Prevention The Key

Preventing such corrosion problems from developing is clearly desired. Strict attention to the chemical water treatment through a reliable contractor is a high priority - especially in the earliest days and months of the initial start-up. Effective filtration and frequent cleanings of the piping system is mandatory, as is careful monitoring for corrosion and biological activity.

Corrosion coupons still exist as the most widely used form of corrosion measurement and monitoring today. However, installed within an isolated loop separate from the many electrochemical influences acting against the actual pipe surface, they at best offer an estimate of the corrosivity of the fluid, rather than a true measurement of the metal lost from the pipe itself.

Corrosion coupons can often produce falsely low corrosion estimates by a factor of 10 times or more, and where significant iron oxide deposits exist at the pipe surface, will not provide any indication of the deep under deposit pitting taking place. Removable spool pieces and ultrasonic testing therefore offer better and more reliable testing options.

Maintaining trouble free HVAC piping systems can be readily achieved, although not with the ease found decades ago, and not without significantly greater expense and maintenance attention. New influences at many different levels exist today favoring higher corrosion rates - which must be recognized and effectively addressed by today's successful building professional and plant manager.

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