Local Branch News – Aberdeen Branch

The branch March meeting featured a presentation by Dr Robert Lindsay, reader in Corrosion Science and Engineering at the University of Manchester via webinar, entitled “Corrosion inhibition: Separating Fact from Fiction”. Prior to taking up this position in 2005 he had appointments at a number of other research institutions including the Fritz-Haber-Institut (Berlin), Cambridge University, and the CSIC Institute of Materials in Barcelona.
For more than a century, surface-active organic species have been employed to control the corrosion of metals/alloys. Given suitable selection, such corrosion inhibitors have proven to be highly effective, preventing significant degradation of metallic substrates even in highly aggressive environments. Corrosion inhibitors (CI) can be applied in a variety of applications, and most obviously in instances where there are large amounts of aqueous solutions such in the Oil & Gas Industry.

Corrosion inhibitors are substances that, when added in small quantities to a normally corrosive environment e.g. water, gas or oil containing, reduce the corrosion rate (CR) by bringing about a change at or near the surface, without significantly changing the concentration of corrosive species. Layers of corrosion inhibitors can be applied to surfaces to markedly reduce corrosion rate. CI efficiency is measured by comparing corrosion rates with and without the CI coating (film), a CI is considered effective if reduction in CR of >95%, and adequate for corrosion allowance of the material, is achieved.
CI can be classed as ‘2D’ or 3D’ adsorbed thin films. The presentation focused on the performance of 2D’ adsorbed films only in low pH, acidic solutions. These frequently have low persistency in operational service (unless CI replenished regularly (at least daily to the system). In an acidic environment of HCl, the main reactions on a steel substrate are the anodic reaction with iron going to its oxide and the cathodic reaction where there is a reduction of protons to form hydrogen molecules. The inhibitor needs to interfere with one or more of these reactions to be defined as an anodic, cathodic or ‘mixed’ type of inhibitor. The inhibitor forming a 2D layer on the surface, shown pictorially as either a monolayer or a bilayer, which is dynamic, forming and re-forming all the time given that there is a balanced supply of inhibitor.

For practical selection in industry, CIs are usually chosen based on users experience by empirical means (historical trial and error), or suppliers’ knowledge and or compatibility with other chemicals already deployed for different production / process reasons. However, to move on, further research is still necessary to fully understand the mechanisms, study of the adsorption thermodynamics (how strongly they bond to surface), and characterise the interfaces, which can possibly lead to ‘green’ CIs being developed.

Understanding how CIs work in detail will allow Industry to move away from an empirical selection process. i.e. are they adsorbing on a clean surface or on top/ combined with salt and oxide, surface?

To this end, current research activity at Manchester focuses on mechanistic understanding of interface properties of relevance to corrosion. Combining electrochemical measurements with surface sensitive probes, such as X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy, to develop structure-performance relationships to enable more complete understanding of corrosion related phenomena.

Details of corrosion inhibitor-substrate interactions are being studied through detailed interface characterisation. X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS), results indicate that the chemistry of the inhibited interface is dependent on both inhibitor concentration and acid identity. The science is highly academic in nature and the physics and chemistry of the studies are best explained by watching the You Tube video presentation at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_-NtzNC7BZo.

Data gathered so far has demonstrated that surface adsorption is not always sufficient for achieving the target corrosion inhibition efficiency, i.e. a surface-active agent can be bound to the surface, but not lead to sufficient reduction in corrosion rate. Moreover, XPS data can be used to argue that the widely adopted approach of determining the standard Gibbs energy of adsorption of a corrosion inhibitor from measured inhibitor efficiencies is flawed, and so should not be relied upon as a tool for corrosion inhibitor selection.

The final message from the presentation focussed on green CIs. We need inhibitors to be more sustainable and environmentally friendly, but a review of the literature shows that little progress has been made and the use of plant-based alternatives (strawberries and other examples) or recycling of waste products (such as coffee grinds) has not received much attention, or is currently judged as having little prospect. However, it should be pointed out that many research programmes have been delayed by the recent pandemic.

