Some of the world’s top metallurgists, engineers, and technical minds in the corrosion industry met in Sunriver, Oregon the second week of September for the 2007 Corrosion Solutions® Conference (CSC07™).

The conference, hosted by ATI Wah Chang, brought attendees from Brazil to China together to discuss critical issues pertaining to the growing Chemical Processing and Oil and Gas global markets. As one of the largest specialty metals conferences in the world, the 2007 Corrosion Solutions Conference featured seven technical sessions with over 40 technical presentations, numerous networking opportunities, and an exhibit hall featuring companies that support the specialty metals industry.


CSC07™ Kicks Off With Talks by Top Industry Professionals
The first day of sessions opened with keynote speaker Pat Hassey, Allegheny Technologies Incorporated (ATI) Chairman, President, and CEO. Hassey spoke directly to the industry’s engineers, metallurgists, and technical professionals about their roles in building a better quality of life for the world. Pat’s discussion, both motivating and inspirational, told the audience that it was up to the technical minds inside the industry to find new, innovative ways to increase the quality of life for billions of people throughout the world. He continued by emphasizing that the conference is a forum for ATI and other industry-leaders to listen and learn from the conference’s attendees about what is needed and how it can be achieved. He further explained that the conference is not only a place to discuss success, but to communicate and define problems, and ultimately provide solutions.

Following Hassey’s remarks, John Hill, Metals Analyst from Citigroup Global Markets, discussed the state of the industry in what he explained as a commodity super-cycle. Hill’s presentation highlighted that commodities continue to show strong up-trends and do not appear to be showing signs of slowing. After Hill, Joe Chang, Global Editor for ICIS Chemical Business, solidified Hill’s statements by discussing the outlook for the CPI market for 2008. Chang stated that he “feels the future of the industry looks good and that it is very unlikely there will be downturn (anytime soon).”

Monday’s sessions also focused on China’s place in the Chemical Processing Industry (CPI). Eugene Liening, Senior Materials Engineering Associate of Dow Chemical, shared his research on the CPI market in China and its rapid growth. A session on Oil and Gas concluded Monday’s presentations. A broad range of topics, including material and equipment challenges in the oil and gas industry, were discussed followed by a panel session on oil and gas moderated by a group metallurgical and industry professionals.


Technical Presentations
Tuesday’s session opened with Keynote Speaker Mike James of Dupont. James discussed how DuPont has been able to save millions of dollars on heat exchanger fabrication costs through the development of a specialized procedure for fabricating high quality welded stainless and nickel alloy tubing. According to James, the tubing is equal to or better in performance than much more expensive seamless tubing that was commonly specified for chemical process heat exchangers. Following the keynote presentation, Dave Goin, Applications Engineer for ATI Wah Chang presented a case study on new product development. Goin walked attendees through the development of OmegaBond™ tubing technology, citing some of the challenges involved in bringing a new product to market. The rest of Tuesday’s presentations centered on cladding processes and equipment with discussions on new brazing technologies, explosion cladding, and titanium clad ignition studies.

Juergen Korkhaus of BASF (pictured below), started Wednesday off with a Keynote discussion on Materials for Future Chemical Plant Concepts. Korkhaus gave attendees a glimpse into the possible future of materials used in the Chemical Process Industry. Future industry developments and the resulting requirements for materials were based on both current and historical data trends. Presentations regarding corrosion challenges and materials performance issues comprised the majority of Wednesday’s topics with speakers from Rohm & Haas, Akzo Nobel, and High Performance Tubes. The day closed with two presentations on cast components and a Casting panel session.

The closing day of the conference featured several presentations on materials research and development. The day opened with a discussion regarding recent changes in tensile strength specifications for titanium alloys. The changes were derived from a project sponsored by the Materials Technology Institute in which data from a large number of commercial test reports for unalloyed titanium were analyzed and submitted to the ASTM B10 and ASME Boiler Code Committees for review. Other topics of discussion included alternative welding processes for the fabrication of titanium structures, corrosion behavior of low temperature carburized stainless and nickel-based alloys in seawater, and the corrosion properties of tantalum sheet exposed to air at elevated temperatures.

