CHAPTER 2 - Corrosion prevention and protection methods

Abstract

Corrosion is amongst the most serious challenges humankind faces with an immense annual cost of $2.2 trillion US, or 3% of global GDP. Corrosion is unavoidable, it can be significantly reduced by using the appropriate corrosion control method. Corrosion management requires the implementation of engineering principles and techniques, by the most economical method, to mitigate corrosion to an appropriate degree. The objective of the corrosion control techniques is to minimize corrosion of materials to an acceptable limit so that they are able to attain their normal desired lifetime. In a limited number of cases, corrosion control methods are designed to eliminate it completely. Over a period of time, considerable developments have taken place in the field of corrosion prevention and protection methods. There are, however, still many problems that corrosion scientists/engineers need to resolve. The aim of this chapter is to cover the fundamentals and basic principles involved in order to understand and develop a deep understanding of corrosion prevention and protection methods.