The most effective corrosion protection is the one where the corrosive agent never reaches the structure. Hydrogen sulphide, sulphur dioxide, nitrogen oxides, chlorine or ammonia in the air corrode contacts, joints and printed circuit boards long before any fault appears – and hydrogen sulphide in sewers destroys concrete. Impregnated activated carbon removes these substances from the air at the source.
ANSI/ISA-71.04 classifies the corrosivity of an environment into four severity levels according to the thickness of the corrosion products that grow on copper and silver coupons in 30 days:
Level
Copper
Silver
G1 – mild
< 300 Å / 30 days
< 200 Å / 30 days
G2 – moderate
< 1,000 Å / 30 days
G3 – harsh
< 2,000 Å / 30 days
GX – severe
> 2,000 Å / 30 days
Rooms with control systems, switchgear and servers should maintain level G1. The silver coupon is sensitive to chlorine and less dependent on humidity than copper – the silver corrosion rate has proved to be a more reliable indicator of hardware failures. The procedure is simple: the coupon is exposed in the room for 30 days, a laboratory determines the thickness and composition of the corrosion layer, and gas-phase filtration is designed according to the result.
Typical facilities: control rooms and substations, server rooms and data centres, wastewater treatment plants, paper and pulp mills, refineries and chemical plants, mines, electroplating plants, electronics spare-parts stores.
In sewers, pumping stations and treatment plants, hydrogen sulphide is generated from wastewater. Above the water line it is oxidised by bacteria in moist conditions to sulphuric acid, which breaks down the cement paste and exposes the reinforcement. Worldwide, the damage to sewer networks runs into billions. Filtering the extracted air through impregnated activated carbon removes hydrogen sulphide at the source – protecting not only the neighbourhood from odour, but the concrete and steel structure itself.
Standard activated carbon captures organic substances by physical adsorption. Acidic and reactive gases – hydrogen sulphide, sulphur dioxide, chlorine, ammonia – require impregnated activated carbon, coated with an impregnant that reacts with the substance to be removed (chemisorption). This significantly increases both the removal efficiency and the capacity before exhaustion.
We collect spent activated carbon, reactivate it and return it. We hold a permit for handling spent activated carbon as hazardous waste (waste code 15 02 02).
Please contact us and we will propose a solution.
Sale of carbon materials across the whole of Europe.
