PROTECTION OF SHIPS AGAINST

CORROSION

Course no. 10
Corrosion is an irreversible interfacial reaction of a material (metal,
ceramic, polymer) with its environment which results in consumption
of the material or in its dissolution into the material of a component of
the environment.
 Forms of corrosion

• Group I – Identifiable by visual inspection

Uniform Corrosion Pitting Crevice Corrosion Galvanic Corrosion

 Galvanic corrosion
The less noble metal (anode) suffers an accelerated attack and the more noble metal
(cathode) is cathodic protected by the galvanic current.

• For galvanic corrosion to occur there are three conditions which must be met:
• Metals must be far apart on the galvanic series (anode and cathode)
• These metals must be in electrical contact, and
• The metals must be exposed to an electrolyte
• Group II – Identifiable with special inspection tools

Erosion Cavitation Fretting Inter-granular

De-alloying
Exfoliation
corrosion
Cavitation
• Group III – Identifiable by microscopic examination

Cracking High Temperature Attack

Stress Corrosion
Corrosion Fatigue Scaling Internal Attack
Crack
The main factors which influence the rate of
corrosion
• Temperature. Diffusion rates are controlled by temperature, so metals
corrode at faster rates at higher temperatures than at lower
temperatures.
• Conductivity. For corrosion to occur there must be a conductive
medium between the two parts of the corrosion reaction.
• Electrochemical potential. Every metal takes up a specific
electrochemical potential when immersed in a conducting liquid.
 How to express the corrosion rate?

• Weight loss per unit area per unit time

mdd (milligrams per square decimeter day)
gmd (grams per square meter day)

• A rate of penetration, i.e. the thickness of the lost metal

ipy (inches penetration per year)
μm/y (micron per year)
 CORROSION CONTROL ON SHIP

Corrosion can be mitigated by five basic methods: coatings, cathodic

protection, materials selection, chemical inhibitors, and environmental
change. The corrosion on ships can be atmospheric and immersed.

There are two methods used for corrosion control on ships:

1. Modifying the corrosive environment
a) Inhibitors
b) Cathodic Protection
2. Excluding the corrosive environment
Coatings
 Modifying the corrosive environment

a) Inhibitors

• The corrosion inhibitors are used in areas where the electrolyte solution
is of a known and controllable quantity. On ships this occurs in onboard
equipment (boilers, tanks, pipes).
 Modifying the corrosive environment

b) Cathodic protection
The principle of Cathodic Protection is to convert all the anode areas to
cathodes, by polarizing them to the same electrical potential as the
cathodes.

The cathodic protection can be achieved in two ways:

• By the use of galvanic (sacrificial) anodes, or
• The application of an external electric current (i.e. an impressed current)
 Cathodic Protection by Sacrificial anodes systems

• A lower potential metal is placed in electrical contact with the metal

surface to be protected. The lower potential material becomes the
anode and corrodes preferentially.
• In sacrificial anode systems the high energy electrons required for
cathodic protection are supplied by the corrosion of an active metal.

The common materials used are: Zinc (mostly used), Aluminum

and Magnesium
 Sacrificial anodes systems

Anodic and cathodic areas in steel After installing sacrificial anodes

 Impressed current cathodic protection (ICCP) system

Low energy electrons that are picked up at a non-reactive anode bed are
given additional energy by the action of a rectifier to be more energetic
than the electrons that would be produced in the corrosion reaction.

The effect of these electrons at the structure being protected is the same as
that derived from the sacrificial anode type of cathodic protection
system. However, the anode material serves only as a source of
electrons and need not be consumed in providing protective current.

The impressed current anodes material (graphite, magnetite, platinum

and platinized titanium)
 Excluding the corrosive environment

Coating the metal is used in order to interpose a corrosion resistant coating between
metal and environment. 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. aluminum oxide on
“anodized” aluminum,
• organic coatings, such as resins, plastics, paints, enamel, oils and greases.
 Why is it necessary to use paints along with Cathodic
Protection?

• CP will only work when the anode and the structure to be protected are joined by
a conductive medium; e.g. sea water.

• The structures subjected to cyclic wet/dry immersion, e.g. splash zones or ballast
tanks, will only be protected for part of the time.

• The classification societies require a protective coating to be applied in ships

ballast tanks.

• Coatings become damaged due to the operational environment.

• CP systems provide protection of damaged structures or out of service (whilst

the structure is immersed).
 Marine paints and painting

Surface preparation

• Abrasive Blasting. Blast cleaning using mineral abrasives (or with water of 2000
bar pressure) is the preferred method for cleaning steel prior to applying marine
coatings.

• Solvent cleaning, i.e. degreasing, is used to remove grease and oil. The final rinse
is always made using fresh solvent.

• Steam cleaning
 Equipment for removing rust

• Hand tools -The most commonly used hand tools are sandpaper,
wire brushes, hand scrapers and the chipping hammer.

Sandpaper Hand scratch brush

Hand scraper Chipping Hammer

• Power tools – The most useful power tool to remove rust is the portable grinder.
Another power tool used is the pneumatic hammer.

Electric portable Pneumatic hammer

grinder