In April the branch welcomed Dinko Cudic, Global Technical Authority for StopaqR in a hybrid live presentation/webinar from the Jury’s Inn, Aberdeen entitled “Reducing the environmental footprint for surface preparation and coating application for onshore and offshore assets.”
Dinko is also the technical director for visco-elastic coatings, and has held senior management positions in the Sealed for Life Group who have owned the StopaqR subsidary for more than 15 years.
The energy and utilities industries are now accepting the need to find alternative technologies to reduce waste, CO2 emissions and considerable carbon footprint (product mining/transportation) for steel preparation and coating application. Dinko’s company have developed a solution that addresses, waste reduction, the lowering of CO2, noise and thermal insulation properties, not previously considered in fabric maintenance and asset integrity solutions.

Based on a compound containing non-crystalline, low-viscosity, non-crosslinked (fully amorphous), pure homopolymer polyisobutene, the presentation discussed why such technology should be considered as a viable option, in an industry that requires straightforward maintenance solutions to difficult corrosion problems both onshore and offshore.

Protective coatings are commonly applied to steels, but the integrity of these coatings is dependent on the cleanliness, profile and surface finish of the substrate, and most coatings will simply not adhere or give required lifetime performance unless there is a high-quality preparation giving an angular blast profile and no surface contamination.

In order to achieve this, degreasing compounds are often deployed, followed by abrasive blasting to prepare the new steel substrates or indeed remove old coatings to reapply new ones. The ‘media’ used for blasting is often dependent on the substrate but is essentially hard, angular grit in the form of alumina, garnet, or steel. In the blasting process there are now increasingly demands that all media and the corrosion products, and paint debris, must be safely captured and either recycled or separated and disposed of in a controlled manner, at high cost. However, the environmental cost of mining and manufacturing the media are also quite considerable and with these materials shipped around the world gives rise to a significant carbon footprint. Subsequent clean-up of the paint application equipment means that there are also waste solvents to be recycled and disposed of. Hence the present drivers towards protective coatings that can be applied without extensive surface preparation, or spray application of liquid paints.

Dinko described the target coating engineering requirements, and explained that inspiration for the development of the StopaqR compound was actually taken from chewing gum (!!), an ubiquitous material which adheres to pavements in cities around the world, which is a menace to council authorities. Incredibly, it sticks with no preparation, it flows and adheres, and seals the surface for a lifetime!

In order to develop a product for corrosion protection purposes, polymers available in the open market were studied to look at properties critical to Industry needs, and the product selected that met all criteria was polyisobutene. This product was first developed by BASF in the 1930’s and has a track record in other fields.

In the beginning, solutions were pumped and spread on to surfaces, webbing was added, and a backing or seal coat tape applied for mechanical protection, these were eventually all put into a prepared tape product that could be cut and pressed or wrapped onto surfaces. A particular characteristic of the compound developed was that it remained pliable like a putty, between the surface and the backing tape, so constantly flexible and allowing it to be pressed into all joints and profiles.

The practical application of the product in various fields e.g., buried or submerged piping, splash zone, corrosion under insulation or condensing lines will depend on the international standards and individual company codes that already exist for corrosion protection. Work originally focussed on onshore, above ground pipeline wraps in high salinity, high chloride content environments, desert environments, and then moved on to flanges and awkward junctions where the product was cut to shape and pasted onto the substrate.

The final product can be applied to flat steel in a fashion resembling ‘wallpaper’ using ~ 300mm wide rolls. Essentially the surfaces that it is to be laid onto can first be tested for adhesion by taking a sample and assessing whether it sticks or not.
For materials such as stainless steel, surface preparation would remove natural protective films so patches are generally applied directly over natural oxide or flaws. There are also specific system wraps developed with multi-layers to include corrosion protection, insulation, water impermeability, and with outer aluminium cladding.

