Page 27 - Corrosion Engineering Principles and Practice

10 C h a p t e r 1 T h e S t u d y o f C o r r o s i o n 11

corrective action or to avoid hazards or interruptions of production
that would accompany an unexpected failure from corrosion. This
inspection may be done by the corrosion engineer or by those
scheduled by the engineer.
Whatever the corrosion engineer recommends to cope with
corrosion must always take the economic details into consideration.
The results will then be worth more than the cost, and the most
economical of several possible solutions to a problem will be recognized
and chosen in preference to the others. While corrosion has nothing but
negative aspects from most points of view, money spent to enable a
corrosion engineer to control corrosion will be returned manyfold and
will represent one of the most profitable investments that can be made.
From management’s point of view, the results of an engineer’s activities
may be expected to show up in one of the following forms [4]:
1. Ensuring maximum life of new equipment.
2. Preservation of existing equipment.
3. Protecting or improving the quality of a product in order to
maintain or improve a competitive position.
4. Avoiding costly interruptions of production.
5. Reducing or eliminating losses of valuable products by spillage
or leaks.
6. Refitting of equipment withdrawn from service because of
corrosion.
7. Reducing hazards to life and property that might be associated
with corrosion: Explosions of pressure vessels or piping
systems, release of poisonous or explosive gases or vapors
are a few examples.

1.5 The Corrosion Engineer’s Education
Universities, colleges, and technical schools do not typically offer
specific programs in corrosion prevention or control. The subject is
most often learned at the school of “hard knocks,” as old timers
would say. However, it is interesting to examine the type of academic
education practicing corrosion engineers have received. A survey
was carried out by inviting members of two active corrosion-focused
Internet discussion lists* to answer simple questions concerning their
educational background. Sixty respondents, with a total of more than
1000 years of corrosion experience among them, answered these
questions. Some results of this survey are summarized in Fig. 1.1.

* The UMIST Corrosion Discussion List (http://www.cp.umist.ac.uk/corros-l/) and
the NACE International Corrosion Network (http://www.nacecorrosionnetwork
.com/read/all_forums/).