Materials.Business Weekly ⚙️
January 25, 2022
Quote of the week: “I never did anything worth doing by accident, nor did any of my inventions come by accident; they came by work.” Plato, Greek philosopher (428/427 or 424/423 – 348/347 BCE).
From The Editor's Corner
Improving options for corrosion awareness
Corrosion often occurs quietly. Attention is not paid, and damage happens unexpectedly. Solutions are not easy, and decisions are expensive. In these situations, awareness opportunities about corrosion prevention and protection are lost. If we do not feel, we do not notice it. Sensing is very important, and fortunately, possibilities are increasing. We are talking about sensorics. It is the technology branch concerning optical, electronic, magnetic, etc., devices able to answer to changes like composition, temperature, pressure, light, and so, in any system and report them as a way of monitoring what is happening according to our interest (flow, level, chemistry, size, etc.). Sensorics is one of the emerging technologies that converge in the establishment of the so-called Fourth Industrial Revolution. Options of corrosion monitoring are increasing, and a general improvement of the awareness about corrosion of materials and asset deterioration is also expected. To know about some of the sensors that have been developed during the last decades for monitoring corrosion, is useful for solving current and coming corrosion engineering issues, applying such tools or others even more developed. The following are three examples of patents concerning corrosion sensing inside pipelines. An expired patent, another in force, and the last one just asked. As we can see in these three examples of inventions concerning corrosion sensing and monitoring, technology has been evolved very quickly from simple mechanical designs just few decades ago towards very sophisticated innovations right now.
Expired exclusivity
Patent granter: The United States Patent and Trademark Office – USPTO
Patent No.: 3,718,034
Title: Hydraulic corrosion monitoring coupon injector
Inventor (s): Dean E. Swearingen
Applicant (s): Dean E. Swearingen
Priority date: 27.02.1973
Summary: The awarded patent concerned the invention of a hydraulic system for the introduction and then, the retirement of a coupon temporally exposed to the aggressiveness of a fluid flowing through a pipeline. The assembly includes a pair of controlling valves, a cylinder, a piston rod hydraulicly actuated, and a securely connected plate coupon in its free end.
An invention granted (in force)
Patent granter: the United States Patent and Trademark Office – USPTO
Patent No.: 7,274,443
Title: Corrosion monitoring system, optical corrosion probe, and methods of use.
Inventor (s): Michael Ponsting, Jess Ford, and Anthony Johnson.
Applicant (s): Custom Sensors and Technology.
Date of patent: 25.09.2007
Summary: This is an invention about the remote measurement of the corrosion level by following the evolution of the light reflected from a coating exposed to an aggressive stream in processes pipes transporting crude-oil or industrial water. An optical substrate is used to detect reflected light, including the spectra from ultraviolet, visible, and infrared light wavelengths. And the signal is sent by optical fiber from the probe towards a processor, where comparisons are made, and results are extrapolated to corrosion rates.
A requested recognition
Patent granter: China National Intellectual Property Administration - CNIPA
Application No.: 113390778
Title: Optical fiber sensor with temperature compensation for monitoring internal corrosion of oil and gas pipeline
Author(s): Tang Fujian, Kuang Yihang, Li Hongnan, Zhou Xia
Applicant (s): Dalian University of Technology
Priority date: 14.09.2021
Summary: In the same way that the previous invention, this development is concerned with a monitoring system for sensing the internal corrosion in O&G pipelines. The system comprises a sensing unit, including a Fabry-Perot interferometric fiber-optic sensor and a temperature compensation unit. Authors claim an invention about a low labor cost sensor, easy to operate, with variable sensitivity, and wide in the coverage range of the pipe diameter and flow rate.
Remember: Protection of materials and equipment is a profitable business!
Prof. Carlos Arroyave, Ph.D. Editor.
