MARKET CLOSE UP
Corrosion Under COVID-19 in Southern Africa Greg Combrink President of CorrISA, Corrosion Institute of Southern Africa, and CEO of Corrosion Hub (Pty) Ltd.
gregc@corrosion-lab.co.za
The Market Close Up’s interviews continue with a clear analysis of the corrosion industry’s situation in South Africa, in the light of the health crisis and the current economic issues.
C
orrosion is a very diverse issue. In general, it crosses over
corrosion or at a higher even more sophisticated level where for
traditional disciplinary boundaries and influences all aspects of life
instance exotic materials and sophisticated surface treatments are
and industry from the construction and local infrastructure industries,
the order of the day to provide the required level of mitigation and
health sciences, biotechnology, agriculture through the electronics
prevention.
and road and sea transport and power generation industries to the
Typically, in the Southern African context preventative measures
more sophisticated industries such as manufacturing, aerospace,
can generally be classified to be one of or even combinations of the
petrochemical and nuclear industries in the scientific and engineering
following measures:
aspects thereof. This diversity is also of course, present in Southern
• Application of organic coatings
Africa. However, the sophistication and elegance of counter measures
• Electrochemical in nature (cathodic and anodic protection)
are often provided at either a very basic level where for instance
• Selection of materials (use of more corrosion resistant materials for
purely a coat of paint will have a vast effect on the retardation of
specific environments)
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