Corrosion economic assessment

Most examples of economic assessments in the corrosion literature are comparisons of similar artefacts in different materials, or of different protective schemes on the same artefact. The assessments in which a corrosion specialist is directly involved are usually of this type. The items concerned are well defined so that reliable costs can be sought, e.g. by quotations. 

Application of a Theory for Economic Assessment of Corrosion Damage... 

We have seen how consideration of theoretical deposition velocities has identified potential biases in economic assessments. An additional consideration is the relative uncertainties in the determination of theoretical vs. experimental deposition velocities. The heat transfer data on which the theoretical deposition velocities are based are generally very precise, within a few percent. In contrast, the damage functions developed by Lipfert et al. (3) for metals from extant corrosion test data are only capable of predicting corrosion losses at a given time and place within a factor of two, although the individual regression coefficients are much better than that. Most of the uncertainty in the experimental approach is felt to be in test site characterization rather than... 

In 1992, Kuwait conducted an economic assessment of the total cost of corrosion to its economy using a modified version of the Battelle-NBS lO model. The resulting report containing the assessment can be found in Economic Effects of Metallic Corrosion in the State of Kuwait authored by F. Al-Kharafi, A. Al-Hashem, and F. Martrouk, Final Report no. 4761, KSIR Publications, December 1995. 

F. W. Lipfert and R. E. Wyzga, Application of theory to economic assessment of corrosion damage, Proceedings Degradation of Materials due to Acid Rain (R. Baboian, ed.), American Chemical Society, Washington, DC, 1986, p. 411. 

Thorough assessment of the service environment and a review of options for corrosion control must be made. In severe, humid environments it is sometimes more economical to use a relatively cheap structural material and apply additional protection, rather than use costly corrosion-resistant ones. In relatively dry environments many materials can be used without special protection, even when pollutants are present. 

Corrosion can, however, be a factor in another type of assessment, which is arguably more important. It could influence important decisions about the whole project, taken at an early stage in the overall design process, which are concerned with the fundamental basis of the project rather than with corrosion aspects directly. In a major project, feasibility assessments in the initial stages are used to decide between possible alternatives, later effort being concentrated on one or two preferred options. If corrosion considerations are relevant they can influence the economics of the project as a whole, and have a much larger effect than in the first type of assessment. 

In the most recent official assessment of the economic costs of equipment damage arising from corrosion, prepared by the National Commission on Materials Policy (U.S.), il was staled that annual losses in the Uniicd Stales alone are on the order or many billions of dollars. 

The major components of coal (C, H) are usually determined to assist the classification of coal and in establishing its economic value. Elements present in smaller, but still significant amounts, (N, S, Cl) are determined to establish the liability of the coal to produce corrosion in burners when used for power generation, or to assess the suitability of coal for carbonisation, where the sulphur content is of great importance and to take account of the effects of the combustion products of these elements in the environment. 

Assessment of the economic effect of proposed means to reduce corrosion costs. 

Indirect losses are a substantial part of the economic tax imposed by corrosion, although it is difficult to arrive at a reasonable estimate of total losses. In the event of loss of health or life through explosion, unpredictable failure of chemical equipment, or wreckage of airplanes, trains, or automobiles through sudden failure by corrosion of critical parts, the indirect losses are still more difficult to assess and are beyond interpretation in terms of dollars. 

The impacts of corrosion are often described in economic terms. Financial losses have been assessed in several studies which concluded that premature materials degradation costs industrialized nations approximately 3 percent of their gross domestic product (GDP).i In the United States it is estimated that between... 

During the first quarter of the 20th century, the full economic cost of the corrosion of metals was perceived. The first reported corrosion experiments on aluminium started around 1890, when the metal was available in a quantity sufficient to envision its use for construction and as kitchen utensils. Its resistance to rainwater and various types of drinks, such as beer, coffee, and tea, was first assessed at the beginning of the 1890s [4]. 

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