In this webinar, Dr Reza Javaherdashti will discuss the relationship between the efficient management of corrosion protection and clean-energy strategies. After a quick introduction to the basics of corrosion and cataloguing corrosion countermeasures, he will outline the dilemma of corrosion-management strategies, as well as the challenges of clean-energy susceptibility requirements (as related to environmental friendliness).

A significant focus of research and application related to clean energies is to reduce the negative effects of fossil fuels that are contaminating our planet (via their by- products) and rapidly consuming our natural resources. Any factor that can assist “clean-energy-based strategies” has to be seriously considered. One of the most interesting of these factors is corrosion management.

Embodied Energy (EmE) is defined as the energy consumed by all the processes associated with the production of a structure from the acquisition of natural resources to product delivery. The importance of EmE is its relationship with the release of one of the most important greenhouse gases, i.e., carbon dioxide (CO₂). Every Giga Joule (Gj) of energy produced results in the release of approximately 0.098 tonnes of CO₂ in the atmosphere; this relationship makes EmE a useful measure to assess the environmental impact of materials and processes.

When a metallic part is made, it accumulates energies from the energy consumed in mining it to the energy that is consumed to fabricate and shape it. Various shapes of metallic components and different ways by which they have been fabricated are all subject to corrosion. When a metal corrodes, it is doing a natural process, due to its thermodynamic background, and it also produces a lower EmE figure.

A lower EmE, in terms of being environmentally friendly, is certainly a positive point. However, if corrosion is so environmentally friendly, should we not let metals corrode? Should we not try to prevent any measures that would make an obstacle towards having a smaller EmE through corrosion?

Dr Reza Javaherdashti (CEO at MICCOR) holds a double degree in materials science and metallurgical engineering. He has more than 20 years of industrial and academic experience. Reza is an approved instructor of ASME and SPE, and has spent more than 5000 hours training industries around the globe on topics in corrosion and microbial corrosion. He has also devised systems of corrosion knowledge management and has taught it globally across industries. He has several published papers in internationally recognized journals, and has published books with publishers like Elsevier, Springer, CRC Press/Taylor & Francis, and Wiley. His LinkedIn profile can be found at: https://www.linkedin.com/in/dr-reza-javaherdashti-9a2a2415/.