Research 01/02/13

More research was conducted regarding the five different environments of oxygenated water, deoxygenated water, salt water, warm water and cold water. It was found that oxygenated water forms an acidic solution when added to a metal, and allows the oxidation process to occur more easily than that of moist air (Larson, 2007). Oxygenated waters forms when hydrogen reacts with oxygen and can be expressed through the following equation: 2H₂ + O₂  → 2H₂O. It was also found that deoxygenated water forms a protective layer coating on the surface of the liquid, which protects the oxidation/reduction reactions from occurring and protects metal from corrosion. Salt was found to be a main accelerant in the corrosion processes due to the NaCl compound breaking up into Na+ and Cl- ions, with charges that are free to move. Warm water has a similar effect, where the particles are more active at this temperature and therefore react more easily. This also means that cold water will not react as easily, and therefore will not corrode as much as warm water does. 

Also, research showed that when Iron corrodes, rust is formed. And when Aluminium corrodes, galvanic, pitting or crevice corrosion will occur. These processes are both quite similar in that they follow the oxidation/reduction processes, however, these types of corrosion all affect the metals differently, which will be investigated through this EEI.