A proceedings document with the papers presented at the conference is set to be released to attendees in early 2009. Proceedings will also be available to professionals that didn’t have the opportunity to attend the conference for a fee. For more information on conference proceedings please contact Sheryl Renzoni at 888-926-4211 x6280 or via e-mail at sheryl.renzoni@wahchang.com.


CSC07™ At A Glance
The conference was held in scenic Sunriver, OR, approximately 180 miles southeast of Portland, OR. The scenery provided a beautiful backdrop for the mind-stimulating technical presentations. In addition to the technical sessions, attendees were able to network while enjoying golf, horseback riding, fishing, whitewater rafting, and shopping in their free time. The conference also provided attendees multiple opportunities to network during meals and entertainment.

An exhibit hall was filled with fabricators, suppliers, and technology companies supporting the Chemical Processing Industry. Premier exhibitors Uniti Titanium, Titan Metal Fabricators, Tico Titanium, and Metal Technologies, Inc helped host the first ever President’s Dinner, a special function organized to bring the end users and Premier Exhibitors together.

Overall, individuals from 18 countries attended the event, showing the conference’s truly global reach. Representatives from industry-leading companies including Dupont, Dow Chemical, Petrobras, ExxonMobil, BASF, Monsanto, Alfa Laval, Rohm & Haas, and Snamprogetti were among the attendees.

Many of ATI’s global employees from ATI Europe, ATI Europe Distribution, and ATI Asia were also in attendance. Mike Robbins, head of ATI Asia, stated that “The Corrosion Solutions Conference attracts a crowd of people with real material selection and fabrication issues that need to be solved, and lets them mix with people who can offer serious practical help right on the spot. Our customers get good ideas from listening to the presentations and find value in meeting the presenters and their colleagues which helps them to apply their accumulated technical wisdom to their own projects and issues.” Robbins further went on to say that “The size of the conference is also a plus, not so small as to run out of momentum after the first day, but also not so big that we don’t have an opportunity to speak with participants you would like to meet. The biggest difference between CSC and some of the other annual industry conferences I attend is that CSC doesn’t attract visitors that have the potential of wasting your time.”

Dominique Berast, Vice President of Sales and Marketing, Europe agreed with Robbins and went on to say “The Corrosion Solutions Conference is one of the best venues I have attended and has the unique advantage of offering attendees the most valuable technical people in the industry in one place; allowing our representatives to mix with customers, sales, and marketing professionals.” Berast also commented that “The number of nations attending and the content of discussions related to the complete process of corrosion at CSC supports the ATI model of targeting businesses worldwide, and provides an excellent training field for existing and new employees.”

Lynn Davis, President of conference host ATI Wah Chang told Outlook “Overall, I thought the Conference was very good. I attended two days of technical presentations. The papers were comprehensive in scope and accompanied with many pictures and examples of Zr, Ti, Nb, Ta, stainless, and nickel-based alloys being applied to difficult corrosion problems.” Davis also said “I thought the ATI Wah Chang marketing staff was very creative in organizing after-hours events for the attendees and their guests. The location of the event in Central Oregon, coupled with the mild weather, was nothing short of amazing. If you haven’t had a chance to attend one of the technical conferences, please consider joining us in 2009. We have already begun planning the event.”

The 2007 Corrosion Solutions Conference illustrated ATI’s commitment to innovation in specialty metals for the fast growing CPI and Oil and Gas global markets. The conference is a biennial event, with the next meeting scheduled for September 2009.

*This article was co-authored for Outlook and ATI MetalsMedia

It is no secret that ATI Wah Chang believes the Corrosion Solutions Conference is a great forum for professionals in the Chemical Processing Industry. This year our suspicions were confirmed with wonderful feedback from participants. See what some of our attendees had to say about their conference experiences...

