- NACE International Gateway India Section (NIGIS) declares corrosion to be a national calamity with India facing losses in lakhs of crores at World CORCON 2009
- International Conference and Expo on Corrosion in Mumbai from September 29 to October 1, 2009
- Government, India Inc. to jointly seek solutions to protect people, assets and the environment from harmful effects of corrosion
- Over 700 Indian and international delegates attend sessions
- 15th Corrosion Awareness Awards Ceremony to be held
- A Book on Corrosion Case Studies unveiled
- Round Table on ‘Cost of Corrosion’ held to decide India’s approach
Corrosion is a national calamity and this is the ongoing theme at the World CORCON 2009, an international conference and expo on corrosion organized by NACE international Gateway India Section (NIGIS), which is being held in Mumbai from September 29, 2009 to October 1, 2009, at Hotel Hyatt Regency and ITC Hotel The Maratha, Mumbai. A book on Corrosion Case Studies was also unveiled. A Round Table conference on ‘Cost of Corrosion’ was held to decide the approach India should take to decide cost of corrosion. The 15th Corrosion Awareness Awards Ceremony will be held during World CONCOR 2009 on September 30. Over 700 delegates from the industry, academia, government departments and students are participating in the seminar.
The World CORCON 2009 conference is steered by an elaborate committee whose patrons include the who’s who in the industry with Dr. R. Chidambaram (Principal Scientific Advisor, GOI) as Patron in Chief and Mr. Rajan Bahri, Trustee, NIGIS, as Chairman. Mr. Mark Byerley, President, NACE International, and Mr. Tony Keane, Executive Director, NACE International, would be Guests of Honour.
Mr. Rajan Bahri, Chairman, World CORCON 2009, and Trustee, NIGIS, said, “Corrosion awareness is lacking in India. The huge amount of losses on account of corrosion; viz., over 3% of the GDP, can be controlled to some modest level by simply improving corrosion awareness. Simple engineering techniques and materials selections can be used to prevent and retard corrosion. The need of the hour is to have some legislation or statute so that corrosion audit becomes part of Indian industry infrastructure.”
World CORCON 2009 includes symposia on four key themes on the context of corrosion and its control. These include Oil & Gas Industry, RCC & Infrastructure, Materials & Composites, Transportation & Automobiles and a special session on Corrosion Concerns in Defence.
World CORCON 2009 will see some of the keynote speakers from the best in the industry from all over the world, namely Dr. Narasi Sridhar (USA), Dr. John Broomfield (UK), Dr. Antrens Andrej (Australia), Ms. Sangeeta Baksi (India), Dr. Vinod Agarwala (USA), Dr. David McDonald (USA) and Dr. Sytze Huizinga. The World CORCON 2009 is supported by both the public and the private sector industries such as ONGC, GAIL, IOCL, BPCL, EIL, 3M, Aquawrap, PSL, Corrtech, Vasu Chemicals and NABARD amongst others. There will be a plenary and parallel sessions that will cover the entire gamut of theme topics. There will be interactive workshops that will facilitate delegates to have direct interaction on the subject with the experts.
NACE International is the pioneer and leader in the field of corrosion engineering and is thus recognized around the world as the premier authority for corrosion control solutions. NACE International, established in 1943 with a modest beginning by a handful of corrosion engineers in the pipeline industry, today grown to over 22,000 members in 100 countries. Today, NACE International has the knowledge base and expertise from their dedicated members from every industry in the area of corrosion and its control. NIGIS would continue its efforts as a facilitator to bring in more knowledge and latest technologies on corrosion to India as well as increasing the awareness on corrosion. Since the most important aspect is to increase the corrosion awareness, NIGIS takes various initiatives by organizing technical symposia such as CORCON 2009, Technology Meets, Invited Lectures and Training Courses. In order to appreciate the work done by the corrosion fraternity, Corrosion Awareness Awards are distributed every year and individuals and organizations are acknowledged for their contributions.
NIGIS studies show that technological changes have provided many new ways to arrest corrosion, and the improved use of available corrosion management techniques. However, better corrosion management can be achieved using preventive strategies in non-technical and technical areas. These preventive strategies include: Increase awareness of large corrosion costs and potential savings; change the misconception that nothing can be done about corrosion; change policies, regulations, standards, and management practices to increase corrosion savings through sound corrosion management; improve education and training of staff in recognition of corrosion control; advance design practices for better corrosion management; advance life prediction and performance assessment methods; and advance corrosion technology through research, development, and implementation. Corrosion control can deploy technologies such as: Corrosion resistant alloys, Coatings and linings, Chemical treatments, Cathodic protection, Non-metallic materials, Testing and analyses.
For 25 years, the NACE Coating Inspector Program has set the standard for inspections in the protective coatings industry and is the world’s most recognized coating inspector certification program. CIP is the first international certification program designed to improve the overall quality of inspections performed, and it continues to provide the most complete training curriculum, producing top-notch inspectors for the industry. CIP introduces inspectors, applications, blasters, manufacturers, owner's representatives, specifiers, and technical salesmen to the basics of corrosion control, paint inspection, and project management in a way that has resulted in savings of billions of dollars in costly mistakes. NACE Coating Inspector Program (CIP) maritime emphasis course was created in response to the International Maritime Organization (IMO) Performance Standard for Protective Coatings (PSPC). It is the only coating inspector program specified by the IMO with an emphasis on coating inspection in marine vessels. NIGIS conducts this program in India and creates more than 200 Certified Inspectors every year.
The government can play a pivotal role by evolving a partnership with corrosion control awareness organisations and other international institutes to find out the precise cost of corrosion to the nation and also create a general awareness and understanding of the losses. Codes/standards are in place and there is a need for updating them in course of time and also keeping pace with international needs. Since the corrosion problem starts on the drawing board in design stage, the application of code/standards is required more systematically.
