The Corrosion of Centrifugal Pumps in Aqueous Environments

Centrifugal pumps constitute some of the hardest working and most critical plant components within industry. Although relatively elementary in principle of operation, the humble centrifugal pump produces an inherently challenging environment to the materials used to construct it. Knowledgeable design/materials selection can reward the engineer with both reliability and durability but unexpected pump failures can still occur. The cause of premature pump failure can often be traced to numerous underlying corrosion mechanisms. A failed pump contains a library of evidence, that when correctly interpreted, can be used to explore and understanding the failure. Once the cause of failure is understood, strategies aimed at correction can confidently be implemented. This paper aims to identify and explore of some of the common corrosion mechanisms responsible for reduced centrifugal pump service life.