Erosion-Corrosion: An Up-To-Date Review of Origin, Impacts, Affecting Factors, Occurrence Areas, Experimental Measuring Devices, and Research Advances

Abstract: An up-to-date review of erosion-corrosion from various literary sources, covering its origin, impacts, affecting factors, occurrence areas, experimental measuring devices, and research advances, is reported. From the review, erosion-corrosion is a mechanically caused action by impinging fluid, usually liquid, slurry abrasion, suspended particles in fast-flowing fluids, bubbles, droplets, cavitations, etc., under complex synergistic effects of the natural electrochemical corrosion. It is affected by many factors that still need to be fully understood, so it is very challenging to accurately find its rates for controlling it. It is a very costly problem that is common in power plants, water, oil, gas, metallurgy, mining, and other industrial sectors that utilize mechanical equipment as well as structural components in hydraulic environments. Its effects are predominant in petroleum pipelines and heat exchange industries, as well as marine equipment or structures. Its rates, time scale, and capacity to degenerate material components to failure are much more alarming than most other corrosion types. This corrosion type is highly detestable, so much attention has been drawn to it, as attested by many research outputs on it to date, with a pressing need for ways, including emerging technologies, of minimizing its impacts. Forty-six of the research outputs have been recapitulated and presented, and they focus on developing and/or testing alternative material components, coatings, measuring devices, and application of artificial intelligence, for better erosion-corrosion resistances or rate measurements and control under various fluid conditions. The paper provides integrated, up-to-date information on erosion-corrosion for easy accessibility for the needful basic knowledge for research progress towards reducing its impacts.