From the original Oil & Gas industry viewpoint, StopaqR has now moved into applications in civil engineering for bridges and structural supports to offshore renewables – wind turbine towers.

One area in which the product is extremely useful, is in patching damage and sealing small areas by simply cutting patches like plasters from larger sheets and and then applying them.

The presentation also considered the cost advantages of using StopaqR low carbon footprint products. For high quality paint systems 80% of the cost of application is in surface preparation and application but that cost can drop by about 20% for StopaqR type protective compound. The cost over time and the cost to the environment are also significantly reduced along with reduction in risks & HSE associated with the surface prep, materials handling and disposal.

A recent case study of actual cost for the application of North Sea approved epoxy paint systems versus StopaqR for a fabric maintenance area of 550m2 was described. The data from these trials in respect of materials, application and clean up was fully evaluated. Costs for StopaqR system were found to be ~ 2/3 that of a conventional paint system, excluding lifetime costs which can extend maintenance
intervals by 3x.

A comprehensive Q&A took place following both the above presentations which featured significant international attendance.
The branch intends to hold its AGM in September 2022, ahead of the start of the new technical sessions. Abstracts of potential papers for its technical programme are always welcome and these should be sent to:
Hooman Takhtechian, htakhtechian@oceaneering.com

 


Figure 1 – The Experimental Toolbox


Figure 2 – Summary of Testing Techniques Deployed.


Figure 3 – XPS Methodology.


Figure 4 – Green CI Definition.


Figure 5 – StopaqR compound product in-service applications.


Figure 6– StopaqR CUI prevention solution.

From the Editor

Well summer seems to have started, the weather has improved markedly, the local branches have stopped their technical meetings for the summer, and the North West Branch has organised a golf day again.

This issue features the usual columns, and there is a detailed report on the successful CED working day mentioned by the President. There is a very interesting “Fellow’s Corner” article on the corrosion risks associated with one method of reducing global warming, and both an “Ask the Expert” answer and a technical article look at metallic coatings for corrosion prevention. The other technical article describes a way of mitigating against corrosion of bolted connections.

As always, I welcome comments from readers about the topics covered in the magazine, and how it can be improved. Also remember to send in your technical questions for answer by our panel of experts.

Brian Goldie, Consulting Editor
Email: brianpce@aol.com

The President Writes

The President Writes

Welcome to this month’s magazine. We’ve had some wonderful sunshine and that has accompanied a surge in ICorr activity – so I’ll jump straight to it.

In the area of training, I’m extremely grateful to Freyssinet in Telford who continue to allow us to use their facilities for our cathodic protection courses which are in high demand. On the 1st April our conversion course in Portuguese for the Brazilian Corrosion Societies (ABRACO) level 1 coating inspectors to obtain ICorr Level 2 went live, and has already attracted several applicants. We are currently working with ABRACO to translate some of our Industrial Coating Applicator Scheme (ICATS) courses into Portuguese. We are also in discussions with providers for new Refinery Corrosion and Boiler Failure courses.

On the 27th April our annual Corrosion Engineering Division (CED) meeting was held at the National Railway Museum in York with 30 attendees. The meeting was very successful, and it was clear to me that all those present were very pleased to be able to meet in person and resume networking. I had the privilege of awarding our prestigious Paul McIntyre award to Chris Lynch – a very deserving winner from a pool of outstanding applicants.

Congratulations also to Gareth Hinds, our current Past President, who has been elected as the President of the World Corrosion Organisation. I know we’ll here more about this from Gareth in future issues, but he got off to an immediate start in organsing several events for World Corrosion Day on the 24th April. I was honored to be invited to give a virtual talk on the day to the Qatar corrosion community.

On the 16th May I visited the offices of our training delivery partner Corrodere in Farnham, Surrey. Corrodere do a fantastic job of providing our courses in an on-line format, and we discussed how we might expand our current training offer.

