Abstract

MORA ARELLANO, Víctor  and  CEDENO, Jorge Luis. Evaluation of corrosion and incrustations in the hydraulic installations of a water treatment plant in Bolivar State, Venezuela. Bol Mal Salud Amb [online]. 2006, vol.46, n.1, pp.67-78. ISSN 1690-4648.

Corrosion in metallic materials (valves, pumps and pipes) and rigid elements (reinforced concrete) are seen as being susceptible to destructive attack and as an important factor during the life of the infrastructure. Given this situation, the object was to carry out an evaluation of corrosion and encrustation of the hydraulic facilities of the water treatment plant ‘Angostura’ in Bolivar City, Bolivar State. The investigation was of the descriptive and analytic type: 16 photographs of metal and rigid elements with corrosion and encrustation flaws were obtained for carrying out a qualitative description. Conditions in corrosions and incrustations were estimated considering the deterioration both in unitary segments of the hydraulic system and the probability of operation in metallic and rigid components. The conclusion was that the observed results were caused by atmospheric elements, water (hard, settled and leaked), and by chemical reactions (aluminum sulfate, hydrated lime, and chlorine gas) used in the process. The results of softening, chipping and disintegration in the reinforced concrete are the multifactorial results of the processes of carbonation, influences of the chloride ion, and biological oxidization. The maximum unitary deterioration in rigid specimens was 3.4% per year and in the metallic specimens 3.26%. The greater probability of operation for the rigid elements was placed at 109.24 years and for the metallic elements at 81.15 years.

Keywords : water treatment plant; corrosion; encrustation; probability of operation.