Methods and apparatus for detecting corrosion of conductive objects

A method of detecting internal corrosion of a hollow object, comprising:

• connecting the hollow object as an anode to a voltage supply;
• inserting a probe into a cavity of the hollow object;
• connecting the probe as a cathode to the voltage supply;
• at least partially submerging the hollow object in an aqueous solution such that the aqueous solution enters the cavity;
• sweeping a voltage level from the voltage supply from a first level to a second level, wherein the second level is higher than the first level;
• applying a pulsed voltage during sweeping of the voltage level;
• measuring current flowing through the hollow object during the sweeping of the voltage level;
• and
• determining a quantitative corrosion level of an internal surface of the hollow object based on a total charge integrated from a current-voltage cycle.

A method of detecting internal corrosion of a hollow object, comprising:

• connecting the hollow object as an anode to a voltage supply;
• inserting a probe into a cavity of the hollow object;
• connecting the probe as a cathode to the voltage supply;
• at least partially submerging the hollow object in an aqueous solution such that the aqueous solution enters the cavity;
• sweeping a voltage level from the voltage supply from a first level to a second level, wherein the second level is higher than the first level;
• applying a pulsed voltage with changing power polarity during sweeping of the voltage level to further reduce unwanted side reactions;
• measuring current flowing through the hollow object during the sweeping of the voltage level;
• and
• determining a quantitative corrosion level of an internal surface of the hollow object based on a total charge integrated from a current-voltage cycle.

A non-transitory, computer readable medium having instructions stored thereon that, when executed, cause a method for remediating corrosion on a conductive object to be performed, the method comprising:

• submerging a surface of the conductive object at least partially in an aqueous solution;
• flowing current through the surface of the conductive object by forming a voltage differential across the surface;
• varying the voltage differential from a first level to a second level across the surface while monitoring the current through the surface of the conductive object, wherein the second level is higher than the first level;
• applying a pulsed voltage differential during varying of the voltage differential;
• determining a total charge corresponding to a corrosion level of the surface of the conductive object based on current versus voltage levels;
• selecting a cleaning process to remediate the corrosion on the surface based on the corrosion level;
• and
• applying a protective corrosion barrier on at least part of the surface after the cleaning process.