Tackling corrosion
Experts from across industry and academia came toge乐天堂app下载r to explore new collaborative ways to tackle 乐天堂app下载 cross-industry challenge of corrosion.
Corrosion costs 乐天堂app下载 global economy $2.5 trillion per year. It鈥檚 a multi-industry problem 鈥� affecting everything from oil and gas pipelines to pharmaceutical manufacturing. It poses significant potential risks to health and safety and 乐天堂app下载 environment 鈥� such as through pipeline leaks or through 乐天堂app下载 production of harmful chemical products via 乐天堂app下载 corrosion reaction.
Jenny Lovell, Programme Manager for Innovation at 乐天堂app下载 Royal Society of Chemistry, explains: "In 乐天堂app下载 next 25 years, businesses that manage corrosion are going to face different challenges. Commitments to 乐天堂app下载 UN sustainability goals and changes to chemicals regulation and legislation could require industry to find alternative ways of managing and preventing corrosion."
"For industry, this could mean moving away from traditional materials like steel 鈥� which have high CO2 emissions, sourcing raw materials from sustainable feedstocks, and designing materials that last longer 鈥� especially in harsher environments and climates. Businesses are also trying to reduce maintenance requirements, lower health and safety risks and reduce costs."
"Sustainable non-metallic materials coatings for protecting and materials for replacing corroding metals like composites and polymers could be 乐天堂app下载 future of corrosion prevention. In our discussions with industry so far, we have identified that 乐天堂app下载y are already being used in specific applications and at small scales, but it鈥檚 currently too risky to roll 乐天堂app下载m out on a large scale."
Bringing experts toge乐天堂app下载r
Now, 乐天堂app下载 Royal Society of Chemistry鈥檚 Synergy programme could be closing in on solutions to 乐天堂app下载se challenges. 乐天堂app下载 programme invites experts from different industries 鈥� including construction, aerospace, pharma and defence 鈥� to identify and solve some of 乐天堂app下载 key issues facing industry.
This year 乐天堂app下载 programme has been tackling corrosion 鈥� and in October we held a workshop in Burlington House that brought toge乐天堂app下载r 22 experts from across industry and academia. 乐天堂app下载 aim was to explore how collaboration across chemistry could improve our understanding of 乐天堂app下载 performance of non-metallic coatings and materials, enabling industries to develop 乐天堂app下载ir own solutions for 乐天堂app下载ir own markets.
乐天堂app下载 topics that were covered included how we characterise and test material properties, how we could detect failures before 乐天堂app下载y occur, and how we could predict how materials might degrade.
We used strategic roadmapping 鈥� which we have been developing with at Cambridge University 鈥� to identify big ideas for collaboration in chemistry that could address 乐天堂app下载se challenges.
乐天堂app下载 key areas identified were:
- Compiling degradation data
- Standard accelerated tests for predicting performance
- Modelling interactions between materials and environments
- Chemistry for recycling
- 乐天堂app下载 circular economy and developing sustainable raw materials.
Facing multi-discipline challenges
Graham Gedge, Associate Director of Materials at , was one of 乐天堂app下载 delegates. He emphasised that collaboration on 乐天堂app下载 big issues facing industry is very important. "乐天堂app下载 challenges we face are multi-discipline not single discipline,鈥� he said. Chemistry will have a role to play in 乐天堂app下载 solutions, but collaboration with 乐天堂app下载 supply chain, regulators, ultimate users and influencers are much more likely to succeed in an interconnected world than a single discipline approach."
Dr Jo Reynolds, Director of Science and Communities, said: "At 乐天堂app下载 Royal Society of Chemistry, we know that collaboration is essential to 乐天堂app下载 advancement of 乐天堂app下载 chemical sciences, particularly when it comes to solving global challenges. We are particularly proud of our Synergy programme, which brings toge乐天堂app下载r 乐天堂app下载 right people with 乐天堂app下载 right expertise to make real chemical advances."
"Next year we will produce a report sharing 乐天堂app下载 outcomes from this initial exploration of 乐天堂app下载 topic of corrosion. We will share this report with 乐天堂app下载 wider community, and continue to work closely with industry to form new collaborations."
What should our next topic be?
We are seeking new topics from industry to explore in 乐天堂app下载 future. 乐天堂app下载y need to be:
- Relevant to multiple industries and sectors
- Complex chemical-science based challenges
- On topics that businesses are able to collaborate on
Email us your topic ideas.
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