

PVD differs in that the precursors are solid, with the material to be
deposited being vaporised from a solid target and deposited onto the
substrate

Precursor gases (often diluted in carrier gases) are delivered into the
reaction chamber at approximately ambient temperatures.

As they pass over or come into contact with a heated substrate, they
react or decompose forming a solid phase which and are deposited onto
the substrate. The substrate temperature is critical and can influence
what reactions will take place.

Eg. Ni(CO)4 for the deposition of Ni 46


Chemical Vapour Deposition

47
CVD Apparatus
A CVD apparatus will consist of several basic components:
Gas delivery system – For the supply of precursors to the reactor chamber

Reactor chamber – Chamber within which deposition takes place


Substrate loading mechanism – A system for introducing and removing substrates,
mandrels etc

Energy source – Provide the energy/heat that is required to get the precursors to
react/decompose.

Vacuum system – A system for removal of all other gaseous species other than those
required for the reaction/deposition.

Exhaust system – System for removal of volatile by-products from the reaction
chamber.

Exhaust treatment systems – In some instances, exhaust gases may not be suitable for
release into the atmosphere and may require treatment or conversion to safe/harmless
compounds.

Process control equipment – Gauges, controls etc to monitor process parameters such
as pressure, temperature and time. Alarms and safety devices would also be included
48
in this category
Advantages of CVD over PVD:
One of the primary advantages is that CVD films are generally quite conformal, i.e.,
that the film thickness on the sidewalls of features is comparable to the thickness on
the top.

In, contrast, physical vapor deposition (PVD) techniques, such as sputtering or


evaporation, generally require a line-of-sight between the surface to be coated and
the source

Another advantage of CVD is that, in addition to the wide variety of materials that
can be deposited,
. they can be deposited with very high purity.
This results from the relative ease with which impurities are removed from gaseous
precursors using distillation techniques.

Other advantages include relatively high deposition rates, and the fact that CVD often
doesn’t require as high a vacuum as PVD processes

49
CVD also has a number of disadvantages:

1. The precursors need to be volatile at near-room temperatures.

2. CVD precursors can also be highly toxic (Ni(CO)4 ), explosive (B2H6), or corrosive (SiCl4).

3. The byproducts of CVD reactions can also be hazardous (CO, H2, or HF).

4. Some of these precursors, especially the metal-organic precursors, can also be quite
costly.
5. The other major disadvantage is the fact that the films are usually deposited at
elevated temperatures. This puts some restrictions on the kind of substrates that can
be coated.

6. More importantly, it leads to stresses in films deposited on materials with different


thermal expansion coefficients, which can cause mechanical instabilities in the
deposited films.

7. All surfaces in the reaction chamber get coated.


8. Separate process and reaction must be developed for each coating. Some of the gases
are toxic and dangerous.

50
Applications of CVD
1. A newer process known as plasma assisted chemical vapour deposition. This
process is used to apply diamond and diamond like carbon coatings.
2. used largely in the production of semiconductors

3. Silicon carbide barrier coatings are applied on plastic films and


semiconductors.

4. Chemical Vapour Deposition is used to produce bulk shapes of high purity


silicon carbide. Reactants are deposited on a chamber wall to a thickness in
terms of millimeters.

5. Thin-film coatings are key to the manufacture of many electronic devices. They
involve the application of dopant, sealant and other microelectronic paste.

6. Thermal evaporation is a low cost process, but all these processes are normally
batch processes because of vacuum chamber requirements.
7. CVD is also used to produce synthetic diamonds.
51
Additional Figures
Based on the concepts discussed already
Sacrificial Anodes
• Galvanization of Steel
• Dip steel sheet in molten zinc. Get a pretty thin coating.
• Zinc will be anode. Steel exposed by crack is the cathode.
Since we have a huge anode having to be served by a
small cathode, corrosion rate will be slow.

Tiny cathode (steel)

Larger Area
Large area
(Zinc)
anode (zinc)

An example of a unfavorable area ratio. Bad deal: huge cathode, tiny anode
An example of a favorable area ratio. Bad deal: huge cathode, tiny anode
Another Example

Zinc is attached to the steel hull of the vessel


Electrochemical
Series

56
Aluminium anodes mounted on a steel jacket structure –
using galvanic corrosion for corrosion control! Called
cathodic protection (aka sacrificial anode)
Sacrificial Anode for a Pipeline
Passivation of the anode
• We have two examples already. Stainless and aluminum.
• A thin oxide layer forms on the surface and isolates the metal from the
environment.
• Zn, Mg, Cu and Ti are also capable of passivation under normal
conditions of operation.
• Steel will also passivate in the presence of an alkaline environment, such
as rebar in concrete.
• Corrosion inhibitors. Some of these, such as the chromates, are capable
of coating a steel and passivating it.
• Coatings, paints, etc.
Protective coatings
o Protective coating provide a physical barrier between the metal and
the environment.
o They not only give corrosion protection but also add to the decorative
value of the article.

o Coatings are broadly divided as:

a) Inorganic coatings : metallic and chemical conversion coatings


b) Organic coatings : paints, varnishes, enamels, lacquers

o Protective coatings are classified as:


i) metallic coatings
ii) chemical conversion coatings
iii) organic coatings and linings
iv) ceramic protective coatings

62

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