To mangle Dr. Seuss a little; The time has come, the time is now, to wrap up our 6-part series "A Real Corrosion Story", by discussing the final step.

1. Identify the corrosion mechanism.

2. Understand the environment, both external and internal.

3. Understand the equipment - materials of construction, operating cycles, hours.....

4. Identify alternatives - materials, coatings, limiting operating envelope, changing the environment (water treatment, alternative lubricants/refrigerants, filter the air, etc.), redesign the machine (better drainage, eliminate contact of dissimilar metals, .....)

5. Implement change.

6. Monitor results.

It seems obvious, that after all the effort, time and money we've spent completing the first 5 steps to address corrosion problems, we would take time to monitor the results and assure we've truly solved the problems we were addressing. Yet, as we all know, common sense isn't always common practice.

After changes have been implemented we're pressured, by others or by ourselves, to move on and get to work on the next item on our list of things to do. However, monitoring results don't need to be time consuming or difficult, but it is something that should be planned, with clear criteria established to measure how well we've done.

It's surprising how often as a consultant I've been called in to work on problems that were previously addressed by manufacturers, but nobody clearly remembers what was done to solve the problems and what the results were. All anybody knows is that something was done and now (sometimes years later) the problem is back (or never really went away).

Bottom line, follow all of the steps outlined in this 6 step process and if you happen to find you've missed something as you monitor the results, don't hesitate to go back and tweak your solution to assure you get the results you were counting on.

Editor's Note: CR4 would like to thank P J Sikorsky, GEA Consulting Associate, for contributing this blog entry.