IEEE Tutorial

Corrosion Fundamentals & Costs

Neal Murray – Electric Power Research Institute

Why Does Corrosion
Matter?
 It matters because
corrosion affects . . .
• Costs

• Economics

• Safety

• Environment
E i t
 Cost of Corrosion
• $276B USD or 3.1% GDP – 35% of Costs Can Be
Mitigated Through Corrosion Control!

• $6.9B
$6 9B USD – Electric Utilities

• $177.66M USD – Concentric Neutrals

• $142.1M USD – Vaults

• $106.6M USD – Enclosures

• $600M USD – Transmission & Distribution

NACE 2002 “Corrosion Costs and Preventative Strategies in the United States”
 Cost of Corrosion (Based Upon Reject
Criteria)
Cost (USD) Reject Criteria (%) Sector

600M - Transmission & Distribution

1B 25 T
Transmission
i i O Only
l
2.3B 20 Transmission Only
What are direct corrosion costs?
• Excessive Maintenance/Repair/
Replacement
• Outages
• ROW Damage
• Loss
L off Product
P d
More direct corrosion costs . . .

• Loss of Efficiency (Oversizing and

Excess)
• Energy Costs
• Accidents
• Increased
I dCCapital
it l C
Costs
t – Overdesign
O d i
• Environmental Cleanup – Fines
What are indirect corrosion costs?
• Safety
y Issues
• Structural Collapse
• Fire
• Customer Losses
• Environmental Pollution
More indirect corrosion costs . . .

• Loss of Consumer Confidence

• Loss of Redundancy y
• Appearance
• Potential Regulation
What is Corrosion?
Corrosion is defined
f as . . .
• The deterioration of a material, usually a metal, that
results from a reaction with its environment.

• Thi
Things that
th t are made
d off iron
i andd steel
t l began
b as ore
taken from the earth. Energy was added in the form
of heat to make it into the structure desired.
desired

• Manyy define corrosion as the pprocess of a structure

trying to return to its natural state.
Energy
gy Cycle
y of Steel
IRON OXIDE BLAST FURNACE BESSEMER

STEEL PIPE
PIPE MILL
REFINING PROCESS
CORROSION PROCESS

PIPE CORRODING IRON OXIDE

Energy Required to Convert
Ore to Metal
Potassium
Most Magnesium
Energy Beryllium
Required Aluminum
Zinc
Chromium
Iron
Nickel
Tin
C
Copper
Least Silver
Energy Platinum
R
Required
i d G ld
Gold
 What is the fforce drivingg
corrosion and whyy does it
occur?
Corrosion is caused by the voltage
diff
difference between
b t irregularities
i l iti
on the surface of a structure
or between two metals.
How does corrosion start?
With one cell . . .
 Corrosion Cell
Corrosion occurs within
a corrosion cell.

A corrosion cell consists

of four parts:

• Anode
• Cathode
• Metallic Path
• Electrolyte
Corrosion cells are created when there is an imbalance or non-
equilibrium energy balance, causing a movement of energy from high
levels to lower levels.
Corrosion Cell Definitions
Anode Corroding structure ─ point where
current is discharged into electrolyte

Cathode Protected structure ─ point where

current is picked up

Metallic Path Electrical connection between anode

and structure (electron path)

Electrolyte Conductive medium between anode

and structure (ion path)
Dry-Cell
y Batteryy
Schematic
 e

Anode e

Catthode
Cath
hode
Corrosion Cell
 What causes corrosion?
• Dissimilar Metals (Galvanic corrosion)
• De Alloying
De-Alloying
• Stresses
• Differential Moisture
• Temperature Differences in the Metal
or Electrolyte
y
• Dissimilar Soils
• yg Concentration Cell
Oxygen
• Metal Ion Concentration Cell
• Microbiological Influences
H ddoes the
How h environment
i influence
i fl
the rate of corrosion?

• Moisture Content
• Electrolyte Conductivity (ions)
• pH
• Oxygen Concentration
• Temperature
• Stress
• Aeration
• Agitation
What are the fforms off corrosion?
• General Corrosion
• Localized Corrosion
Pitting, Crevice or Filiform Corrosion
• Galvanic Corrosion
• Environmental Corrosion Cracking
• Flow Assisted Corrosion
Flow-Assisted
• Intergranular Corrosion
• Dealloying
• Fretting Corrosion
• High Temperature Corrosion
 General Corrosion

Corrosion that proceeds more or

less uniformly over the exposed
surface without appreciable
localized attack.
A-C Stray Current Corrosion

Corrosion resulting from current through

paths other than the intended circuit,
e.g., by any extraneous current in the
earth.
Concentration Cell Corrosion

An electrochemical cell, the electromotive

f
force off which
hi h is
i caused d by
b a difference
diff in
i
concentration of some component in the
electrolyte.
y (This
( difference leads to the
formation of discrete cathodic and anodic
regions.)
Differential Aeration Cell or
Oxygen Concentration Cell

An electrochemical cell, the

electromotive force of which is due
to a difference in air (oxygen)
concentration at one electrode as
compared with that at another
electrode of the same material.
 Stress Corrosion

Cracking of a material produced by

the combined action of corrosion
and tensile stress (residual or
applied).
 Fatigue Corrosion

The phenomenon leading to fracture

of a material under repeated or
fluctuating stresses having a
maximum value less than the
tensile strength of the material.
Microbiologically Induced
Corrosion - MIC
Internal Corrosion
Ac or Dc Stray Current Sources
• Long Line Effects
• Smelting Plants
• S b
Subways
• HVDC Insulator Leakage
• Pipeline Protection Systems
• Transformer Imbalance
• Induced Current
 Long Line Effects

Current though the earth between

an anodic and a cathodic area that
returns along an underground (or
Shield Wire) metallic structure.
 Alcoa Plant Stray Current
Latitude vs. VDC

0
35.75209746 35.7538992 35.75587739 35.75808995 35.75999111 35.76205017 35.7642443 35.7687765 35.7700929

-0.05

-0.1

-0.15
-0.3535 -0.3474375 -0.3609375
-0.3646875 -0.3743125
-0.2 -0.3885625
-0 422
-0.422 -0.43175
0 43175 -0.439
Substation (Alcoa
VDC

-0.25 switching Station)

Alcoa Aluminum Plant

-0.3

-0.35

-0.4

-0.45

-0.5
Latitude
S b
Subway Stray
St Current
C t

Stray
C
Currents
t
From
Subway
HVDC Stray Current
Pipeline Dc Stray Currents

-
0.8
Substation 3rd Harmonics

Distribution Substations - Transformers

With Load Imbalance
The Perfect Storm
 Utility Grid Growth
30,000

25,000
ures

20 000
20,000
Number of Structu

15,000

10,000

5,000

0
1900 1910 1920 1930 1940 1950 1960 1970 1980 1990 2000

Installation Date (year)

 Pre 1970 Total Installations – 35.4%
 Post 1970 Total Installations – 64.6%
 Significance of Distributions

$600M USD Federal Studyy ((Transmission & Distribution))

$1B USD  $1.8B 25% Reject Criteria (Transmission Only)

$
$2.3B S  $4.2B
USD $ 20%
% Reject C
Criteria ((Transmission O
Only)
Only)
Corrosion Affects
ff You!
Your Environment
Your Company
Your Job
Your Safety
y
Your Pocketbook
Thank you!