ChE 4751

Corrosion Science and Engineering

Md. Jahirul Islam

Lecturer
Department of Chemical Engineering
Dhaka University of Engineering and Technology, Gazipur
Soil corrosion

© Md. Jahirul Islam , Lecturer

 Why Soil Corrosion is important??

Corrosion of metallic materials specially of steel buried underground is of

tremendous importance because of:
 Thousands of miles of underground steel pipes of different diameters (some
as big as 12’ feet in dia.)
 These underground pipelines carry natural gas, crude oil, finished oil
products, and water

© Md. Jahirul Islam , Lecturer

 Characteristics of Soil Corrosion

• Small changes in compositions and structure of steel do not gave major effect on rate
of corrosion. Thus wrought iron, mild steel, and low alloy steel behave in about the
same way in any particular soil.

• Cold working and heat treatment do not affect rates of corrosion in soil.

• Dissimilar metals undergo galvanic corrosion when they are in contact underground.

• Gray cast iron in soils go through graphitic corrosion as it does in water

© Md. Jahirul Islam , Lecturer

 Factors affecting Soil Corrosion
 Aeration (depends on porosity of soil)
 Electrical conductivity
 Dissolved salts (some salts may act as depolarizers, whereas
others may act as inhibitors)
 Moisture or water content
 pH (acidity or alkalinity)

© Md. Jahirul Islam , Lecturer

 Aeration (porosity)

• Aeration of soil depends on porosity and particle size of the soil.

• A porous soil retains moisture longer and at the same time provide sufficient aeration.
Both these factors increase the initial rate of corrosion.
• But the rate decrease rapidly with time because of formation of an oxide film on the
metal surface.
• It is generally believed that the corrosion product film formed in aerated soil is more
protective than that formed in poorly aerated soil.
• In poorly aerated soil, corrosion usually takes the form of pitting which is more harmful
than uniform attack over the whole surface.
• In poorly aerated soils bacterial activity may thrive if the soil contains sulfates. Activities
of sulfate reducing bacteria usually results in very high rates of corrosion of steel

© Md. Jahirul Islam , Lecturer

 Electrical Conductivity

Corrosivity of a given soil depends to a large extent on

conductivity. Conductivity depends largely on moisture and
dissolved salts present in the soil. Corrosion in soil
increases if the electric conductivity increases

© Md. Jahirul Islam , Lecturer

 Dissolved Salts

Salts like Na2SO4, NaCl etc. if present in a given soil are

harmful. Soil with large amounts of dissolved salts will have
higher electrical conductivity. Variation in salt concentration
in soil might lead to salt concentration cell

© Md. Jahirul Islam , Lecturer

 Moisture

In desert conditions, corrosion of buried metal surface is

almost nil. A poorly conduction soil(due to low moisture
and/or low dissolved salt content) is usually less corrosive
then a soil with high conductivity

© Md. Jahirul Islam , Lecturer

 pH

Decayed plant parts such as leaves and bark(humus) and animal

parts in soil may be the reason for organic acids in soil. Soils with
such organic acids are corrosive to Cu, Pb, steel, and Zn. In such
cases total acidity is more important than pH in determining
corrosivity of a particular soil.

© Md. Jahirul Islam , Lecturer

 Pitting in Soils

Soil corrosion of metallic materials in many instances takes the form of pitting type of attack.
In a particular set of conditions, pit depth usually decreases with time. This is expressed by
the equation:
𝐏 = 𝐤𝐭𝐧
Where, P is the depth of the deepest pit in time t; k and n are constants, n varies from 0.1 for
well aerated soil to 0.9 for poorly aerated soil.
It is interesting to note that there are usually more pits on the bottom side of a pipe than on
the top side. This happens because the bottom of the pipe is in constant contact with the soil
due to settling of the pipe on its own weight. On top of the pipe, an air gap develops between
the body of the pipe and soil due to settling of the pipe. Hence, if the pipe is of short length
and is not protected by cathodic protection, it helps to rotate the pipe 180o in the trench. This
gives a longer life to the pipe.
© Md. Jahirul Islam , Lecturer
 Prevention of soil corrosion

• Use of organic/ inorganic coatings such as coal tar, coatings based on polyethylene,
epoxy resin, etc. Portland cement coatings are effective but are brittle and hence
easily damaged
• Metallic coatings such as Zinc coating
• Alteration of soil, e.g. limestone chips may be added around the metal structure if
the soil is rich in organic acid.
• Cathodic protection
application of cathodic protection either by sacrificial anodes or by applied current is
fool proof system of protecting underground metal structures. CP is used universally
to protect thousands of miles of underground pipelines carrying gas, oil and oil
products, and water.

© Md. Jahirul Islam , Lecturer