Inhibition of Pitting Corrosion Failure of Copper Tubes in Wet Sprinkler Systems

Abstract

The inhibition of pitting corrosion failure of copper sprinkler tubes in wet sprinkler systems was studied. First, an apparatus and technology for removing air in the sprinkler tubes by vacuum pumping and then filling the tubes with water were developed. Using this apparatus and technology, three methods for inhibiting the pitting corrosion of the copper sprinkler tubes installed in several apartment complexes were tested. The first one was filling the sprinkler tubes with water bubbled by high-pressure nitrogen gas to reduce the dissolved oxygen concentration to lower than 2 ppm. In the second method, the dissolved oxygen concentration of water was further reduced to lower than 0.01 ppm by sodium sulfite. In the third method, the sprinkler tubes were filled with benzotriazole (BTAH) dissolved in water. The third method was the most effective, reducing the failure frequency of the sprinkler tubes due to pitting corrosion by more than 80%. X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy analyses confirmed that a Cu-BTA layer was well coated on the inside surface of the corrosion pit, protecting it from corrosion. A potentiodynamic polarization test showed that BTAH should be very effective in reducing the corrosion rate of copper in the acidic environment of the corrosion pit.