A MICRO ELECTROCHEMICAL PROBE WITH SEGMENTED ELECTRODES FOR CORROSION/SCALING SENSING

SEVERAL HUNDRED MILLION DOLLARS A YEAR COULD BE SAVED NATION WIDE BY APPLYING EXISTING CORROSION/SCALING CONTROL MEASURES TO POTABLE WATER DISTRIBUTION SYSTEMS. FOR EFFECTIVE CONTROL, IT IS ESSENTIAL TO USE THE FEEDBACK OF A DISTRIBUTED CORROSION/SCALING SENSOR NETWORK. PRI PROPOSES THE DEVELOPMENT OF A CORROSION/SCALING SENSOR BASED ON MULTIPLE ELECTROCHEMICAL AC AND DC TECHNIQUES. THE TECHNIQUES USED WILL BE BASED ON A MICROELECTROCHEMICAL PROBE WITH SEGMENTED ELECTRODE (MEPSE). WE WILL DETERMINE POLARIZATION RESISTANCE, TAFEL SLOPES, CAPACITANCE, CORROSION POTENTIAL, GALVANIC CURRENTS, AND TRUE STEADY STATE POLARIZATION CURVES FOR MICROAREAS IN THE INSIDE OF A TUBE. SCALING AND CORROSION ASSESSMENT DETERMINATION IS EXPECTED TO BE OBTAINED FROM STATISTICAL EVALUATION OF LOCAL CORROSION RATES, LOCAL CAPACITANCE AND OHMIC RESISTANCE. THE MEASUREMENT SYSTEM WILL HAVE A HIGH DEGREE OF FLEXIBILITY BOTH IN THE TECHNIQUES USED, IN THE DATA ANALYSIS, AND IN THE DISPLAY STORAGE AND COMMUNICATION OPTIONS. A DEVICE WITH CUSTOMIZED INSTRUMENTATION COULD BE DEVELOPED FOR COMMERCIAL APPLICATIONS SERVING INDUSTRY AT LARGE.