Metal finishing Q&As since 1989

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O-ring Corrosion in Desalination Plant

Dear all,

I am a UK student studying fluid flow on ships and in the marine environment. We've been given an exercise: A desalination plant in the Far East has reported very localised corrosion around the rubber o-ring between the pump and the membrane manifold.

All the pipe has in it is warm seawater. No chlorination was employed.

I'm guessing that this is just normal crevice corrosion, but perhaps it would be something more... What localised corrosion would you normally expect in a seawater treatment plant? I'm just looking for a place to start so that I can start reading up.

Many thanks,

Christopher Lloyd
Student - Southampton, UK
2005

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Lots of information on the Internet.
The occurrence of crevice corrosion is fairly predictable knowing the chloride concentration, temperature and grade of stainless steel.

Ken Vlach [deceased]
- Goleta, California
Finishing.com honored Ken for his countless carefully researched responses. He passed away May 14, 2015.
Rest in peace, Ken. Thank you for your hard work which the finishing world, and we at finishing.com, continue to benefit from.
2005

We're finding a similar phenomenon, and suspect electrolytic action between stainless and the O ring's carbon filler, since other crevices aren't corroding

Colin Pearson
- Highgate, London, UK
November 6, 2009