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Gene Liening
Senior Materials Engineering Associate
Dow Chemical, Midland, MI

“The CSC07 was very valuable to me. I especially appreciate having a stage from which to explain how alloys suppliers and chemical companies can help each other grow in developing parts of the world, particularly in China. I am also coming away from the conference with ideas about how to mitigate high alloy costs.”

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Sonny Mukherjee
Material Consultant
Mustang Engineering, Houston, TX

“This year, I attended Corrosion Solutions Conference for the first time. It was a unique experience and one of a kind conference on reactive metals. The papers presented in the conference were excellent and very informative. I had the privilege and honor to interact with the best minds of this industry. It was also very beneficial for me to meet with the major material suppliers and fabricators.”

__________________________________________________

Clive Breeden
Engineering Technical Manager - Materials
BP Chemical, Hull, United Kingdom

This conference continues to be a perfect setting and environment to meet old friends and make new contacts whilst offering the opportunity to catch up on the latest technical developments and experiences by some of the leaders in their respective fields.

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Joe Chang
Global Editor
ICIS Chemical Business, New York, NY

“The CSC07 was a great event to meet folks in the chemical processing, oil and gas, and specialty metals industries. I’m happy to have had the privilege of speaking at the event. It was interesting to see the parallels between cycles in the chemical industry and that of metals and mining. Both appear to participating in an unprecedented up cycle.”

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Mike James
Global Leader in Equipment Welding, Fabrication and Repair
Dupont, Houston, TX

“I believe the CSC is one of the best meetings to get up to date information on refractory and nickel alloy trends and developments. The presentations at CSC provide a great mix of end user experiences and new technology developments. Combine that with the opportunity for countless face to face meetings with industry experts to discuss problems and share experiences, both good and bad, and it’s easy to see why the CSC is so well attended.”

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Neil Henry
Principal Materials Consultant
ABB Engineering Services, Cheshire, United Kingdom

“The conference was an excellent opportunity to network with “like-minded” specialists in all aspects of the subject of corrosion. The focus on reactive metals gives the conference a unique content. The diversity of sessions was able to give me an important insight into all aspects of the market, production, manufacture as well as the user end that is my usual focus. It is not simply the presentations in this event, it is the atmosphere which encourages contact and technical exchange and forges long term relationships. I have now attended 5 of these events and I regard the contacts I have as friends, and we frequently network across the oceans.”

__________________________________________________

Torfinn Havn
Senior Specialist Engineer
Aker Kvaerner, Stavanger, Norway

“The CSC enables transfer of valuable experience with advanced materials among qualified people from oil & gas, chemical, nuclear industries. Through presentations and discussions, participants are given the opportunity to see beneficial solutions in their own industry, get new ideas and catch a glance of the future with respect to sourcing and alloy development. In Sunriver, we get all this in a relaxed and friendly atmosphere.”

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JÜergen Korkhaus
Head of Materials Engineering
BASF, Ludwigshafen, Germany

“The conference covered a wide range of topics, including economical issues, new applications, interesting experiences, and basic investigative results. The conference also gave me insight into the strategic views of my clients and vendors. It was an exceptional opportunity to network, and I personally got to know many interesting people and experts from different companies. Finally, the location in Sunriver offered a wonderfully creative environment where intensive networking could happen easily in a relaxed atmosphere.”

__________________________________________________

Gian Pietro Testa
International Business Development Manager
Snamprogetti S.p.A., San Donato Milanese, Italy

“Snamprogetti is a technology-oriented global contractor, so it is important that we attend conferences where new ideas regarding technology, fabrication, and materials of construction are discussed.  The Corrosion Solution Conference is a good place for Snamprogetti to gain a global perspective on such issues in a relaxed setting where it is possible to build relationships and exchange ideas.”

