Forty years of successful corrosion protection for power plant cooling water systems
Forty years of successful corrosion protection for power plant cooling water systems
Keywords BAC Corrosion Control, Corrosion prevention, Powerplants,Coolants, Water, Pipelines
It is now nearly 40 years since BAC Corrosion Control, in conjunction with the then named British Atomic Agency developed an anode design that reportedly could be used successfully in power plant cooling systems without risk of anode breakage and resultant condenser and line damage. Internal cathodic protection of cooling water lines and condensers is essential due to the quality of water that is usually employed. It is untreated and at the high temperatures that exist in these systems it can be extremely corrosive.
The flow can be up to 5m/s and as the water passes around the anodes that protrude into the flow, eddy currents are created. These eddies can cause an anode to oscillate and eventually break off completely. A broken anode in the flow can do a great deal of damage, particularly to condensers.
BAC eddy shedding anodes (Plate 3), said to be widely used thoughout the world as a standard replacement for solid rod anodes, remove the breakage risk by preventing eddy current build-up. Instead of being solid, the BAC anodes are tubular with a series of eddy shedding holes along their length and have a built-in vibration damping mechanism. They claim much lower resistance to flow and are rated for flow rates up to 5 m/s and pressures up to 5 bar. Eliminating broken anodes reduces downtime, the cost of replacements and substantially lowers on-going service and maintenance costs.
Plate 3BAC eddy shedding anodes
Details available from: BAC Corrosion Control Ltd. Tel: +44 (0) 1952 290321;E-mail: tony.g.uk@bacgroup.com
