Corrosion is costly! If you doubt this, then you probably have never been bitten by the “corrosion bug”. Imagine specifying Titanium for 10 brand new heat exchangers or reactors and later realizing that the processing stream has fairly high concentrations of flourine ions.

The Titanium will be destroyed in weeks and you’ll have wasted hundreds of thousands of dollars. There you stand in front of your supervisor, you’ll get that sick feeling in your stomach….that’s the “corrosion bug”! I’d like to think that things like this don’t happen, but I’ve heard my share of horror stories.

If you’d like to avoid a situation like this, I’ve got two words for you…..FLUID ANALYSIS. A fluid analysis can save you pain, embarassment, and in some cases your job. But if you think about, there’ really no excuse for not having one done considering the impact that a material of construction decision can have. With this in mind, I thought that it may be a good idea to review some of the most basic forms of corrosion.