Corrosion Awareness Day - Chemistry behind Corrosion

In the context of Corrosion Awareness Day activities, the Pakistan Chapter of AMPP, Association for Materials Protection and Performance in collaboration with the Institute of Metallurgy and Materials Engineering (IMME), Faculty of Chemical and Materials Engineering, University of Punjab, Lahore organized an event ‘Chemistry behind Corrosion’ with two sessions held on 19th & 21st April 2022. The Corrosion Awareness Day is conducted on the 24th of April every year by leading international organizations active in the field of Corrosion Engineering.

The event was held to develop interest and awareness about the basics of corrosion engineering based on the fundamentals of electrochemistry in the undergraduate students of B.Sc Metallurgy and Materials Engineering. For this purpose, Ameeq Farooq, instructor of the Applied Chemistry course, delivered an introductory presentation that highlighted the basis of electrochemistry like redox reactions, metal activity series, displacement reactions, etc. to the students. Briefly explained the electrochemical reactions which govern the corrosion mechanism and how the unique reactivity of every metal or alloy in a particular environment helps engineers and experts in material selection and determining the corrosion mitigation methods. Few case studies were also shared with the students to assist them to have a better understanding of corrosion-related practical problems being faced in the industry and their mitigation techniques.

Next, a lab demonstration was conducted based on the Corrosion Tool Kit (cKit) format. The different models were displayed highlighting corrosion mitigation systems, corrosion clock, and activity series of metals were shown to the students. The research students Muhammad Hairs Qureshi, Muhammad Usama Yameen, Sami-ur-Rehman, Umair Altaf, Khawar Hussain, and Muzaffar Ahmed Zaffar explained the basic working mechanism. This was followed by interactive session students raised inquisitive questions and researchers satisfied them by highlighting the basic principles of corrosion mechanism. This activity generated a healthy atmosphere and encouraged them to seek more knowledge of the subject.

Pakistan Chapter of AMPP was represented by Mr. Shafqat Ali who attended the event and appreciated the support provided by IMME and Ameeq Farooq for organizing this event for spreading awareness of corrosion engineering among the future engineers. The Director of IMME Prof. Dr. Mohsin Ali Raza was present during the session and appreciated the efforts of the instructor and research student in organizing this excellent event. He also thanked Mr. Shafqat Ali for making time to attend the event. At the end of the session, a quiz was conducted and the top scorer was awarded a certificate. The top scorer was Farrukh Mahboob, Shahzeen Iqbal, Hassan Ahmed and Minahil Zahra.

Muhammad Haris Qureshi introduced the sacrificial cathodic system, for the protection of ship hull

Sami-ur-Rehman advised the students about the impressive current cathodic protection system installed for buried pipelines

(Author/Resource Person: Ameeq Farooq, Secretary, AMPP Pakistan Chapter & Lecturer, Institute of Metallurgy and Materials Engineering, University of the Punjab, Lahore)