It’s been wonderful to see the re-start of activities of our North East Branch who have formed a leadership committee and have several events in planning. A thank you to all involved but especially to David Mobbs for driving this and Lee Wilson for taking on the role of chair.

Finally, and with some sadness I want to let you know that Denise Aldous, our Office Manager, will retire from ICorr at the end of June. Denise has been with ICorr since 2008 and has quietly and enthusiastically built an office that efficiently runs all of our administrative processes. Denise has made an outstanding contribution to ICorr that is impossible to document. Please join me in wishing Denise a long, healthy and fun retirement. At our last Council meeting we presented Denise with a plaque in appreciation of her outstanding service together with a more personal gift.
Have a wonderful summer. Until next time,

Bill Hedges, Institute of Corrosion President
Email: president@icorr.org

Institute of Corrosion President,
Bill Hedges.

Corrosion Engineering: A Working Day to Remember

Corrosion Engineering: A Working Day to Remember

5 Talks, 4 Working Group Sessions, 1 Prestigious Award, and a New Chair… Phew!

The corrosion engineering community was able to get together and do what they do best at the Institute of Corrosion’s Corrosion Engineering Division (CED) Working Day and Symposium in April. Discuss latest trends, share knowledge, and brainstorm ideas and concepts.

Held at the magnificent National Railway Museum in York, this was the latest in a series of CED Working Days that offer delegates exceptional networking opportunities – as well as a chance to visit the museum.

A welcome to introduce a sad farewell

Nick Smart, Chair of CED, welcomed the delegates to the event and introduced the speakers. This was the last Working Day and Symposium that Nick has introduced, as, after 15 years of excellent service as the CED Chair, he is stepping down.

Nick’s shoes will be challenging to fill, and the meeting showed their appreciation for his unstinting efforts and contribution throughout his years at the helm. A sad but celebratory farewell, and a warm welcome to the incoming Chair.

Introducing the Corrosion Engineering Division’s new Chair

Before the main proceedings began, Nick Smart introduced the delegates to the CED’s new Chair, Danny Burkle.

While Nick will be a hard act to follow, we’re incredibly lucky to have Danny taking over the steering of the CED.

A business development engineer, Danny’s prime responsibilities in his role at LBBC Baskerville include developing business strategy, business, and product range for innovative corrosion testing autoclaves to simulate realistic field environments within several high-pressure and high-temperature applications and industries.

His Doctorate in mechanical engineering, which he completed at the University of Leeds, focused on corrosion mechanisms involved in carbon dioxide corrosion, and protecting carbon steel assets against corrosion by forming natural corrosion products. The industry-focused research, sponsored by BP, was based on real-life engineering problems.

With both academic and industry experience, Danny’s role as CED Chair could help to forge closer relationships between research and industry.

Knowledge transfer in five presentations

Through the day, delegates were treated to five presentations around this year’s theme of ‘Knowledge Transfer and the Management of Infrastructure Corrosion and Management’:

1.     Hot dip galvanizing for specification and use in infrastructure projects

Presented by Desmond Makepeace of the Galvanisers Association, this talk began by describing the galvanising process, with reference to the appropriate standard EN ISO 1461.

Desmond discussed a variety of defects, which of these can be tolerated, and factors affecting the quality of galvanising, including coating thickness, renovation, adhesion, joining-bolting, duplex systems, maintenance, venting of hollow sections, and overlapping sections. He also discussed how the atmosphere affects corrosion of galvanised structures.

2.     Best management practices to transfer knowledge to ensure integrity assurance optimisation for oil and gas production

One of the highlights of the Working Day, this Young ICorr talk was given by Izabela Gajewska. Izabela was a member of the winning team of the 2020 cohort of the Institute of Corrosion’s Young Engineer Programme (YEP) (which you can read about in our article ‘A case study for all young corrosion engineers – it could be you’).

