Environmental Degradation of Materials

CHEM 3563

The True Cost of Corrosion- The Hidden

Enemy

Abstract

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Corrosion is a natural process that occurs to metals and non-metals. Metal corrosion is a
destructive oxidation attack of the environment on a metal that seeks to return the material to
its low energy state[1]. Metals play a significant part in the development of a country because
it is used in almost every aspect of life, from buildings to automobiles. Most metallic
materials are susceptible to corrosion hence there is a significantly large cost involved with
corrosion. The cost of corrosion involves direct costs and indirect costs which gives the final
cost of corrosion. Direct cost in spilt into two components, both of which affect the
manufacturers and the owners of facilities. Indirect costs generally affect the public, though it
is more difficult to quantify these costs as sometimes, it affects the general public in different
ways. The costs of corrosion, direct and indirect, apply to industries and the society. The
consequences of corrosion failure of materials in industry and society can be significant,
hence the cost of corrosion can be high. The advancement of protective technologies that
prevents metal corrosion has significantly decreased corrosion failure, however, the cost of
corrosion is consistent.

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 Table of Contents
Introduction................................................................................................................................4

Direct and Indirect Costs of Corrosion......................................................................................5

Societal Cost of Corrosion and Industrial Cost of Corrosion....................................................6

Control of corrosion and Consistency of cost of corrosion........................................................7

Reference....................................................................................................................................8

Introduction
Corrosion is defined as the degradation in the properties of a material that occurs as a
result of the irreversible reaction with their environment[2]. The material may be metal or non-
metal such as ceramics, elastomers, plastics and masonry materials. The corrosion of metals

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and non-metals affects humans daily although metal corrosion is especially important. Metals
and metal products are used in nearly every aspect of life. It is widely used in the construction
industry as well as the manufacture of vehicles and appliances. The infrastructure, especially,
is an important aspect for the economic development of a country. Corrosion in metals is a
spontaneous oxidation reaction in which the cathodic reaction occurs on the metal surface [3].
The different compositions of the metals, environmental factors and mechanical designs lead
to various ways in which corrosion can cause damage to materials[3]. The main types of
corrosion that affect metals are uniform corrosion, galvanic corrosion, stress corrosion,
pitting corrosion, intergranular corrosion, erosion corrosion and crevice corrosion. These
types of corrosion are persistent in industries and infrastructure and can have disaster
consequences.

Corrosion affects all industries as well as human life and safety. It costs the global
economy 3-5% of the global Gross Domestic Product annually [4]. There are direct and
indirect costs of corrosion which affects almost every sector of the economy. Both these costs
are added together to get the final cost of corrosion. Direct costs generally affect the
manufacturers and the owners of the materials while indirect costs refer to the costs that
affect the general public. Indirect costs are difficult to monetize as it is generally non-
quantifiable costs such as traffic delays. Metals are used in every aspect on construction and
infrastructure, therefore failure of materials due to corrosion can significantly affect
industries and society. There have been several incidents in history that infrastructure has
failed because of corrosion. Those failures resulted in disastrous consequences such as
injuries and loss of lives. Hence it is important to prevent corrosion and protect materials
from corrosion and the effects of corrosion.

For corrosion to occur, it is necessary to have an anode, cathode, electrolyte and a

connection that allows the transfer of electrons[5]. Corrosion is also increased by the presence
of ions such as chlorine ions. Therefore, the environment is an important factor in corrosion.
The removal of one of these conditions prevents corrosion from occurring. There are several
methods in which prevention of corrosion can occur. Although it prevents the corrosion from
occurring and hence the effects of corrosion, the addition of protective technologies adds a
cost to corrosion. This results in the cost of corrosion having a consistently high cost.

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 Direct and Indirect Costs of Corrosion
The direct cost of corrosion involves two components, the first component being the
cost of design, manufacturing and construction of the material or equipment [6]. This
component has several different aspects to it. It includes the selection of materials which is
the use of more corrosion resistant material to prevent corrosion. It also involves the
corrosion allowance which allows design for the compensation of corrosion such as the
increased wall thickness of the material[6]. Additionally, it pertains to different protection
technologies such as coatings, paintings, inhibitors, sealants and cathodic and anodic
protection. Finally, the application costs used in the corrosion prevention is included in this
component. This costs includes labour, equipment and other related costs[7]. The second
component is the costs that are related to corrosion management which pertain to the integrity
of the material management practices. It involves inspection costs, corrosion monitoring,
failure risk assessment costs, repairs and replacements of corroded equipment and also,
databases and other documentation in the corrosion management strategy [6]. It also includes
loss of efficiency and loss of production.