ATI Wah Chang receives questions related to the welding of reactive and refractory metals on a regular basis. Many of these questions focus specifically on the welding of Zirconium. Even though zirconium alloys are readily welded, there are several precautions that need to be considered since the weld zone is easily compromised by foreign materials and atmospheric contamination. While practical inert gas fusion welding techniques, such as gas tungsten arc (GTAW) and plasma arc (PAW) welding, are used when working with zirconium, welds often fail because the proper knowledge and training is not employed.

ATI Wah Chang Welding Engineer, Steve Sparkowich, gives Outlook some insight on the most commonly asked questions...


QUESTION:

What can I do to keep welds from becoming contaminated?


ANSWER:

There are multiple factors that can contribute to the contamination of a zirconium weld, but there are two specific areas that can greatly reduce the probability of contamination: cleanliness and shielding.

#1 – Proper Cleaning

To be successful at welding zirconium, the fundamental characteristics of zirconium must be understood and respected throughout an organization. If a common understanding of zirconium among welders, supervisors, management, inspection, and quality assurance personal is maintained, the first step to achieving successful zirconium welds has already been made.

While there are numerous issues that can affect the quality of a zirconium weld, lack of cleanliness, leading to weld contamination is usually the major factor in a failed weld. Care should be taken during the storage and handling of zirconium materials. Keep zirconium materials away from other alloys. For example, instead of metal storage racks use wood blocks or plastic coated storage racks. Plastic films to protect surfaces of plate and sheet during forming and handling should also be considered.

A clean shop environment and a weld work area with filtered air that is heated in the winter and air conditioned in the summer is optimum, however, heating and ventilation equipment must be designed to avoid drafts that can interfere with weld shielding. Equipment such as air compressors and waterjet cutting equipment generate airborne contaminants that can interfere with the welding process.

Immediately prior to welding, the weld area on both sides of the joint surface and 1 inch to 2 inch from the weld preparation should be wire brushed and then wiped with lint free cloth dampened with acetone, MEK, or similar non-chlorinated solvent. Parts cleaned should be kept clean and a final wipe with acetone and a lint-free cloth is recommended just prior to welding.

Wherever possible, clean, tack, and weld a joint right away. If welding must be delayed, even later in the same work shift, cover the joint with paper or plastic sheet to minimize dust or dirt accumulation. If extended times are necessary prior to welding, even if the welding shop area is clean, sealing the edges of the paper or plastic to the zirconium with masking tape is good practice. Avoid putting the tape directly on the surfaces to be welded. Covering with readily available self sealing plastic food storage bags is useful for keeping small parts clean.

Adhering to proper cleaning habits when welding zirconium will go a long ways toward preventing contaminated weld zones.

#2 – Proper Shielding

Zirconium requires inert gas protection using argon, helium, or mixtures of the two on the molten weld metal to prevent atmospheric oxygen, nitrogen, and moisture from contaminating the weld. Zirconium also requires inert gas protection of the solidified weld and adjacent metal surfaces heated during welding to prevent surface oxidation and related degradation.

Primary (torch) shielding must protect the weld metal until it solidifies. Air contact with the molten weld pool will contaminate the entire volume of molten metal and result in embrittlement of the weld bead. This is why large ceramic gas cups and gas lenses are among the most important elements of successful zirconium welding.

Secondary (trailing) shielding blankets the solidified weld and adjacent hot metal with inert gas until the surface temperature reaches 600°F to 800°F (300ºC to 427ºC).

Back-up shielding protects the molten root of the weld on the first pass but is also necessary to blanket the solidified weld during subsequent passes until the root surface temperature stays below 600°F to 800°F, usually after about 1/4 inch (6 mm) of metal is deposited. Back-up shielding should also be used on the back surface of sheet or plate that is under approximately 1/4 inch thick to avoid oxidation.

Welding grade argon (99.995% purity) is usually chosen for torch (primary), trailing (secondary), and back-up shielding, as well as for purging. Argon provides excellent arc stability. Argon is less expensive than helium, and its higher density makes it less sensitive to drafts.

