• The Importance of Corrosion Monitoring

    SYDNEY, NSW – 24 August 2020



    Avoid Costly Maintenance, Downtime and Repairs 

    If you run an industrial facility, including cooling towers and blast chillers, you will be familiar with the danger that corrosion can cause to your equipment. 

    In cooling towers and chillers the heat exchange tubes can be severely damaged by corrosion and fouling, which can cause significant loss of efficiency, reduce the life-span of these units and lead to costly maintenance and replacement of these elements.

    Thankfully we have a corrosion monitoring system – based around the powerful CHEMTROL® industrial grade PC110xc controller. Paired with industry leading corrosion-rate measurement and monitoring products from Cosasco and Pyxis we can help protect these fixed assets and keep your facility running efficiently. 


    What is corrosion? 

    Corrosion is when a metal dissolves, typically from a chemical or electrochemical reaction – including low pH conditions (<6.0) and high free chlorine residuals in the local environment. A number of operating parameters can influence the corrosion tendency in an aqueous environment, including conductivity, pH and the concentration of oxygen. Another factor to be aware of is fouling from uncontrolled biological growth, which can also contribute to corrosion over time.

    Ultimately corrosion can cause:

    – Reduced plant efficiency
    – 
    Equipment failure
    – Facility downtime
    – The costly replacement of equipment

    A less obvious, and more serious type of corrosion is pitting – which occurs on materials such as metals and alloys. It manifests as microscopic corrosive points or pits, where the solution inside the pits become increasingly concentrated and corrosive over time. Galvanic corrosion can also occur in cooling systems that are manufactured from both copper and steel alloys. Microorganisms in cooling water can also cause corrosion, as the by-products they produce – include organic acids and hydrogen sulfides – which are corrosive to metals.


    The benefits of corrosion monitoring

    If you want to protect your investment and reduce the life-cycle costs associated with your operation some form of corrosion monitoring can help provide: 

    • An early warning system to alert you to damaging conditions before a corrosion-induced failure can occur.
    • Insights on the parameters that have impacted your system, including the pressure, temperature, pH or flow rate.
    • Evaluation of the effectiveness of corrosion prevention measures, such as chemical inhibition.
    • Data to inform ongoing management measures and maintenance requirements of your facility.

    CHEMTROL® PC110xc controller with Pyxis Bluetooth Corrosion Sensor

    The CHEMTROL® PC110xc controller provides measurements of Conductivity/TDS, pH, Chlorine/Bromine (ppm), ORP and temperature, as well as corrosion and liquid level monitoring. These features can help ensure:

    • Sanitizer control of biocide additions
    • A low enough pH is maintained to eliminate scale formation
    • Timed chemical treatment to help prevent biological fouling
    • Timed biocide additions with “shock” cycles at regular intervals

    We pair our controllers with products from two leaders – Cosasco and Pyxis – in the corrosion rate monitoring space: 

    • Cosasco is a global leader in corrosion and erosion monitoring systems, including non-intrusive and intrusive technologies. Their Linear Polarization Resistance sensor probe is notable in that it can operate at high temperatures (+150° C), while their transmitters are renowned for their accuracy and ability to monitor corrosion rate in water with high and low conductivity.
    • Pyxis is a market leader producing smart, accurate water treatment equipment such as the CR-200/300 corrosion rate sensor, which utilizes Bluetooth to relay data your chosen device for 24/7 remote monitoring of your facility. This is an extremely reliable and accurate measurement, and avoids the interferences and attenuation of the raw signal caused by long-distance wiring. 

    Want to protect your facility? Visit our Corrosion Monitoring page for all the technical details, or call us on 1300 585 820 for a chat