Indirect cost of corrosion affects the public and anyone who are not the owners or
operators of a facility[7]. It is a result of corrosion-induced failures that occur to materials.
Indirect costs are more difficult to assess because it is not a single entity that is being
assessed, however, once a monetary value is placed on it, it is added to the final cost of
corrosion[7]. The use of practices such as risk-based analysis can be used to evaluate the
indirect costs. Taxes, litigation, penalties and other similar charges can become direct costs if
[7]
the owners and operators have to pay those charges . There are some indirect costs that are
more difficult to assess in monetary value, yet it has a large impact on the society and the
economy. These indirect costs can be costs like loss of electrical power, traffic delays or
similar issues which can result in loss of productivity and loss of efficiency. Loss of
productivity and efficiency can have a significant impact in the overall economy of a country.

Direct cost and indirect costs of corrosion apply to different aspects of the economy.
Both direct and indirect costs are incurred when there is failure due to corrosion. Hence, both
direct costs and indirect costs are added together to form the overall cost of corrosion and is
included in a country’s Gross Domestic Product annually. It often results in a consistently
high cost of corrosion for most countries. The cost of corrosion is not limited to the financial
sector, but it also has effects on the society and the industries. Therefore, corrosion failure
can often lead to a multitude of consequences.

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 Societal Cost of Corrosion and Industrial Cost of Corrosion
Corrosion has a significant impact on major industries, and it can be disastrous in
some cases. All industries are susceptible to corrosion because most, if not all, equipment
used are made from different types of metal. Additionally, industries tend to have a corrosive
environment which increases the rates of corrosion. Corrosive environmental factors include
high temperature, presence of ions and presence of water and oxygen. Industrial plants can
face many consequences of corrosion that results in additional cost, these consequences can
be both direct and indirect costs. The direct cost of industrial corrosion can be designing the
equipment for the prevention of corrosion which includes appropriate material selection, and
also preventative maintenance such as coatings[8]. Additionally, it incurs management costs
such as replacement of corroded equipment, corrosion-related maintenance, inventory of
backup components and corrosion-related inspects. The indirect costs of corrosion in the
industry can be pollution due to improperly functioning equipment which harms both people
and the environment. Also, shutdowns of the equipment can occur because of failure caused
by corrosion[8]. Shutdown of equipment, hence plants, could also be a result of restoration and
repairs of the plant. This results in loss of production in the industry. There is also a loss of
efficiency because the corrode equipment may not function at its maximum capability, and
there could additionally be contamination of the valuable product because of contamination
in the production line. All these costs can contribute to a significantly large industrial cost of
corrosion. The impact of corrosion in the industry can affect society as well.

The cost of corrosion may not always be easily quantifiable and are more difficult to
monetize. Corrosion failure can lead to lack of safety for both industries and the public.
Major infrastructures like bridges to automobiles are made from metal hence are susceptible
to corrosion and corrosion failures. Sudden failures of these infrastructures could lead to
injury to people, sometimes even death. There have been instances in history where bridges
have suddenly collapsing leading to large number in casualties, such as the Silver Bridge
incident in 1967 in the United States where forty-six persons died [9]. Additionally, failures
could also result in explosions, fires and release of toxic chemicals which leads to injuries to
the public. Another societal cost could be the aesthetics of the infrastructure or equipment.
Corroding infrastructure is not pleasing to the eye therefore it requires costs to protect the
material and maintain it. There could also be health costs involved in the societal costs if
there is failure in equipment. It could result in accidents occurring and pollution which

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threaten the health of the public. Therefore, corrosion has significant costs to both the
industry and the society.