There are several issues surrounding shielding that must be considered in depth to ensure a proper zirconium weld. For example, flowmeters should be used to monitor gas and purge flows to help reduce gas consumption. Design of the shield itself is paramount in avoiding velocities at the gas inlet that can entrain air. It is also important to provide a gentle, uniform blanket of gas at the shield surface.

Beyond cleaning and shielding, there are multiple other factors that must be closely monitored to ensure a proper zirconium weld including: weld design, weld preparation, quality of filler metal, purging considerations, technique, and quality testing.

For more information on these topics and other details about the welding of zirconium or to inquire about ATI Wah Chang’s welding seminars, please contact Steve Sparkowich at 541-926-4211 x6078 or e-mail him at steve.sparkowich@wahchang.com.

The UK Regulatory Authority Health and Safety Executive has produced a Research Report1 on Aging Equipment. The document is broad based and covers many aspects of managing equipment that is used to contain pressurized or hazardous fluids. A document with many similar elements was released in June 2007 for Petroleum Refineries by OSHA in the USA (Directive 03-00-004).

In the UK, in common with most of Europe and the USA, there is a very large population of chemical process plants, 20 to 40 years old. There are a variety of methods employed by operators to manage equipment of this age, but in many cases the “actual condition” of the assets may not be considered. Many equipment reviews start from a position of “built to International Standard, maintained and inspected in accordance with Regulations or Industry Practices”. This is a simple statement that potentially overlooks many changes that may occur during the life of an operating plant.

To assist operators in understanding actual equipment condition, the factors that influence deterioration are described in the guide with the intention to show it is not simply how old equipment is, but what is known about its condition. This forms the basis of the examples quoted later in the paper.

There are many factors, apart from the age of the industrial facilities that have made the UK Regulator feel there is a need to help raise awareness and promote thought on the subject, at this time. Many organizations have “down sized” and removed or reduced their corporate technical centers. Consequently there are fewer, less experienced people responsible for equipment. Changes of Company ownership are more common than in previous years, reducing the awareness of management to the vulnerabilities of their plants. There are many Company purchases where it appears the balance sheet is scrutinized, but not the assets involved.


Awareness of Aging, Not Simply Age
Of most importance to those involved in Materials Engineering, is development of technology over years of manufacturing equipment. This has resulted in improvement of many aspects of the design and building of equipment.

Learning from experience of equipment in service has resulted in design changes, to improve service performance. These may be recorded in Company or National Standards. Whilst the equipment is constructed to a code, there can be significant variations from 20 years ago to current standards.

Material of construction frequently changes due to the alteration of the manufacturing processes. The properties of materials can change due to the level of non-metallic inclusions, minor element control or refinement of grain structure.

Fabrication methods are refined over years of practice and the development of new techniques. The use of high deposition rate or narrow band welds can significantly influence the properties of welds.

The method or quality of installation may impose stress on equipment or result in uneven liquid distribution. There may also be location influences, where ground movement may occur, vibrations could be induced from associated items or external contamination is introduced.

Most importantly, with equipment that has been in operation for many years, there will almost certainly be operational changes over time. These can originate in many ways. The on-going improvement of production, leading to higher flow rate or temperature change is very common. In addition, feedstock or process operations may change.

It is common for the integrity of static equipment to be monitored by appropriate inspections. Depending on local regulatory requirements, this may include pressure equipment only. Even where an inspection scheme exists, there are frequently limitations to the inspection or data recorded that reduce the value of this history.

Preventive maintenance and functional testing are also part of integrity management, but they are outside the scope of this paper.

In carrying out equipment failure analysis or reviews, where the age of equipment was not considered a significant factor, a number of interesting points were raised.


Examples from Equipment Reviews
There was a catastrophic failure of a Ti “U” tube gas cooler (seawater cooled) in the North Sea in 2006. Details of the failure are drawn from the Safety Alert issued at the time (HSE Safety Alert 1/2006). The unit had been in service from approximately 1982 with a good service history.

