Corrosion Monitoring - Remote, Wireless Data Transfer

"Whether we like it or not ... tradition is obsolete"
John Talbot Dyment (former Chief Engineer, Air Canada)

Remote corrosion monitoring and control systems have been available for many years.  Wireless corrosion monitoring sensors have already been developed for applications such as aircraft corrosion and degradation of steel reinforced concrete.

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Remote, wireless corrosion monitoring technology is also of increasing interest in geographically distributed systems such as pipeline networks. Remote interrogation and control of rectifier settings is already an established practice in the cathodic protection (CP) industry. Several important new developments are shaping data transfer techniques in corrosion monitoring.

• The use of widely available cellular communication networks for data transfer (North America is extensively covered by an analog cellular network).
  
  
• Alternative communication systems such as satellite or, in pipelines, use of the pipeline itself as data signal transmission path.
  
  
• Use of the Internet to manage and distribute corrosion monitoring data efficiently, after routing it into this global computing network.
  
  
• Availability of long-life, truly remote power sources (solar power, long-life batteries, thermo-electric generation, secondary CP current "drain") used in conjunction with low current micro-electronic devices.
  
  "I began to think that the next frontier is not more sophisticated communications equipment but a quantum leap in power supplies"
  
  Paul Theroux in Fresh-Air Fiend
  
  
• Miniaturization of hardware.
  

• Availability of the global positioning system (GPS) as a remote timing (and positioning) device.

References/Literature:

G. Lemire and K. Nicholas: "The Impact of Lightning on Rectifier Remote Monitoring Systems", Materials Performance, June 2001, pp.22-26.

O. Sneath: "Cathodic Protection Remote Monitoring", Paper #738, Corrosion 2000, Orlando (FL), NACE International, 2000.

H. Hafnor and B. Amundsen: "Computerized Cathodic Protection Operation and Monitoring Buried Pipelines", Paper #728, Corrosion 2000, Orlando (FL), NACE International, 2000.

T. Tokifuji, T. Uchida and M. Kohda: "New Generation of Real-Time Monitoring & Control System for Cooling Water Treatment", Paper #350, Corrosion 2000, Orlando (FL), NACE International, 2000.

Links:
International Foundation for Telemetering
www.telemetry.org