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A

refinery located near the


Caribbean Sea had severe
structural corrosion caused
by various contaminants. The
facility is an open-space structure (containing no perimeter
walls) with concrete-covered
WF-type structural steel beams. The second and third floor slabs are made of
concrete.
The structure was built in 1946 and is
still in service; it has been under constant
exposure to a marine environment. The
severe corrosion of the columns, beams,
and slabs prompted a study to determine
the actual state of the building and the appropriate actions for implementing remedial measures.
Sources of contamination include prevailing salt-laden winds blowing from the
Caribbean Sea and seawater coolant from
leaking heat exchangers. The seawater has
a high concentration of chloride ions.
When the chloride ions reach the concrete
structures, they penetrate the surface and
diuse to the reinforcement. This occurs
rapidly in the highly porous concrete.1-3
At rst sight, the reinforcement showed
signicant damage from corrosion. The
MIGUEL SNCHEZ, OLADIS DE RINCN, ERIKA SNCHEZ, damaged areas were evaluated to determine
DANIEL GARCA, ENYO SNCHEZ, MAITE SDABA, SEBASTIN DELGADO, AND the severity of corrosion and whether4 the
stability of the structure was aected. The
RAFAEL FERNNDEZ, Centro de Estudios de Corrosin, Universidad del Zulia
presence of salt and moisture stains on the
slabs and the localized repairs on the verge
This work presents the evaluation and diagnosis of of collapsing indicated that a more indepth evaluation was needed to determine
the structural corrosion of a section of a refinery
how optimal repairs might be carried out.5
located in a marine environment. This refinery was
is important to point out that there were
constructed in 1946 with structural steel and coated with Ita series
of drainage outlets continuously
concrete-type fireproofing. The facility was exposed to
dripping water on part of the structure and
contamination from winds blowing from the Caribbean
on the lower-level equipment.

CASE HISTORY

Corrosion Problems
Associated With
a FireproongCoated Structure
Exposed to a Marine
Environment

Sea. The structure shows a high amount of damage from


corrosion, some of which was quite advanced.

Results and Discussion


VISUAL INSPECTION
The damage surveys for the roof slab
(Level 1) clearly indicated areas with continuous irrigation by seawater. The greatest
amount of damage was observed below the
roof slab (Levels 2 and 3), where the heat
exchangers are located. The slab area was
stained by salt and humidity, with ssures
throughout its length. Salt stalactites,
produced by water percolating from the

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FIGURE 1

FIGURE 2

Evidence of exposed steel at different points with critical corrosion.

upper levels, were hanging from the slabs.


There was a large pool of water on the
Level 2 slabs, formed by the continuous
irrigation of water from leaks in pipes
transporting seawater, where equipment
on this level and Level 3 was being
washed. There were salt stains around this
pool, appearing on Level 1 as stalactites,
as well as rust stains produced by corrosion in the reinforcement. The pipe system runs through a set of orices, leaving
an annular space through which the water
drained to Level 1 when the heat exchangers on Level 2 were washed. This damaged
not only the slab but also the beams and
neighboring equipment.
There were cracks between the columns, which almost cut right across the
oor. These areas had oxide stains from
humidity and exhibited delamination of
the concrete and severe reinforcement
corrosion in the southern area (Figure
1). Most of the elements of the columns
on this level had ssures. The column
shown in Figure 2 had cracks at the cross
section of the beam and oxide stains
throughout the length of the eastern
face. A water drainage pipe was located
in this area. Many ssures were also seen
on all faces, especially on the northern
and western faces; there was also delamination on one of the ridges of the
northern and eastern faces. Many of
these columns have lateral metallic proles welded to the steel beams, acting as

support for the pipes.


When one of these
was taken from the Cracks at the cross section of the beam with oxide stains throughout
beam, the hole left the length of the eastern face.
was lled with mortar or similar mateAlmost all the secondary beams of
rial that in most cases had many cracks
around it. Most of the columns had Level 1 (Figure 3) had signicant damage
with severe cracks, delamination of the
patches in various areas.
FIGURE 3

Severe cracks and delamination of the concrete with moderate-to-severe reinforcement corrosion,
with salt and humidity stains on the borders.
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FIGURE 4

Base of Rack S-2 completely cracked, with delamination of the concrete and moderately corroded
steel.