The unit failed with 100% fracture of tubes in the tubeplate, separation of the clad Ti from the steel substrate, and complete separation of the shell.
The attachment of tubes to the tubeplate and cladding are shown in Figure 1. The tubeplate was of 200mm steel (for high pressure gas) plus 13mm of Grade 2 Ti.

Although the arrangement may be unusual, the availability of materials was almost certainly an influence in the selection, due to time constraint, to complete the project. The design was compliant with code requirements for the use of clad materials. In this case, the design resulted in the bond of the cladding being under tension from the pressure in the tubes.

There were a number of other factors that may be considered to be a factor of age or the time at which the work was completed.

To attach the tubes to the rear of the tubeplate cladding, back face bore welding was used. At the time, this was a relatively novel welding process, with a requirement for specialist techniques. It was agreed in the specification for purchase of the exchanger to have testing of welds during fabrication.
There were operational changes over time in service, from duty extracting native gas from the seabed to service on storage of “product” natural gas from the national grid for peak time supply.

The location of the deterioration made the detection of corrosion very difficult by NDT or visual techniques.

There was a review of the vessel as part of process hazard evaluation, which showed the exchanger was maintained and inspected in accordance with industry “best practice”. It was not expected that liquid could form at the bi-metal interface and result in the corrosion observed.

The learning from the event was to review all elements of the design, materials of construction, fabrication and operation conditions when considering the potential for deterioration.

In principle, an RBI review should be appropriate for the identification of deterioration and inspection for this type of equipment. However, the age of the equipment introduced factors that were important to integrity. By adopting a consequence driven approach, it is possible to develop integrity management for critical items. This results in a knowledge-based analysis of managing integrity that is more than prescribing an inspection regime.
The second example was a much less dramatic problem, where deterioration was occurring in Titanium process equipment by crevice corrosion in reaction vessels.

The equipment had a 20-plus-years service history, without serious corrosion reported to Grade 2 Ti. The design and fabrication of the new vessels appeared to have been well controlled, and there was no serious metal loss from the shell of the equipment in the service life.

A comprehensive history was available for the all vessels on the duty, with a primary focus on inspection and measurement of wall thickness. In line with API practice, the results of the tests were used to calculate maximum corrosion rate and remaining thickness to establish future inspection interval and retirement dates.

In analyzing the results of the thickness tests over the last 10 years, there was no significant loss from any of 8 vessel shells in their service life. Inspection frequency and life had been consistently recorded at 2 to 3 years and 4 to 6 years respectively for most of the vessels. The preliminary conclusion was that the vessels had not deteriorated. However further investigation showed this to be mistaken.

As part of the review, the operating conditions of the reactors were analyzed. In the past two to three years, there had been process development to meet the demand for certain product grades. This had resulted in higher levels of acidity (from hydrochloric acid, HCl) in the reaction vessels at temperatures approaching 100ºC (212ºF). The acid was reported to be up to 8% strength.

No change of inspection practice had been made, but the maintenance team had noted an increase in repair of attachment welds and corrosion at crevices in the past year to 18 months. There had been a known and slow propagating problem of crevice corrosion for several years. A typical example from a shielding plate is shown in Figure 2.

To address the problem of crevice corrosion, certain replacement parts had been installed in Pd stabilized Ti (Grade 7). Unfortunately, there was a lack of clarity of materials used in equipment, due to progressive changes through life and interchange of parts across the reaction system.

As the review progressed, it was clear the increased acidity in the process stream was having an influence on maintenance of other equipment in the system. The plant team was accepting higher levels of maintenance as a consequence of the age of the equipment. In practice, it was clear from the pattern of repair work required that the change of operations was also a precursor to the increase of maintenance/repairs.

As a result of the review, a specification of repair methods was prepared with appropriate grades of Ti. The inspection of the shell was changed to be visual only, including examination of crevice locations. The interval of examination was also aligned to other maintenance activities, to prevent the need for additional shutdown. The use of inhibitor was also to be investigated, to minimize corrosion. Particular focus was for bolted connections where failure could result in serious production loss.

