Investigation on electrochemical performance of Al anode material for marine growth prevention system

Aluminum anode of marine growth prevention system for ship is installed in seachest or sea water strainer. The Al anode is connected to a control panel that feeds a current to the anode. The dissolved ions produced by the anode are transferred in sea water, spreads through the sea water pipe system and creates a protective film in the pipelines. Thereby, corrosion in pipeline system significantly is reduced. In application on condition as a steel ship, the big accident can be caused by the corrosion. Accordingly, in this research, we evaluated influence of applied current and flow velocity on electrochemical characteristics of Al anode for marine growth prevention system (MGPS). Based on the results of the erosion-cavitation experiments, cavitation rate increased greatly until 120 min. of the experimental time and decreased a little at the point of 180 min. where pit grew and merging occurred but showed a tendency of steadily increasing consumption rates. Based on the results of the Tafel analysis, compared to static states, corrosion current densities show a rapidly increasing tendency when flow occurred.