Materials & Corrosion
Choosing materials for process plants and controlling their corrosion: materials selection and life-cycle cost, carbon and low-alloy steels, stainless steels and nickel alloys, non-ferrous metals, polymers, linings and FRP, the electrochemistry of corrosion, uniform and galvanic corrosion, pitting, crevice and intergranular attack, environmentally assisted cracking, high-temperature corrosion, erosion and corrosion under insulation, prevention by design, inhibitors and coatings, and cathodic protection, inspection and corrosion management.
CHE-280 Year 2 3 credits 12 lessons · 4 h 23 min ▶ Video lessons coming soon
Offered by HSM University · Chemical Engineering
This is the American version of this course. See the Canadian version.
What you'll learn
- Select materials for process equipment by defining the full service, screening candidates with corrosion data and plant experience, comparing life-cycle costs and documenting operating limits.
- Specify carbon and low-alloy steels with suitable corrosion allowances, check wall thickness against code and mill tolerance, and recognize the services where carbon steel struggles.
- Distinguish the families of stainless steel and nickel alloys, rank them for chloride resistance with PREN, and explain sensitization, chloride cracking and fabrication requirements.
- Choose copper alloys, aluminum alloys, titanium and other non-ferrous metals for suitable services, accounting for their velocity limits, chemical weaknesses and cost.
- Select thermoplastics, fiber-reinforced plastics, linings and elastomers for chemical service, allowing for temperature derating, expansion, permeation and inspection.
- Apply the Nernst equation, Pourbaix diagrams, Tafel kinetics, mixed potential theory and Faraday's law to explain and calculate corrosion rates.
- Measure uniform corrosion with coupons, and predict and prevent galvanic corrosion and selective leaching using the galvanic series and the area effect.
- Explain the mechanisms of pitting, crevice, under-deposit, microbiological and intergranular corrosion, estimate extreme pit depths and specify preventive measures.
- Identify stress corrosion cracking, hydrogen damage and corrosion fatigue, calculate crack growth with the Paris law, and prevent cracking by changing material, environment or stress.
- Assess high-temperature oxidation and related attack, erosion-corrosion, flow-accelerated corrosion, cavitation and corrosion under insulation, and manage each in a plant.
- Prevent corrosion through design, environmental control, inhibitors and protective coatings, and calculate inhibitor efficiency and treatment doses.
- Design cathodic protection, match inspection methods to damage mechanisms, calculate remaining life and inspection intervals, and run a risk-based corrosion management program.
Course content
12 lessons · 4 h 23 min total · final exam
- 1 Materials selection for process plants 25 min · quiz
- 2 Carbon and low-alloy steels 23 min · quiz
- 3 Stainless steels and nickel alloys 21 min · quiz
- 4 Non-ferrous metals and alloys 21 min · quiz
- 5 Polymers, elastomers, linings and fiber-reinforced plastics 21 min · quiz
- 6 The electrochemistry of corrosion 22 min · quiz
- 7 Uniform and galvanic corrosion 22 min · quiz
- 8 Localized corrosion: pitting, crevice and intergranular attack 21 min · quiz
- 9 Environmentally assisted cracking 21 min · quiz
- 10 High-temperature corrosion, erosion-corrosion and corrosion under insulation 22 min · quiz
- 11 Corrosion prevention: design, inhibitors and coatings 21 min · quiz
- 12 Cathodic protection, inspection and corrosion management 23 min · quiz
- E Final exam 20 questions
Requirements
Recommended background. You can start any course at any time.
Description
Choosing materials for process plants and controlling their corrosion: materials selection and life-cycle cost, carbon and low-alloy steels, stainless steels and nickel alloys, non-ferrous metals, polymers, linings and FRP, the electrochemistry of corrosion, uniform and galvanic corrosion, pitting, crevice and intergranular attack, environmentally assisted cracking, high-temperature corrosion, erosion and corrosion under insulation, prevention by design, inhibitors and coatings, and cathodic protection, inspection and corrosion management.
Part of the Engineering stream, typically taken in year 2.