A final example is from a Tantalum HCl reboiler, where there had previously been an early life failure after two years of service.

An evaluation of the condition and expected life of the exchanger was made after 6 years in service. This revealed the exchanger was in excellent condition, with evidence of small defect that may influence the life of the unit.
It had been noted that small amounts of damage had been caused to tubes at fabrication during roller expansion into the tubeplates (see Figure 3).

Although the defect was small, and in isolation, would be unlikely to cause failure, it was considered important. The combination of the corrosion and potential for hydriding of the tube wall was considered a point for defect initiation under high load conditions. Examination of the operating records indicates at shutdown and start-up conditions there could be rapid temperature change and consequent stresses.

A revised operating schedule, with modification of the control valves, was recommended to help reduce this risk.


Conclusions
The age of a piece of equipment is not an accurate guide to its integrity. In order to identify priorities where age of equipment may result in vulnerability to failure, an approach based on consequence of failure, for safety and business risk, is recommended.

The approach of using knowledge of the design, construction and potential for deterioration is similar to that of RBI. However, the objective is to identify the areas where actions can be taken to manage integrity or mitigate the consequence of failure.


References
1. Health and Safety Executive, UK. Research Report 509.

In recognition of his numerous contributions to the field of corrosion, ATI Wah Chang honored Bart Frechem with a Distinguished Service Award at the Corrosion Solutions Conference held in September at Sunriver Resort in Oregon. The award came as a surprise for Bart, but not for those who have worked with him over the years and experienced first hand his dedication to solving corrosion related problems.

Bart has been a long time advocate for corrosion science and electrochemical testing techniques and is also noted for pioneering the use of zirconium 702 in acrylic monomers production.

Bart currently leads the Rohm and Haas Company Corporate Corrosion Group and has been with the company for 42 years. Graduating from the University of Pennsylvania in 1965 with a BA in Chemistry, he started with Rohm and Haas in its Philadelphia plant working with process research and development. His primary objective at the time was supporting catalyst development and analytical techniques.

Frechem’s switch to corrosion chemistry started in 1975 with a position in the Rohm and Haas Research Corrosion Group. His immediate contribution was the development of electrochemical capabilities for corrosion testing and research. Included is this effort was the creation of a methodology for evaluating localized corrosion such as pitting, galvanic corrosion, and stress-corrosion cracking.

Frechem is also well known for his development of a 1425ºF heat treatment that improved the corrosion resistance of zirconium welds. This weld corrosion was a surprise in the early use of zirconium in acrylic monomers production, but with his detailed analysis of the corrosion process he was able to define the problem and develop a solution.

Bart is well recognized inside of Rohm and Haas, obtaining the level of Distinguished Scientist and has earned the companies Otto Haas Award for his scientific excellence in electrochemistry, failure analysis, metallurgy, and corrosion science. Outside of Rohm and Haas he is well recognized for his work with Materials Technology Institute (MTI) as a designated representative, and for his work with NACE.

In his spare time Bart is devoted to his grandchildren and finds time for classical music, target shooting, and photography.

LYNN DAVIS
President

PARRY WALBORN
Vice President — Commercial

GARY KNEISEL
Director of Sales

KIRK RICHARDSON
Managing Editor

STEPHANIE O'CONNOR
Editor

Copyright ©2007 Wah Chang. All rights reserved. Reproduction of this newsletter by any means, in whole or in part, without written permission is prohibited by law. Outlook is published quarterly by Wah Chang. The newsletter contains information on reactive and refractory metals, including hafnium, niobium, titanium, vanadium and zirconium, as well as chemicals. The properties listed herein are average values based on laboratory and field test data from a number of sources. They are indicative only of the results obtained in such tests and should not be considered as guaranteed maximums or minimums. The starburst logo and Wah Chang are registered trademarks of ATI Properties, Inc.

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