Corrosion Inhibition of AISI/SAE Steel in a Marine Environment

Effect of Sodium nitrite as a corrosion inhibitor of mild steel in sea water wasinvestigated, using the conventional weight loss method. Differentpercentages of sodium nitrite were used from 0% to 10% in sea water.Samples of mild steel were exposed to these corrosive media and the weightloss was calculated at intervals of 120 hours, 168 hours, 208 hours, 256 hours,304 hours and 352 hours. It was observed that corrosion rate increases withtime of exposure to the corrosive medium (inhibited or non-inhibited) and thatsodium nitrite can be used to retards the corrosion rate of mild steel if theappropriate concentration is used in sea water. It was concluded that theoptimum percentage of sodium nitrate in sea water that gives the optimumcorrosion inhibition of mild steel is 4%.