2.      MINUTES OF LAST MEETING (23 January 2002)

 3. MATTERS ARISING FROM MINUTES

      None.

4.   ELECTION OF OFFICERS/COMMITTEE  

The Chairman expressed regret that Stuart Bond (TWI) had felt it necessary to stand down as Vice-Chairman due to pressure of work, and thanked him for his efforts on the committee.  

There were two nominations for officers:  Clive Tuck for Chairman and Bill Nimmo (NPL) for Vice-Chairman.  The meeting agreed to accept these.  

There were two nominations for the two vacant committee positions:  David Howarth (Lloyds Register) and Kevin Waterton (CAPCIS).  The meeting agreed to accept these.  

5.   CHAIRMAN’S REPORT

The past year has seen the Club move forward on the several initiatives begun by the outgoing committee of 2001 and the many new ideas brought by the new committee.  Progress has been at a rapid pace due to the enthusiasm and commitment of all the committee members. 

This year, it was decided to try some alternative venues for the meetings , with a view to improving their overall quality and obtaining better value for money.  This was achieved for the two London meetings, held here at Lloyds (to which our thanks go to Lloyds for their hospitality) and for the Birmingham meeting.  The latter was held at the  Airport Novotel, which was generally felt to be more accessible to air travellers than the Motor Cycle Museum had been.  In April, the now traditional meeting at the Aberdeen Hilton took place, giving the Club an opportunity to communicate first hand with those dealing with the many issues of corrosion in the Oil & Gas industry. 

Generally, attendance at the meetings has been generally higher by about 40% over last year and I also believe that information exchange has increased, with more lively Open Forum sessions than hitherto.  The major subjects of the presentations over the year have been materials  (carbon steel, stainless steel, titanium, and copper alloys), corrosion mechanisms (flow corrosion, fatigue, erosion/corrosion, microbiological corrosion) and issues concerning cathodic protection.  The wide range of subjects once again goes to fulfil the Club’s aim to advance the practical, technical and scientific understanding of marine corrosion.  An abstract of each presentation appears on the website following the meeting after the one in which the presentation was made.  At the start of the year a comprehensive set of abstracts covering almost all of the presentations made in the Club’s history was compiled on the website.  This proves to make interesting reading and it can be readily searched through on the site. 

It has been recognised that the marketplace in which the Club operates is undergoing severe change, with company mergers, technical department closures and the retirement of corrosion experts being an almost daily occurrence.  Thus, the Club has sought to emphasise its international appeal and also re-affirm the broad scope of the organisation, which covers corrosion issues in a wide range of environments.  The list includes seawater, fresh water, brines, brackish water and marine atmospheres. 

A mail shot, which included the new Club flyer was sent out to over 500 companies worldwide during the latter part of the year and companies showing interest in the Club through this are being followed up. 

The international nature of the organisation has been enhanced by the introduction of the  ‘overseas membership’ category of  association and, during the year, Metaltek International of Wisconsin, USA became the first company to take advantage of this new type of membership.  

The Club website, which is the major vehicle for international communication, has been the subject of constant development during the year, with the latest addition being an online question service for club members.  The success of the website in providing a clear and rapid information service can be measured in the number of recorded hits per week, which is now four times higher than it was a year ago. 

The other major method of information dissemination to Club members has been the Metadex search, carried out twice during the year.  This service continues to prove useful by allowing Club members to make a thorough assessment of corrosion publications on a worldwide scale. 

I am pleased to report that, during this past year, the finances of the Club have experienced a marked improvement over the previous year, mainly through cost reductions in Secretariat expenses and the hiring of meeting venues.   As the finances are now in a favourable condition, the Management Committee, at their meeting in November, decided not to change the membership subscription rate for this year, as you will probably already have noted. 

The programme for the coming year is already in an advanced state of planning, and we have a lot to look forward to.   As well as a stimulating programme of traditional meetings, the Club is officially supporting the Lloyd’s List organisation with their conference ‘Prevention and Management of Marine Corrosion’ to be held in London in April.  Also in April, we are holding our Aberdeen meeting in association with the recently re-formed ICorr Aberdeen Branch. 