Izabela discussed the nature of knowledge transfer, and the best practices to ensure this happens effectively and successfully – such as planning, work experience, mentoring, specialised training, attending conferences, and so on. She spoke about creating an effective mentoring strategy, delivery of training, and the value of external training courses in areas including coating, passive fire protection, cathodic protection, and risk assessments.

3.     The consequences of climate change for corrosion

Chris Atkins of Mott MacDonald gave a thought leadership talk, discussing his ideas around climate change and corrosion. For example, can we rely on historically established corrosion rates as emissions of carbon dioxide are increasing? An ensuing reduction in the pH of natural waters could make them more aggressive to concrete, though it may reduce the corrosion rate of galvanised steel.

Temperature increases reduce the dissolved oxygen content in water, but Chris demonstrated how this temperature increase does not automatically produce an increase in corrosion rates – and a reduction in carbon dioxide levels from today’s elevated levels is likely to reduce atmospheric corrosivity.

The real issue? As far as Chris is aware, no one is taking a global view of the effect of climate change on corrosion, and this leads Chris to ask one last question: is this an opportunity for the Institute of Corrosion to take a leading role?

4.     Academia and industry: How can we advance corrosion science and engineering together?

“Academics want to publish. Companies want to make money.”

Old thinking.

Richard Barker of Leeds University addressed this in a thought-provoking talk that pointed to research around this topic, as well as opportunities and challenges that exist for academia and commercial operations to collaborate more effectively.

While academia has the time and resource to produce new knowledge which can be used commercially, barriers that exist include complexity of communication to share knowledge and the complexity of initiating and continuing collaboration.

Perhaps the biggest challenge is trust. Industry must trust scientists, but the complex and ever-changing nature of large bodies of academic research makes this challenging for many businesses. However, we are seeing that some companies are developing strategies to identify and reach out to research groups for collaborative projects – and creating collaborative success.

The conclusion? Yes, there are challenges that exist, but these can be overcome with the correct approach from both sides. If we can do this, then there are significant benefits to be accessed from greater collaboration between academia and industry.

5.     Radioactive waste disposal – where corrosion science meets corrosion engineering

In the first presentation of the afternoon session, Nick Smart gave his last CED Working Day and Symposium presentation as Chair.

Nick discussed the three levels of radioactive waste, and discussed the various research that supports the corrosion engineering and safety assessment aspects of radioactive waste management.

Describing corrosion issues that exist (such as atmospheric external corrosion of stainless steel waste containers during interim storage, the corrosion behaviour of waste uranium, aluminium and Magnox after encapsulation in cement, and the long-term corrosion of waste containers after disposal in deep geological repositories), he pointed out that the UK’s total nuclear waste inventory would fill Wembley Stadium.

Nick discussed the two main concepts for geological disposal of high-level waste, and the challenges that exist within diverse global geological environments – key environmental considerations when disposing of radioactive waste underground include oxygen concentration, chloride and sulphide concentrations, radiation levels and microbial activity.

Nick outlined the analytical techniques that are used to characterise the corrosion behaviour and corrosion rates of candidate waste container materials in long-term in situ experiments conducted under representative conditions, and how such studies can be supported by comparison with the corrosion of natural analogues, such as archaeological artefacts like the Anglo-Saxon Coppergate Helmet currently exhibited in the Yorkshire Museum.

The session concluded with a short talk by Stuart Bond from AMPP. He discussed the development of revised standards being conducted by AMPP (a merger between SSPC/NACE was rolled out in January 2021).

The Working Group Meetings

At the end of the talks, delegates had an opportunity to visit the National Railway Museum and attend Working Group Meetings. This year the following groups held sessions:

·       Nuclear Corrosion Group

Chaired by Nick Smart, the Nuclear Corrosion Group met to discuss a wide range of corrosion issues arising during the storage of nuclear waste. These included assessment of pitting corrosion in stainless steel during storage in atmospheric conditions, the effects of microbial corrosion on cast iron under damp conditions, and the potential for galvanic corrosion of stainless steel in contact with graphite in cementitious environments.

