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The 3rd webinar in the Corrosion Testing in Extreme Environments series from LBBC Baskerville, will be held on 26 November 2020, at 13.00, and cover Corrosion Testing Innovation – The past, present and future.
Autoclave corrosion tests are a convenient way of laboratory simulation of many service environments by recreating the high temperatures and high pressures commonly occurring in industrial processes. However, there are numerous shortcomings, e.g. the conditions in the autoclave vary from real life because the fluid is not continually replenished, and the conditions are difficult to measure/monitor under the extreme conditions.
Discussions with the University of Leeds identified a specific opportunity to develop an innovative range of high pressure autoclave systems incorporating continuous, real-time monitoring of the corrosion process being investigated within the vessel. This will be of interest to a number of industries for lab investigations of corrosion of materials exposed to high temperatures and pressures.
In this webinar, Dr Danny Burkle and Dr Richard Barker will enlarge on their discussions from previous webinars and discuss the key challenges in harsh operating environments, current and future needs in tools, technologies and methods, and how new products can be developed to enable innovation and improve testing programmes.
The topics to be covered include, corrosion testing methods, limitations of current corrosion testing methods, and corrosion testing innovation: linking lab to field.
For more information contact, d.burkle@lbbcbaskerville.co.uk or k.oliver@lbbc.co.uk, and to register, go to https://us02web.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_fIT6kwfSR5-lJuAgbW-KVg
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According Hempel they have formed a new strategic partnership with Vestas, a leader in sustainable energy solutions, to cooperate around innovative solutions for surface protection of wind turbines. The joint Vestas and Hempel ambition is to reduce surface treatment costs and support sustainable coating solutions. At the same time, Hempel will continue to assist Vestas in remaining competitive throughout the entire process of becoming CO2 neutral by 2030.
Vestas and Hempel will take the first step in the partnership at the Vestas wind tower manufacturing plant in Colorado, USA, where they will closely collaborate on bringing down costs and exploring new digital solutions to improve quality control and the CO2 footprint of the production of wind turbines. Initial calculations demonstrate that changing the processes surrounding the surface treatment application will potentially generate a 60 per cent reduction in CO2 emissions equal to 1,100 tonnes CO2 per year.
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A new European Commission-supported project to advance the assessment of safety performance of critical concrete infrastructure in nuclear power plants began in September and runs until Aug. 31, 2024. According to Finland’s VTT Technical Research Centre, the project aims to clarify, enhance and unify methods of structural integrity assessment in support of long-term operation.
The project involves a consortium of 10 European companies and research partners, as well as one international partner, including CEA (France), CTU (Czech Republic), CVR (Czech Republic), EDF (France), ENERGORISK (Ukraine), ENGIE LAB (Belgium), IRSN (France), SCK•CEN (Belgium), ZAG (Slovenia) and the U.S.’s Oak Ridge National Laboratory.
The project named ACES, with a budget of $6 million, aims to have an impact on operations of Gen II and III nuclear power plants, as well as on the design of next-generation plants. It is intended to improve the understanding of ageing and deterioration of concrete, and will demonstrate and quantify inherent safety margins introduced by the conservative approaches used during design and defined by codes and standards employed throughout the life of the plant, according to VTT.
ACES hopes to give operators and regulators an improved understanding of the concrete, including:
- A critical review of aging management practice across EU NPP 
 focusing on deterioration and aging mechanisms of reinforced 
 concrete, linked to decision-based assessment criteria
Improved understanding of corrosion phenomena focusing 
 on embedded liners, predicting the occurrence of corrosion 
 and developing an innovative inspection tool for early detection 
 of corrosion
Improved assessment of the effects of prolonged irradiation of 
 the concrete biological shield using a holistic approach 
 combining operating conditions, materials degradation and 
 structural significance
