2. 6/29/2015 Industry fights back against corrosion - FT.com
http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/946edec2-105a-11e5-ad5a-00144feabdc0.html#axzz3eVPthWah 2/3
We define ages by
materials, from the
stone age on. They
define the borders of
what is achievable in
modern society
Phil Withers, ICAM director
The US university is pioneering self-healing materials. Tiny polymer capsules buried within the
metal release a fluid, repairing the damage before anyone knows it is there.
But it could not have done so without Manchester’s imaging capability. It has the NanoSIMS
50L spectrometer, one of only two such instruments in the world. It can look at single atoms
and even use a plasma beam to slice nano-sized pieces of material.
After two years the company and the academics are ready to show off their work. They include
self-healing materials, new alloys and a better understanding of what causes the biggest enemy
of the oil industry: corrosion.
“We’re pleased with progress. It’s fundamental science with a practical application,” says Bob
Sorrell, BP’s vice-president for public partnerships.
BP’s board committed the money in 2012, two years after the Deepwater Horizon disaster killed
11 and has cost BP at least $43bn in clean-up and compensation costs. It was caused by a well
failure.
As companies go ever deeper in the search for oil and gas there is greater strain placed on
materials. And yet even some basic problems remain unanswered.
Corrosion costs UK industry billions of dollars a year, says Phil
Withers, the director of ICAM. “We still do not understand
corrosion. It is a tremendous problem. Once corroded, parts are very
difficult to replace.”
Prof Withers’s team can use the microscopes to study atoms to see
why corrosion begins in a particular place and then aim to prevent it.
Drillers already use waterproof coatings to stop water rusting parts.
But the membranes they rely on create hydrogen molecules. They
form together into a gas, which can penetrate the metal, known as hydrogen embrittlement.
Steven Ooi, a Cambridge university lecturer, has created a new steel alloy that could reduce the
problem.
By tracking the rate of hydrogen dispersal in the metal, ICAM can prove that the new alloy can
“trap” hydrogen. It should lasts 10 times longer.
The university has had a 100kg billet of the alloy produced and believes it could scale up to a
tonne or more.