FIGURE 5

showed ssures on all faces, some with


damage at the base. One pipe rack, which
was reconstructed in 1996, currently has
ssures at the stirrup level. The base of
Rack S-2 was completely cracked, with
delamination of the concrete and moderately corroded steel (Figure 4). The faces
had hollow-sounding areas, specically on
the northern and eastern sides, to a height
of ~1.40 m from the oor, with extensive
fissures over the surface. There were
patches on the southern and western faces
up to a height of ~2 m from the oor.
Figure 5 presents a general view of the
southern face of this rack. The hollowsounding concrete from this rack came
crashing down when the area was struck
with a hammer.
The beams on Level 2 exhibited severe
damage, especially those near the seawater
area. Concrete was spalled in these damaged sites because of moderate-to-severe
reinforcement corrosion. A series of cracks
where the concrete was about to fall o
from corrosion of the reinforcement was
also observed.
Level 3 was constructed with steel
plates. The drainage and holes through
which the pipes run were located on
Level 3. The pipes carried seawater coolant through the heat exchangers (tube/
seawater side). The water running over
the steel plates, which were badly corroded, drained through these orices and
fell on Level 2. There was an area where
the water evaporated and salt crystallized
caused by elevated temperatures of the
water moving through the heat exchanger.

PHYSICOMECHANICAL
ELECTROCHEMICAL TESTS
Some of the factors considered when
selecting the elements to be studied included wind direction, drainage, and the
accumulation of water in certain areas of
Hollow-sounding concrete came crashing down when the area was struck with a hammer.
the plant. For the electrochemical evaluation, areas with no visible damage or
delamination were chosen to determine
whether there was active reinforcement
nation
of
the
concrete
cover.
Th
e
concrete
concrete with moderate-to-severe reincorrosion at the depth to which chlorine
area
with
little
damage
was
away
from
forcement corrosion, and humidity and
ions had penetrated. This helped detersites
where
salt
water
leaked.
salt stains along the borders. This meant
mine the scope of the repairs.
Evaluation
of
the
pipe
rack
supports
that any repair would require total elimi-

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TABLE 1

CARBONATION DEPTH OF CORES AT UNIT DA3


Columns
Corrosion potentials, obtained according to ASTM Standard C876-87,6 ranged
from 193 to 481 mV vs copper/copper
sulfate (Cu/CuSO4) reference electrode
(CSE), for the two faces evaluated (northern and eastern). These values indicated a
high-reinforcement corrosion tendency.
While corrosion current densities 7
(CD) at 40 cm from the base of the column
were very low (0.004 to 0.005 A/cm2),
the measurements from the top of the column were between 0.003 and 0.137 A/
cm2. Therefore, localized activity of the
reinforcement was indicated; this is to be
expected in a marine environment, where
chloride ions penetrate the concrete and
destroy the natural passivity of steel.
A core (9.3 cm long), identied as N-4,
was extracted about 0.93 m from the oor,
on the northern face. Table 1 shows a very
low carbonation prole (0.1 cm), which
means that it did not reach the steel. The
results of the chloride prole drawn from
this core produced values at the steel below
the threshold value of 4,000 ppm Cl that
initiates depassivation of the steel.
Beams
Concrete was being removed from a
beam prior to repairs. Electrochemical
measurements made at 15 cm from the
place where the concrete was removed
showed a potential of 337 mV vs CSE,
which indicates high corrosion activity in
the reinforcement. The corrosion rate was
0.207 A/cm2, also indicating high corrosion activity in the reinforcement. These
results provided evidence that no repair
criterion was being used to guarantee that
the rest of the beam would not be aected
by corrosion in a short term. Also, the
results indicated that the situation was
critical because of the development of new
localized corrosion cells; these will continue to aect the useful life of the beams.
Most of the time, repairing the dierent
elements strictly on the basis of a visual
inspection could create new corrosion
cells that could eventually accelerate corrosion of the reinforcement, especially in
environments with high chloride content
in the concrete.

