| Pakistan has been incurring a loss of about $ 3 billion per annum on account of infrastructure and industrial corrosion and it needs a comprehensive “national strategy” for corrosion control. This was stated by the engineers and experts at a conference on “Corrosion, Prevention and Management”, organized by National Forum for Environment & Health (NFEH) at a local hotel here on Thursday.They said that the losses of corrosion can be minimized by creating awareness among the society about its damages and by using new technologies for corrosion prevention. Sindh Minister Syed Sardar Ahmed said that corrosion was a neglected subjected in the government quarters and there was no plan for its prevention. He said industrial sector faces huge losses due to corrosion as the replacement of costly machinery is an expensive business. Similarly, billions of rupees of public money are lost due to corrosion in infrastructure facilities, like water supply and sewerage pipelines, bridges, etc.He appreciated the efforts of the organizers for highlighting an issue which was never taken up before and advised the participants of the conference to suggest ways and means to control corrosion. The minister said that the government was working hard to control administrative and governance corrosion which was eating away the vitals. Sardar Ahmed said that the experts had already pointed out about the shortage of electricity 20 years ago but the people at the helm of affairs did not pay attention to this vital issue.Consultant Corrosion Engineering Dr Arjumand Akhtar said that 22 percent of corrosion losses can be controlled by utilizing new technology and creating awareness. Use of fiber glass and coating are some of the recommended methods to prevent corrosion, he added. Quoting an assessment report, he said that roughly 3 percent of the GNP is lost every year in Pakistan due to corrosion in industrial, infrastructure and household sectors. He said that the extent of losses has been calculated on the basis of Gross National Product (GNP) of 2004-2005 which is about $ 105.28 billion. He said that corrosion management starts at the designing stage and lot of damages can be prevented. Dr Akhtar said that only two gas utility companies were strictly adhering to the corrosion control methods because they are managing high pressure gas pipelines.President Institute of Engineers Pakistan Engr. Zafar Zubairi underlined the need for chalking out the national strategy to control corrosion.He said that the corrosion control was necessary as it enhances the cost of the project. He underlined the need for the adoption of anti-corrosion measures at the time of designing of infrastructure projects.M. Naeem Qureshi President NFEH, Kalim Siddiqui of Bosicor Pakistan, Dr Shahid Alam, Midhat Ali Jaffery Mohammd Yousuf Memon, Ahmed Moin Uddin, Liaquat Raza, Anees Ansari, Rare Admiral (R) Abid Mujtaba and Prof. Khurshid Mehmood also talked about corrosion management, precautions and controls.The conference underlined the need to adopt necessary steps to protect steel and metals from corrosion through adequate concrete cover and admixture, coating and water proofing. The experts suggests to use traditional coating methods like i) Asphalt, ii) coal tar epoxy, iii) ÊÊcoal tar enamel and iv) ÊÊ tape wrap. The use of fusion bonded epoxyÊis common in United States and Europe, besides three layers PE/PP and polyurethane as corrosion protection methods |
Conference on “Corrosion, Prevention and Management
