The History of Corrosion Protection

The concept of the corrosion process, derived from the Latin corrodere (to eat away, to destroy), first appeared in the Philosophical Transactions in 1667 [2]. It was discussed in a German translation from the French on the manufacture of white lead in 1785 and was mentioned in 1836 in the translation of an English paper by Davy on the cathodic protection of iron in seawater [3]. However, almost until the present day, the term was used indiscriminately for corrosion reaction, corrosion effects, and corrosion damage. Only in DIN 50900, Part I, were these terms distinguished and defined [4] (see Section 2.1). 

The active and passive electrochemical processes on which present-day corrosion protection is based were already known in the 19th century, but reliable protection for pipelines only developed at the turn of the 20th century. 

Corrosion protection using bitumen coatings reaches back into antiquity. The most ancient occurrence of bitumen deposits was in Mesopotamia. Many writers of antiquity, such as Dido, Strabo, and Vitruvius, mention that asphalt was obtained for many years near Babylon. About 5000 yeare ago, the streets of Ur, capital of the Sumerians (north of present-day Kuwait), were lit at night with mineral oil. Natural gas was reported to be used for lighting in the Middle East and China. 

Bitumen was used in ancient times as an adhesive for sealing hydraulic structures and as mortar for masonry (5]. The Bible mentions that Noah used pitch for caulking the Ark. Not unlike the Tower of Babylon, the houses of one of the most ancient cities in the world, Mohenjo-Daro in the upper Indus valley, were constructed with bricks of clay and bitumen monar [61. 

The Phoenicians were building water ducts and pipelines of clay, stone, or bronze about 1000 B.c. and the construction of long-distance water pipelines flourished in imperial Roman times. The water supply lines of Rome had a total length of about 450 km, and consisted mainly of open or covered water ducts. The Roman writer Vitruvius gives a fairly accurate description of the manufacture of lead pipes [8]. The pipes were above ground and were often laid beside the roadway or in ducts inside houses [9]. 

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The results of these experiments have been considered by the Joint Committee for the Co-ordination of the Cathodic Protection of Buried Structures and, in view of the various types of buried structures concerned and the circumstances in which field tests are conducted, the Committee decided not to amend its provisional recommendation that when cathodic protection is applied to a buried structure the maximum permissible potential change in the positive direction on a nearby pipe or cable should be 20 mV. If there is a history of corrosion on the unprotected installation no detectable positive change in structure/soil potential should be permitted. These criteria of interaction have been adopted in the British Standard Code of Practice for Cathodic Protection . 

Broomfield, J.P. (March, 2004). A Case History of Cathodic Protection of a Highway Structure in the UK. Proc. Corrosion 2004. Paper 04344. NACE International Houston, TX. 

Galvanizing can be found in almost every major application and industry where iron or mild steel is used. The utilities, chemical process, pulp and paper, automotive, and transportation industries, to name just a few, have historically made extensive use of galvanizing for corrosion control. They continue to do so today. For over 140 years, galvanizing has had a proven history of commercial success as a method of corrosion protection in a myriad of applications worldwide. 

As a means of maintaining the integrity of its pipeline system, each operating company shall establish and implement procedures for continuing surveillance of its facilities. Studies shall be initiated and action shall be taken where unusual operating and maintenance conditions occur, such as failures, leakage history, drop in flow efficiency due to internal corrosion, or substantial changes in cathodic protection requirements. 

Likelihood factors are associated with the system attributes associated with the individual causes of failure. Likelihood factors include such considerations as pipe coating, degree of cathodic protection, soil conditions, pipe age, and maintenance history for corrosion control and depth of burial surrounding land use and activities, one-call system effectiveness, effectiveness of system marker signs, and other factors for third-party damage potential, to cite some examples. 

This book is considered to be a unique addition to the world of technical literature, due to its thorough exposition of case histories and industrial practice. It is the product of a very long process to present an informative book on this subject in a concise form which should be useful to user industries and practising engineers in their respective industrial environments. This work is the author s sincere and humble wish to draw the attention of the concerned, serious, worried and interested readers and students to the technological aspects of protective rubber lining and its vast potential as a technically viable, and commercially important, material of construction for the process industries to combat corrosion. 

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