DEPARTMENT OF CHEMICAL ENGINEERING

CHE 545 - Corrosion Science and Engineering

2017/2018 Second Semester (Term 172)

Course Instructor: DR. IME BASSEY OBOT, Office: 15-5406, Tel.: 8283
Email: obot@kfupm.edu.sa

Start End
Course Sec Course Name Instructor Day Bld Room
Time Time
Corrosion
Science and
IME BASSEY
CHE 545 02 MW 1830 1945 4 149
Engineering OBOT

Office Hours: 10:00-11:15 a.m - Mon and Wed

Textbook: Revie, R. W and Uhlig, H. H. Corrosion and Corrosion Control, 4th

edition, John Wiley & sons, N. Y., (2008).

Ref. Books: 1.Popov, B. N. Corrosion Engineering Principles and Solved Problems,

1st edition, Elsevier, Amsterdam. (2015).

2.McCafferty, E. Introduction to Corrosion Science, 1st edition,

Springer, London. (2009).

Course Content: Corrosion is the destructive attack of a metal by its reaction with
environment. Thus corrosion refers to the degradation of a metal by its
environment. The course content include: Fundamentals of
electrochemical thermodynamics and kinetics pertinent to corrosion
processes; Corrosion inhibition; passivity; anodic and cathodic
protection; pitting; stress corrosion and hydrogen embrittlement.

Objective: The main objective of this course is to introduce graduate students to the
principles and theories of corrosion science and engineering. Students
will be able to identify different forms of corrosion, understand the
thermodynamics and the kinetics of corrosion, how to control and if
possible prevent corrosion. In addition students will be exposed to topics
of industrial importance such as corrosion inhibition, passivity, stress
corrosion cracking, hydrogen embrittlement and cathodic protection.
Challenges facing today’s Corrosion Engineers will be elucidated.
Outcomes: Upon successful completion of this course, Students will be able to:
1. Understand the fundamental concepts of corrosion: electrochemical
kinetics and thermodynamics.
2. Identify and recognize the common forms of corrosion such as
general corrosion, pitting corrosion, stress corrosion and hydrogen
embrittlement.
3. Understand the concept of passivity.
4. Understand various techniques of corrosion measurements.

Pre-requisite: CHE 472 – Corrosion

Course Grade Distribution:

Major Exam 1 25 % (26th February @ 6.30pm)
Assignment 10 % (Collected in class only)
Term Project 25 %
Final Examination 40 % (Date and time as per university schedule)
Total 100%

Course Outline:
Unit I-Introduction to Corrosion Science and Engineering- (Revie and Uhlig-Chapter 1;
McCafferty-Chapter 1)

Definition of corrosion-Corrosion Science versus Corrosion Engineering-Economics of

Corrosion-Risk Management-Challenges for Today’s Corrosion Scientist-Brief Review of
Corrosion Basics.

Unit II- Electrochemical Thermodynamics of Corrosion-(Revie and Uhlig-Chapter 3 and

4)
Change of Gibbs Free Energy -The Nernst Equation-The Hydrogen Electrode and the Standard
Hydrogen Scale-Conventions of Sign and Calculation of EMF-Measurement of pH-The oxygen
electrode and differential Aeration Cell-The EMF and Galvanic Series-Reference Electrodes-
Basis of Pourbaix Diagrams-Pourbaix Diagram for Water-Pourbaix Diagram for Iron-Pourbaix
Diagram for Aluminium-Pourbaix Diagram for Magnesium-Limitations of Pourbaix Diagrams.

Unit III- Electrochemical Kinetics of Corrosion -(Revie and Uhlig-Chapter 5)

Polarization-The Polarized Cell-Measurement of Polarization-Causes of Polarization-Hydrogen

overpotential-Polarization Diagrams of Corroding metals-Influence of Polarization on
Corrosion Rate-Calculation of Corrosion Rates from Polarization Data-Anode-Cathode Area.

Unit IV-Forms of Corrosion-( Popov-Chapter 1)

Pitting Corrosion-Stress Corrosion Cracking-Hydrogen Embrittlement.
Unit V-Concept of Passivity-(Revie and Uhlig-Chapter 6)

Definition-Characteristics of Passivation and Flade Potential, Behaviour of Passivatiors-

Passivation of Iron by HNO3-Anodic Protection and Transpassivity-Theories of Passivity-
Critical Pitting Potential-Critical Pitting Temperature-Passivity of Alloys.

Unit VI-Corrosion Measurements-(McCafferty-Chapter 7; Popov Chapter 5)

Weight Loss –Weight Gain-Chemical Analysis of Solution-Gasometric Techniques-Thickness
measurements-Electrochemical techniques: Polarization Resistance; Tafel Extrapolation;
Potentiodynamic Polarization; Electrochemical Impedance Spectroscopy.

Unit VI- Corrosion Inhibition-(McCafferty-Chapter 12)

Types of Inhibitors-Chemisorption of Inhibitors-Effect of Inhibitor Concentration-Competitive
versus Co-operative Adsorption-Effect of Electrical double layer-The potential of Zero Charge-
Adsorption Isotherms-Effect of oxide Films-Chromates and Chromates Replacement-New
Approaches to Corrosion Inhibition-Langmuir-Blodgett Films and Self-Assembled
Monolayers-Vapor Phase Inhibitors-

Unit VII-Cathodic protection-(Popov Chapter 13)

Brief History-Principles of Cathodic Protection-Cathodic Protection with Coatings-Magnitude

of Current Required for Cathodic Protection-Anode Materials and Backfill-Overprotection-
Criterial for Protection-Economics of Cathodic Protection-Anodic Protection.

Term Project

The term project will involve assessment and mitigation of the major corrosion problems in the
Oil and Gas (including Refinery), Desalination, Chemical and Petrochemical industry. Each
student is required to have a term project in a topic of his choice, which can be experimental or
analytical in one of the areas covered by the course. He is to submit a report on the project,
which will be graded to contribute 25% of the final grade. Students are requested to choose a
topic related to contemporary corrosion problems facing the above listed industries and suitable
mitigation approaches. The assignment includes a short proposal, 1 progress reports, final
report and a presentation according to the following:

(a) 1-page proposal on Feb 19th (2 pts),

(b) 3-page progress report on April 9th; (3pts)
(c) A15-min presentation April 23rd -25th; (10 pts),
(d) Final report April 30th (10 pts)