·       Coatings Group

There was plenty to discuss in this group, chaired by Phillip Watkinson. This included:

  • The impending review of the Coatings Technical Information Documents (CTID), created in 2016-17
  • The transfer of NACE Coatings Standards to AMPP
  • A suggestion by Douglas Mills that EIS measurements (ISO 12944) be reviewed
  • Phillip Watkinson tabled that two Paints and Varnishes Standards (BS EN ISO 4628-1:2003 and 4628-2:2003) should also be reviewed

It was agreed that an interim meeting would be held ahead of next year’s CED Working Day.

·       Cathodic Protection Group

Acting Chair Chris Lynch directed discussion around subsea CP systems and performance of flush fit aluminium deep sea anodes on complex piping systems. This included current distribution, current density, anode installation methodology and expected performance along with coatings, anode corrosion products, and calcareous deposits.

·       All Energy Group

Chaired by Steve Paterson, all those present contributed to a positive discussion about the purpose of the group, which has been formed by adding renewables to the previous Oil and Gas Group. Items covered included:

  • Production of documents
  • Mentoring of Young ICorr members
  • Information exchange via networking
  • Engagement with other organisations like AMPP

After an update with regards to standards, it was agreed that another meeting would be held in October.

The Paul McIntyre Award

As is customary at the CED Working Day and Symposium, before the group broke for lunch, the President presented the Paul McIntyre Award.

This year’s recipient of this prestigious award, the premier engineering award of the Institute of Corrosion, was Chris Lynch, who has worked tirelessly for many years and made many outstanding contributions to many aspects of corrosion engineering. You can read more about the award and Chris’s contributions in our article ‘Chris Lynch – Recipient of the Paul McIntyre Award 2022’.

Don’t miss out on the benefits of the CED

The CED is a driving force within the corrosion industry. It shares news, views, and learning to the Institute’s membership, via several channels, including:

Chairs of individual Working Groups liaise with counterparts at other corresponding Working Groups in international bodies. The Working Groups also provide a mechanism for members to collaborate effectively; for example, by jointly preparing documents that are of immediate and practical use to them in their field of activity. Such documents are downloadable within the Members Area of the ICorr website.

If you are not already a member of the Institute of Corrosion, check out our membership page to learn how to become a member and immediately begin to enjoy the many benefits of membership of the Institute of Corrosion.

A Case Study for All Young Corrosion Engineers – It Could Be You

A Case Study for All Young Corrosion Engineers – It Could Be You

Rewards, Awards, and Benefits of Participating in the Young Engineer Programme

Here’s a case study for all young corrosion engineers:

Do what you love to do. Receive grade A mentorship in the process. Develop your learning and understanding, and make new connections to deepen your professional network. Oh, and win a fully expensed trip to the 5-day AMPP Annual Conference & Expo in the USA.

Too good to be true? Not for the winning team of the 2020 cohort of the Institute of Corrosion’s Young Engineer Programme (YEP).

What is the Young Engineer Programme?

The YEP is specifically designed for engineers at the early stage of their careers in the corrosion industry. A series of lectures are presented, and the group is divided into teams and challenged to present solutions to a real-life case study.

The lectures cover subject areas including:

  • Basic corrosion
  • Welding
  • Materials
  • Coatings
  • Painting, fire protection and linings
  • Cathodic protection
  • Chemical treatments
  • Presentation skills

These lectures are designed to provide the theoretical and practical guidance needed to complete the case study. To aid progress toward their goal, each team is allocated a mentor with relevant and recognised industry expertise and experience.

There was a total of 30 young engineers enrolled in the 2020 cohort, all able to take advantage of this immensely valuable (and free) course. The YEP enrolled engineers divided into seven teams of between three and five for the case study.