Control of corrosion and Consistency of cost of corrosion

Control of corrosion consists of design optimization and material selection. Within

design optimization, there is change of environment and cathodic/anodic protection[8]. Design
can significantly reduce corrosion in the material. Certain types of corrosion such as crevice
corrosion can occur in small spaces, however, if that design is eliminated, then the crevice
corrosion will not happen. The change of environment consists of the removal of corrosive
factors that would cause corrosion, such as the elimination of acids and high ion solutions.
Although change of environment is not always possible. Cathodic protection prevents
corrosion by using either an external anode connected to the metal or a sacrificial anode[8].
Anodic protection involves the use of active-passive metals where the metal is kept in a
passive range. Coatings and inhibitors are also used to prevent corrosion. Metal coatings is
the addition of a more active metal on the metal surface, thus ensuring the more active metal
corrodes preferentially over the metal surface and also forms a physical barrier from the
corrosive environment[8]. Non-metal coatings could be paints, enamels or plastics which
prevent corrosive materials from reaching the substrate. Inhibitors are substances, that when
added in small amounts to the environment in which a metal will corrode, will slow down,
reduce or prevent corrosion of the metal[10]. Inhibitors can be adsorbed onto anodic or
cathodic sites. Material selection involves the use of the best materials for the given
conditions which prevents corrosion from occurring[8].

Although there are efforts to prevent and reduce corrosion, the cost of corrosion has
been consistent. This is because the protective measures and technologies tend to offset the
effects of corrosion costs[8]. Protective technologies are used to treat, reduce, and prevent
corrosion, however, there is usually a high cost associated with the measures taken. Selection
of materials is used to prevent and reduce corrosion is the use of highly corrosion resistant
material such as stainless steel and bronze. However, these metals tend to be of a higher cost
therefore increasing the cost of corrosion. The use of highly corrosion resistant metals
reduces the costs incurred by corrosion as corrosion is less likely to happen. A material with
intermediate corrosion resistance may be used however this may result in corrosion occurring
eventually. Similarly, the other protective technologies like coatings and better designs, tend
to have a higher expense, but it also reduces the cost of corrosion and its effects.

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Additionally, corrosion monitoring and other corrosion related tests would still be required
hence adding to the costs. Therefore, although there are new corrosion prevention
technologies, there are gains and losses that tend to offset the cost of corrosion hence creating
a consistent cost of corrosion.

Reference
[1] What is Corrosion? - Definition and Prevention. https://www.twi-global.com/technical-
knowledge/faqs/what-is-corrosion (accessed Apr 12, 2021).

[2] Liengen, T.; Féron D.; Basséguy R.; Beech, I. B. Understanding biocorrosion:
fundamentals and applications; Woodhead Publishing: Oxford, 2016; pp 281–312.

[3] Metal Corrosion. https://www.imetllc.com/training-article/metal-corrosion/?

doing_wp_cron=1617383740.7325100898742675781250 (accessed Apr 2, 2021).

[4] Why Study at the Curtin Corrosion Research Centre? https://curtin-corrosion-

centre.com/study/why-study-corrosion#:~:text=Besides%20its%20financial%20impact
%2C%20corrosion,most%20aspects%20of%20human
%20activities.&text=Understanding%20corrosion%20is%20the%20first,mitigation
%20strategies%20are%20in%20place. (accessed Apr 2, 2021).

[5] Galvanic Corrosion. https://galvanizeit.org/corrosion/corrosion-process/galvanic-

corrosion (accessed Apr 12, 2021).

[6] Morshed, A. Corrosion Management and Cost Optimization.

https://www.materialsperformance.com/articles/material-selection-
design/2017/06/corrosion-management-and-cost-optimization (accessed Apr 3, 2021).

[7] Cost of Corrosion Estimate in United States. https://www.g2mtlabs.com/corrosion/cost-

of-corrosion/ (accessed Apr 13, 2021).

[8] Davis, J. R. Corrosion: Understanding the basics; ASM International: Materials Park,
OH, 2011.

[9] Silver Bridge Collapse. https://www.corrosion-doctors.org/Bridges/Silver-Bridge.htm

(accessed Apr 13, 2021).

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[10] Damborenea, J. de; Conde, A.; Arenas, M. A. Corrosion inhibition with rare earth metal
compounds in aqueous solutions.
https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/B9780857093479500035 (accessed
Apr 13, 2021).