Location
Core
N1
N2
N3
N4
Sample
N6
N7
N8
N9

Column
2V2
2V3
2V3
1AC2
S-1
Slab
repaired
No slab
repaired
S-3
S-3

Side
South
North
North
North
East
2nd
level
2nd
level
North
South

Height/
Dist. (m)
0.60(A)
0.60(A)
0.60(A)
0.95(B)
0.45(B)

Thickness
(cm)
10.0
10.5
9.5
9.3
1.0
7.0

Carbonation
(cm)
0.1
0.6
0.8
0.1
0.1
0.3

3.0

0-0.5

1.46(B)
1.50(B)

9.0
10.0

4.0
10.0

(A)

Measurements from roof


Measurements from oor

(B)

Pipe Rack Support


The rack support, from which a great
quantity of concrete had spalled o, was
located in the western area of the plant.
It supported a heat exchanger. Corrosion
potentials ranged from +20 to 389 mV
vs CSE. The areas with the greatest corrosion potential were at 40 cm from the
oor on the northern and eastern faces.
A core was extracted from the northern
face (which showed no visual damage) at
a height of 1.32 m from the oor. The
carbonation prole (4.0 cm) indicated
that carbonation reached the rebar and
induced corrosion, whereas chloride values were below the corrosion threshold
for the reinforcement. A completely carbonated sample was taken from the
southern face at 1.50 m from the base of
the rack, where very low compressive
strength (<70 kg/cm2) was found. Chloride values were above the chloride content threshold of 4,000 ppm Cl/cement.
This area matched with seawater leakage.
The results indicated that the reinforcement corrosion was already active in
places where no apparent damage could
be seen. This meant that all the concrete
surrounding the reinforcement should be
removed.
Slabs
The corrosion potential and CD were
measured at 15 cm from the areas where
concrete was being removed to repair the
slabs. The values for the corrosion potential
and corrosion CD were 347.6 mV vs CSE

and 0.926 A/cm2, respectively. These values indicated severe corrosion of the reinforcement. Casting concrete under these
conditions would accelerate corrosion of
the reinforcement in areas not repaired,
since the unrepaired areas were contaminated with chloride ions.
Carbonation in Core N-6, which was
far from the area where water accumulated, was found to a depth of 0.3 cm; this
was a negligible value, since the steel reinforcement in these slabs was located at
a greater depth (Table 1).

Conclusions
1) The repairs that were being carried
out did not meet the durability requirements for this type of environment.
2) The main source of the chlorides
that caused reinforcement corrosion in
the components of the structures, with or
without concrete cover, was the leakage
of seawater used as the cooling medium
for heat exchangers.
3) There were many drains. These were
either deteriorated or badly designed,
bringing seawater to the dierent plant
components. Also, the lack of sloping of
the reinforced concrete oor allowed the
water to accumulate on the slabs.
4) Most of the damage in the columns
was located on the eastern face, since that
face is exposed to the prevailing winds and
leaking water from the cooling system.
5) Most of the damage to the pipe
racks was caused by carbonation of the
concrete.
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Recommendations
1) The slabs should be replaced by
those that allow water runo.
2) All beams should be repaired by
completely replacing the concrete at the
reinforcement.

References
1. O.T. de Rincn, et al., Manual For Inspecting,
Evaluating and Diagnosing Corrosion in Reinforced
Concrete Structures, Ibero-American Program Science
and Technology for Development Subprogram 7 XV,
Corrosion/Enviromental Impact on Materials (Maracaibo,
Venezuela: CYTED, 2000).
2. P.B. Bamforth, Factors Influencing Chloride
Ingress into Marine Structures, Proceedings of Economic
and Durable Construction through Excellence (Dundee,
U.K., 1993).
3. P.B. Bamforth, Chloride Penetration and Service
Life, Proceedings of COST-509 Workshop: Corrosion
and Protection Metals in Contact with Concrete (Seville,
Spain, 1995).
4. K. Tuutti, Corrosion of Steel in Concrete CBI
Forskning Research, Swedish Cement and Concrete Research (Stockholm, Sweden, 1982).