The mentors were:

  • Andrew Sturgeon, Manager Materials Engineering at Genesis Energies, London
  • Chris Googan, Materials & Corrosion Engineer at Anticorrosion Engineering Limited
  • Charles Barraclough, Materials and Welding Engineer
  • Tasos Kostrivas PhD, ΕMBA, MSc, FIMMM
  • David Shaw, Lead QC coating/insulation/PFP Saipem
  • Rob Doggett, Materials and Welding Engineer at Fluor
  • John Davies, Consultant QA Engineer at Fulkrum Technical Services

Throughout the programme, guests included Bill Hedges, Gareth Hinds, Steve Paterson, Danny Burkle, and Caroline Allanach and the Steering Group; Trevor Osborne, Alan Denny, Anthony Setiadi, and David Mobbs.

The case study – the challenge

The case study that the teams were asked to review and present their findings centred around a titanium pipe corrosion failure at an onshore glycol desalination plant, in which was found several leaks. The desalination plant is used to periodically remove the salts from glycol which is used for hydrate and corrosion control in gas pipelines from three offshore fields.

Particularly challenging in this case study is that the high-grade titanium spool would be expected to resist any form of corrosion in this service. After being given the complete case study, the teams were tasked to include the following in their submissions:

  • Propose credible root causes for the observed defects and describe the potential failure scenarios
  • Explain how you would perform a corrosion risk assessment to determine if the plant is safe to operate
  • Identify what mitigation options could be applied to prolong the service life of this section of the desalination plant
  • Propose alternative materials of construction for replacement pipe spools and describe the basis for the selection
  • Describe what other factors should be considered in your assessment and propose possible longer-term solution(s)

The case study – presentation and judging

The teams presented their case studies to a panel of judges (Sadegh Parvizi, Chris Williams, and John Boran) on 12th November 2020. Each 20-minute presentation was followed by five minutes allotted for questioning. While no team was allowed into the presentation meeting before their time, they were permitted to remain in the meeting to hear subsequent teams present.

The presentations began at 5pm after registration and introductions. Would presenting first be best? To get your presentation completed and then relax to watch others? Or maybe presenting last would be more advantageous – with extra time to do those last-minute preparations and practice? Or would each team feel the added pressure of more eyes on them as the evening progressed?

When the final presentation had been made, the presentation session was called to a close. During a 20-minute break in proceedings, the judges deliberated, cogitated, and digested the tremendous presentations they had been served in seven courses (sorry, we couldn’t resist pinching from Lloyd Grossman’s Master Chef catchphrase!).

To be honest, there was very little to choose between the case study tasks completed. Each team’s findings had terrific merit – a testament to their mentorship, the lectures they had attended, and the collaborative capability of each team.

The deciding factor came down to presentation: the clarity and precision with which the winning team delivered its findings and answered the challenging questions posed by the judges.

And the winning team… Drum roll…

Team number four, mentored by Tasos Kostrivas, and comprising:

  • Ryan Cobbs, civil engineer at Mott MacDonald
  • Izabela Gajewska, corrosion engineer at Intertek
  • Harry Wright, corrosion engineer at Element
  • Praveena Nkumaran, mechanical engineer at Worley Parsons
  • Lemoine Vincent, welding engineer at Saipem

The grand prize – the fully expensed trip to the AMPP Annual Conference & Expo 2022

Because of Covid, the delivery of the grand prize was unavoidably delayed by a year. Nevertheless, the winning team – unfortunately minus Praveena who was unable to attend – set out off for San Antonio in Texas for the AMPP Annual Conference & Expo in March 2022.

For many, this is a once-in-a-lifetime event. For only a select few young engineers, their attendance is fully expensed, courtesy of YEP sponsor BP.

