A system using tank corrosion sensors to provide for an overall assessment and
monitoring of the electro-chemical corrosion and coatings condition in ships' tanks,
and particularly in ships' seawater or compensated fuel tanks. The system includes
reference half-cells mounted along a suspended cable and one instrumented sacrificial
anode at the end of the cable to provide optimal sensing capability within a tank
structure. The reference half-cells and the sacrificial anode measure a potential
and current output, respectively. Together the measurements provide objective information
that can be used to predict corrosion damage and coating deterioration occurring
throughout the structure of the tank. The system may be used for an overall assessment
and monitoring of the electrochemical corrosion and coatings condition. In a preferred
embodiment, the measurements are stored in a datalogger that is optimally contained
within an associated instrument housing. If used with other systems in other tanks,
the system may be used to monitor the relative tank condition, trend tank condition
changes over time, range tank behavior into three categories and provide a direct
analysis methodology for making tank maintenance decisions.