I will conclude by expressing my thanks all the Committee Members for their dedication and support throughout the year.  This is exemplified by their desire to hold the Management meetings half an hour earlier than hitherto, starting at 9.30am.  I am certain that such a Committee will ensure that the coming year and beyond will be a success.  One other matter I must mention is that the Committee’s desire that the Club will be the definitive ‘forum for frank and relaxed discussion of corrosion issues’ has led to their proposal that this organisation should cease to be the Marine Corrosion Club and become the Marine Corrosion Forum.

6.      SECRETARIAT’S REPORT    

·        The membership stands at 29.  We have lost Brunton Shaw, Flowserve, John Brown Hydrocarbon (ex Kvaerner), Shell, Sheffield Testing, Stainless Steel Fasteners and the Titanium Information Group (mainly due to changes in direction of their operations), but have gained the first member under the new Overseas Membership category – MetalTek International from USA.  

·        The end of year accounts show that membership income for the year was £14,820, which, with bank account interest of £140, gave a total income of £14,960.  Total expenditure was £9,356.  This covered venue charges, web-site fees, Metadex searches and Secretariat costs and expenses. 

This produced a surplus of  £5,604, a noticeable improvement on the end of 2001, when the surplus was £542, and of 2000, when there was a deficit of over £6,000. 

The fund balance was  £22,265 at 31^st December 2002. 

Outstanding 2002 expenses amount to an estimated £1,675, giving an effective Fund Total of £20,589, though this will improve when the two outstanding, but promised, subscriptions for 2002 are paid.

·        The Management Committee have decided to keep the 2003 subscription fees at similar levels to 2001 and 2002.  The Full membership fees are therefore £588, but with a £50 discount for those companies that pay promptly.  Overseas membership is £345 with a £20 reduction for direct payment in sterling.  Invoices have already been sent out, so representatives are requested to pass these to accounts departments promptly.

·        One major Secretariat duty is the club web site.  Further improvements have been made, including the addition of the on-line forum.  The average number of visits to the site, for the last quarter of 2002, was 230 per day, as opposed to the last quarter of 2001, of around 60 per day.  A review of search terms by the committee means that the Club site now appears higher in Browser lists when relevant search terms are entered. Suggestions for more improvements to the site, or to search terms, are welcomed.       __________

A list of forthcoming presentations was displayed for members, and will be circulated with these minutes, as will the Metadex search (June up to 31^st December). 

7.      APPROVAL OF ACCOUNTS FOR 2002

  (See appendix).  The accounts were passed as correct.

8.      APPROVAL OF AMENDMENTS TO CONSTITUTION (4.3 & 4.7)

A revised constitution was proposed, allowing additional committee members to be elected if appropriate, and to give the Chairman the casting vote should elections for committee places result in a draw.  Proposed:  Chris Baxter, seconded:  Bill Nimmo.  Carried by the meeting.

9.      APPROVAL OF AMENDMENTS TO CONSTITUTION TO CHANGE THE NAME OF THE ASSOCIATION TO ‘MARINE CORROSION FORUM’.  

The Chairman outlined the reasons for the recommendation of this change by the committee.   Some company representatives were experiencing difficulty in justifying membership of a ‘club’ to their accounts departments.  ‘Forum’ was felt to describe the association’s activities better than any other word.  Traditionally the Club had reserved the word ‘Forum’ for its conferences, but ‘Workshop’ was felt to be equally appropriate for such events.  He explained that, in anticipation that they might be required, suitable domain names for the web site had been registered.  

Proposed:  Pat Hall, seconded:  Barry Torrance.  Carried by the meeting.  

10.      ANY OTHER BUSINESS

A brochure for the forthcoming Lloyds List Events conference ‘Prevention & Management of Marine Corrosion’, supported by the Club, was available.  Attention was drawn to the fact that a substantial reduction in fees was available to Club members who wished to attend the conference. 

The Committee wish to encourage the use of the Club meetings for Continuing Professional Development (CPD), and certificates were available from the Secretariat, for anyone who wished to have one.  The possibility of gaining recognition for these, from various professional bodies, was being investigated.

11.      DATES OF NEXT MEETINGS

8 April 2003, Hilton Treetops Hotel, Aberdeen (with Aberdeen ICorr)

2 July 2003, Novotel International, Birmingham

8 October 2003, Lloyds Register, London

21 January 2004, AGM, Lloyds Register, London

12.      TECHNICAL PRESENTATIONS  & OPEN FORUM

Abstracts to follow.