Materials Biz News
Modern-time steel creates new challenges to tackle
In the frame of a Swedish Triple Helix partnership between the Metals Research Institute - Swerim and Alfa Laval Technologies AB, and funded by Vinnova, the national innovation agency, research about the corrosion behavior of additively manufactured stainless steel. The research procedure includes the irradiation of polished AM samples by an ambient pressure X-ray beam to evaluate the in-situ corrosion properties of the stainless steel. The study’s primary goal is to get information about the effect of the hot isostatic pressing (HIP) treatment on chemical reactions in the corrosive environment..
Once again, the solutions come from mimicking nature
Researchers from the University of Southern Queensland recently published a paper concerning the invention of a lava-inspired fire-retardant coating. It is a micro/nano structured organic-inorganic composite coating, exceptionally protecting materials like wood and steel from fire. The composite comprises low-melted glass powders as ceramic precursors, boron nitride nanosheets as synergists, and a fire-retardant polymer as a matrix. Then, the coating forms an extremely fire protection lava-like ceramic char layer upon exposure to flame.
Jobs
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Networking & Knowledge Exchange
Taking care of our heritage at risk
In-person and broadcast live. The Maison de la Chimie Foundation in France is organizing the symposium “CHEMISTRY AND NOTRE Dame - Science in the service of a resurrection.” This event, for French-speaking people, aimed to present the advancement of the church restoration after its fire in 2019. Emphasis will be made on the collaborative restoration work developed by specialists from chemists, physicists, computer scientists, and architects. Subjects to be considered include a lot of exciting knowledge and experiences for Corrosionists dealing with heritage conservation and protection:
- Tracing the leads of Notre-Dame de Paris by their isotopic and elementary signature.
- The restoration of the copper statues of the spire of Notre-Dame Cathedral in Paris.
- Heritage materials, understanding the past, forecasting the future; some examples.
- Notre-Dame de Paris, materials, and construction.
- The contribution of chemical analyses to the knowledge of the iron frames of Notre-Dame de Paris.
- From the chemistry of materials to the alchemy of teams.
- Conservation-restoration and research on the stained-glass windows of Notre-Dame Cathedral in Paris.
- Restoration of paintings polluted by the deposit of lead aerosols.
- Conservation of masonry damaged by soluble salts following the fire at Notre-Dame de Paris in 2019.
Venue: House of Chemistry, 28 bis, rue Saint-Dominique, 75007 Paris, France.
Date: Wednesday, February 09, 2022.
Time: 09:00 - 18:00 CEST (GMT + 1)
https://actions.maisondelachimie.com/colloque/chimie-et-notre-dame/
Automotive Corrosion Symposium
In-person. SwRI, the Southwest Research Institute, is an independent nonprofit multidisciplinary R&D organization in the United States, providing innovative science, technology, and engineering services to government and commercial clients worldwide. SwRI, supported by companies like Ford Motor Company, General Motors, Arconic, and Q-Lab, Senior Technical Director: Weathering and Corrosion, will be hosting a meeting about corrosion concerns and solutions facing current trends in the industry. According to the organizers, it is an event of interest for industry experts from automotive OEMs (Original Equipment Manufacturers), material suppliers, and paint suppliers to foster communication within the automotive industry and address industry-wide corrosion issues. Keynote speakers will be Professor Alan Taub from the University of Michigan and Mike Ostermiller, Senior Manager of GM.
Venue: Courtyard Detroit Downtown, 333 East Jefferson Ave., Detroit, MI 48226, United States.
Dates: Thursday and Friday, March 31 to April 01, 2022.
https://www.swri.org/event/automotive-corrosion-symposium
Upcoming events
February 2022
February 16th Tech Day 2022: Technologies of transformation - Patenting in an era of global challenges and opportunities. (Link)
March 2022
March 06th AMPP Annual conference and expo. (Link)
May 2022
May 29th The Electrochemical Society (ECS) 241st Meeting. (Link)
August 2022
August 28th Digital innovations for improving safety in chemical plants. (Link)
August 28th EUROCORR 2022. (Link)
On-demand
2021 Corrosion science symposium and advances in corrosion protection by organic coatings (Link)
Corrosion under insulation - Level 1. (Link)
Photo by Aaron Jones on Unsplash