Effect of brackish water on equipment

[lsu]

Would anyone be willing to lend an opinion of brackish water effects on machinery, such as compressors for air-cooled chillers? I am talking about if they have been at least partially submerged in brackish flood waters for 3-4 days. I have seen systems work after the fact; however, I am uncertain as to whether my above example would warrant replacement of such a system.

 

[tygerdawg]

My Corrosion Engineering course told me salty water is a metal killer. Interstitial spaces, chlorine ions, galvanic action....it still gives me shivers to think about it.

While doing deckhand duty on a tugboat in the Gulf of Mexico I remember seeing the deck equipment exposed to the elements looking quite crusty. Up North I watch how road salt rots your car out from under you if you don't get those weekly car washes.

Maybe the equipment doesn't need replacing (yet), but it's certainly time for a good fresh water flushing and hosing it down with preservative to protect what you've got left.

TygerDawg

 

[MintJulep]

Well, it will get it wet.

If terminal boxes and other enclosures are only "drip proof", they may be full of water, or mud, or critters.

"Water proof" enclosures generally are only water proof from the inside out, not from the outside in, so they may be full too.

Once water gets into one box, it can move to others through conduits.

Corrosion tends to increase the resistence of connections and contactor contacts, so even if things work right after the flood, they may die later.

If there was some kind of conductive material in the water, it may have formed semi-conductive paths on circuit boards.

Mud and gunk can block vents and exhaust holes on things like pressure switches, pneumatic valves and pressure operated unloaders. It can wear seals on moving things.

 

[reidh]

This may be the obvious question/answer, but here it goes:

Was the equipment designed to be submerged in brackish waters? If not, then there is a good chance that the salt will corrode the metal.

Reidh

 

[lsu]

I'm sure that some corrosion is to be expected and that reliability is very likely affected. However, my question is would it be expected to replace the system or service the system and just wait for failure.

 

[MikeHalloran]

The smart money says you will be replacing the system sooner than you ordinarily would, even if you do everything humanly possible to rinse it, dry it out, clean it, and restore everything that might have been affected.

The balance you have to strike depends on the relative costs of downtime, maintenance time, replacement parts, and replacement systems.



Mike Halloran
Pembroke Pines, FL, USA

 

[Artisi]

submerged 3-4 days - how often or is this a once off event?