12.1         ‘Coatings to protect nickel aluminium bronze’, Robin Oakley (QinetiQ)

12.2    OPEN FORUM    

• Chris Baxter started off the Open Forum by asking:  ‘What grade stainless steel should we use when:  

                            Design temperature is 52^oC
                            Chloride concentration is 300 < 790 ppm (highish)
                            Water flowing and aerated
                            External environment desert – coastal  at 50 < RH < 100%
                            Flanges in system?’

Solutions offered:

As standard austenitic stainless steels at 880 ppm Cl^- can give SCC, which is the case here, a 22% Cr duplex stainless steel is suggested.

In the desert, metal temps over 70 ^oC can be encountered, thus protecting outside of pipe (spray Al) is recommended.  GRP may be a possibility.

Chris stated that 22% Cr duplex would be the best suggestion, but 316 was used.  The outcome is yet to be discovered. 

•   His second question was: 

‘Water always contains Cl^-, maybe 10 < 250 ppm potable, with 19kppm Cl^- for seawater.  It frequently contains Cl₂ too, maybe ~2ppm continous.  How can we predict the response of stainless steel grades to Cl^-, Cl₂, and to Cl^- + Cl₂?’. 

Solutions offered:

To predict: the ideal would be to use a neural network program or similar.  Mathematical modelling in the form of the Crevice Corrosion Engineering Guide can be down loaded from the NiDI web site; this predicts corrosion initiation under various conditions for Cl-   up to sea water levels.  Available data for Cl-  vs Cl2 is less good. Very limited data exists for raw waters up to 790ppm Cl-. It suggests that 304 stainless steel is satisfactory up to 2ppm  and 316 is satisfactory up to 5ppm free chlorine within normal chloride guidelines for those alloys. In practice, conditions where chlorine has been found to be a problem in treatment works are when very high levels of free chlorine is available for prolonged periods, where it is injected directly at stainless steel walls without adequate mixing taking place and in vapour spaces where chlorine gas is allowed to collect.

•  Alex Brigden, from STASCO (Shell Shipping Technology), had been invited to offer an ‘end user’ perspective to marine corrosion problems.  He made the following points, which were then discussed:

Corrosion information is very much dispersed.   With FPSOs knowledge is required on:             

                                        - lifetime protection in harsh environments
                                        - maintenance & corrosion

The suggestions for dealing with these issues are different depending on who you talk to:     

-         sacrificial anodes, no coating (increase steel thickness – e.g. Gulf of Mexico)

-         sacrificial anodes and coating  - structurally not so good as get stress raisers from the connection

-         coating only – are coatings good enough yet?

-         ICCP, no coating – can get interaction with rises to mooring system

-         ICCP, coating – similar problems to above and problems of control of system

Not had any body or group who can offer advice on all aspects – this is desperately needed. 

Maintenance – current hot topic is the wreck of the Prestige, which has led to a blanket ban by the EU on all single hull tankers.  The real issue here is not the hull, but the maintenance.  There is not enough understanding on the effects of repairs on coatings, which can lead to preferential corroding of welding, e.g. new plating welded in ballast tanks which is not then coated and leads to preferential corrosion.. 

Guidelines are required:  Switching to double-hull ships is not going to avoid corrosion, just increase the occurrence of a different form of corrosion.

An integrated approach for different aspects of the corrosion protection industry is needed to advise owners of the best solutions for new vessel types.  Clear guidelines should be developed internationally for Ship Owners. 

The opinion expressed by delegates in response to this was that there was a definite need for international guidelines to be developed.  Bodies such as NPL could have a co-ordinating role in this process, and information on fleet maintenance had been developed in such bodies as the MoD.  Clearly, the matter needs to be taken further. 

12.3          ‘Why Listen to Electrochemical Noise?  Erosion-corrosion related noise of HVOF aluminium bronze and nickel aluminium bronze coatings’ T.S. Tan, R.J.K. Wood and J.A. Wharton (Surface Engineering & Tribology Group, School of Engineering Sciences, University of Southampton) 

12.4    ‘Current Requirements and Developments for Marine Anti-fouling Paints’, Julian Hunter, Akzo Nobel International Paints) 

The meeting was closed at 4.00pm.