A Method to Mitigate Corrosion in Ballast Tanks of a Double Hull Tanker

摘要

Ocean-going ships are especially vulnerable to corrosion, particularly their ballast tanks, which are essentially empty and filled withrnair during ‘cargo leg’ portions of a voyage. Because of varying air and seawater contents ballast tanks have become especiallyrnvulnerable, requiring , expensive periodic cleaning, resurfacing and structural repairs. It has been found that an atmosphere of inertrngas has a significant anti-corrosion effect on steel surfaces subject to salt water. This protective effect is increasingly being exploitedrnto protect the interior of the ballast tanks. The proposed method, described herein, uses the gas mixture from currently-available inertrngas generators, to provide a distribution system that guarantees access of the protective mixture to all points in a tank and to alsornprovide means to “gas free” the space for human access.