5. Guide No 03730, Guide for Surface Preparation


for the Repair of Deteriorated Concrete Resulting from
Reinforcing Steel Corrosion (1995).
6. ASTM Standard C876-87, Standard Test Method
for Half-Cell Potentials of Uncoated Reinforcing Steel in
Concrete, Annual Book of ASTM Standards (West Conshohocken, PA: ASTM International, 1987).
7. S. Feli, J.A. Gonzlez, V. Feli, S. Feli, Jr., M.L.
Escudero, I.Rz. Maribona, V. Austin, C. Andrade, J.A.
Bolao, F. Jimnez, Corrosion Detecting Probes for
Use With a Corrosion-Rate Meter for Electrochemically
Determining the Corrosion Rate of Reinforced Concrete
Structures, U.S. Patent no. 5.259.944 (1993).

MIGUEL A. SNCHEZ GMEZ is a Researcher


and Professor at the Centro de Estudios de
CorrosinUniversidad del Zulia/Avendida
Goajira Universidad del Zulia, 4002A, Venezuela. He works in the areas of chemistry,
materials science, and corrosion engineering. His research interests consist of inhibitor
corrosion and reinforced concrete. He has
designed some pilot plants for the laboratory.
He has a B.S. in chemical engineering, an
M.S. in gas engineering (corrosion) from the
University of Zulia, and a Ph.D. in fundamental

electrochemical from the University of the


Andes. A NACE member since 1980, he served
as President of the NACE Venezuela Section
from 1992 to 1994. He has been Vice President
of the NACE Venezuela Section since 2000.
OLADIS DE RINCON is a Researcher and
Professor at Centro de Estudios de CorrosionUniversidad del Zulia. She is the former
head of the Corrosion Research Center at
the university. She has more than 33 years of
experience in corrosion, corrosion control of
concrete, and atmospheric corrosion. She has
published more than 50 technical papers and
attended more than 60 conferences worldwide.
She has an M.S. degree in chemical engineering and a Ph.D. in fundamental electrochemical. A NACE member since 1980, De Rincon
served on the NACE Board of Directors from
1992 to 1995.
ERIKA SANCHEZ was a Researcher and Teacher Assistant at Centro de Estudios de CorrosionUniversidad del Zulia. She currently is a
graduate student at Florida Atlantic University
in the Department of Ocean Engineering and is
a Research Assistant at the Center for Marine
Materials. Her interests include material
science, corrosion in reinforced concrete structures, and electrochemistry techniques. She is
a chemical engineer and served as Secretary of
the NACE Venezuela Student Section.
DANIEL GARCIA was a student at Centro de
Estudios de CorrosionUniversidad del Zulia.
He is currently working as a process engineer
for a private company. He has an M.S. degree
in chemical engineering.
ENYO SANCHEZ was a student at Centro de
Estudios de CorrosionUniversidad del Zulia.
He works at the Venezuelan oil company PDVSA and specializes in cathodic protection. He
is a chemical engineer and has an M.S. degree
in corrosion engineering.
MAITE SADABA was a student at Centro de
Estudios de CorrosionUniversidad del
Zulia. She works at PDVSA and is a chemical
engineer.
SEBASTIAN DELGADO is a Professor and
Consultant at Centro de Estudios de CorrosionUniversidad del Zulia. He has more than
30 years of experience in the calculation of civil
structures. He is a civil engineer.
RAFAEL FERNANDEZ is a Professor and
Consultant at Centro de Estudios de CorrosionUniversidad del Zulia. He has more than
40 years of experience in the building, repair,
and maintenance of structures. He is a civil
engineer and member of the ACI.

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