This event is the largest of its kind in the corrosion world. There are more than 500 technical paper presentations, almost 500 exhibitors, opportunities to gain credits toward career development, and the chance to hear from some of the best corrosion professionals on the planet – as well as meet and connect with peers from around the globe.

And it wasn’t only these four young engineers who attended the conference and expo in San Antonio. Thanks to the sponsorship of Pipeline Induction Heat, James McGladdery (National Nuclear Laboratory) and Benjamin Lee (SGN) were selected to join the AMPP Leadership Course for their performance during the programme.

The YEP experience through the winners’ eyes

Winning at anything isn’t a cake walk. It takes hard work, effort, and determination. It takes learning and enthusiasm. How does YEP stand up to scrutiny from the inside?

Here’s what Izabela Gajewska said about her experience:

“Taking part in 2020 Young Engineer Programme was an amazing experience and a great opportunity for networking. All lectures were interesting and very educational. I got an opportunity to learn more about areas of the industry that I am not involved a lot in my daily job including welding, fire protection, and chemical treatments.

“It was a great experience to work on the case study with colleagues from different companies and industry branches. The ideas and a views of all team members were equally valuable, enhanced creativity, and were essential to solve the case study and prepare the final presentation. I enjoyed collaboration and brainstorming very much.

“During solving the case study I had to motivate myself to look through many valuable research papers and technical books recommended by my team colleagues and our mentor, Tasos Kostrivas. I had also a chance to see different approaches to solve corrosion issues thanks to the diversity of the industries in my team. Apart from this, I feel that I have improved my planning and communication skills, teamwork, did some good networking, and made new friends.

“I also was delighted to take part in the 2022 Annual Conference by NACE/AMPP (Association for Materials Protection and Performance) in San Antonio, Texas and celebrate winning the Young Engineer Programme 2020 along with my team colleagues Vincent Lemoine, Ryan Cobbs, Harry Wright.

“One of my team colleagues, Praveena Nanthakumaran was not able to attend. Fortunately, she will be able to attend the next NACE/AMPP conference in Denver next year, and celebrate her well-deserved trip to the conference in the United States.

“For me, the highlight of the NACE/AMPP conference was the EMERGing Leaders Bash which included recognition and celebration, acknowledging the accomplishments of 2022 scholarship and award recipients including my winning team and two other colleagues accepted for the NACE/AMPP Leadership Programme:  James McGladdery and Ben Lee. It was an honour to be a part of this amazing and inspiring evening.”

To the present – a case study to whet the appetite

The 2022 YEP cohort have another real-life case study to become immersed in. This year’s candidates will be presenting in Aberdeen (held here for the first time, and aptly so). They have been asked to provide a corrosion risk assessment of a platform in the North Sea for a client who is planning to acquire the asset. But:

  • Corrosion on the platform has been poorly managed during the past 15 years, resulting in several hydrocarbon leaks
  • The teams must determine and present solutions to extend the life of the platform for another 10 years, making the exercise a real challenge
  • They must also identify materials selection for a new pipeline

A challenging, real-life case study that will help all the young engineers involved improve their learning and prove their competence. A fantastic addition to any CV.

To the future – it’s time to start thinking about pre-enrolment for YEP

Demand for places in the Institute of Corrosion’s Young Engineer Programme is always high. Benefitting from lectures given by some of the industry’s brightest minds, offering the chance to network and collaborate with some of the industry’s upcoming stars, and the opportunity to be rewarded with an incredible, fully expensed experience, it is not difficult to understand why.

If you are at an early stage of your career in the corrosion industry and would welcome extra experience to set you up for the future, please contact the Institute of Corrosion. We would be pleased to answer your questions and provide details of how you may pre-enrol for our next YEP cohort.

Don’t forget, also, to follow the Institute of Corrosion on our LinkedIn page – where we post regularly to keep the corrosion community updated.

If you’re not already, why not become a member of the Institute of Corrosion? We have many different membership options, including free student membership.