Effective Process to avoid Environmental or

Chemical Corrosion
Corrosion is the surface disintegration of
metals/alloys within specific environment.
Some metals basically exhibit high
corrosion resistance than others and this
can be attributed to several factors like
their chemical constituents, the nature of
electrochemical reactions itself and
others. The corrosion resistance of metals
can be defined in terms of its ability to
withstand aggressive conditions. This determines to a large extent the
operational lifetime of components in service. It is realized that the most
widely used definition of corrosion is the degradation of material by its reaction
with its environment. The fact that corrosion needs to be controlled cannot be
overemphasized in view of the colossal amount of money that is expended on
it annually. Materials are protected from corrosion through a wide variety of
methods.
By retarding either the anodic or
cathodic reactions the rate of
corrosion can be reduced. This can be
achieved
in
several
ways:
Conditioning the Metal or Conditioning
the
Corrosive
Environment.
Conditioning the Metal can be subdivided into two main groups which is
Coating the metal, in order to
interpose a corrosion resistant coating
between metal and environment or Alloying the Metal. Again the coating may
consist of another metal, e.g. zinc or tin coatings on steel, a protective coating
derived from the metal itself, e.g. aluminium oxide on anodised aluminium,
organic coatings, such as resins, plastics, paints, enamel, oils and greases.
The action of protective coatings is often more complex than simply providing
a barrier between metal and environment. Paints may contain a corrosion
inhibitor.

An industrial coating, paint or

coating
adopted
by
its
protective, rather than its
aesthetic properties, although it
can provide both. Corrosion
resistant coatings protect metal
components
against
degradation due to moisture,
salt spray, oxidation or exposure to a variety of environmental or industrial
chemicals. A sharply chosen anti corrosion coating may provide an added
protection to the metal surfaces and also work as a wall between the metal
surface and corrosive materials or chemical compounds. Good quality
protective coatings can make the life of the metal larger than its usual at
corrosive or chemical environment.
Halar Coating is also one of the
most successive processes of
corrosion control. Halar is actually
the brand name for ethylene
chlorotrifluoroethylene, or ECTFE.
The most basic explanation for
Halar is that it is a type of plastic.
This particular type of plastic
known as Halar is special because
it is semi-crystalline and melt-processable. Halar provides excellent chemical
resistance and electrical insulating properties over a broad-use temperature
range from cryogenic to 1500C. It is a tough material with excellent impact
strength and is one of the best fluoropolymers for permeation resistance.
Halar is particularly suitable for use as a coating material in protection and
anti-corrosion applications thanks to its unique combination of properties like
high impact strength, chemical and permeation resistance, flame resistance,
dielectric properties, adhesion to substrate etc. Today Halar Coating is
extensively utilized in chemical and pharmaceutical processes, semiconductor
fabs, refineries, power plants as well as for many other different applications
in contact with highly corrosive or ultra-pure chemicals, like strong inorganic
bases and strong mineral and oxidizing acids.