Embeddable corrosion rate meters for remote monitoring of structures susceptible to corrosion

An embeddable corrosion rate meter (ECRM) system for detecting and measuring corrosion in metal structures, said system comprising:

• at least one working electrode evenly separated from a counter electrode, wherein a separation distance between said at least one working electrode and said counter electrode determines an electrolyte medium resistance, said electrolyte medium resistance is less than or equal to a polarization resistance;
• a signal generator for generating a current source, said current source is connected to a plurality of resistances for creating a plurality of current amplitudes;
• a first selector for applying current through each of said plurality of resistances to said at least one working electrode and said counter electrode, wherein said current is applied via a galvanostat;
• a second selector for selecting a duration of a current pulse;
• a programmable electronic chip having a voltage output, wherein said chip is programmed to include a voltage-time signal, said voltage-time signal including a plurality of sine waves;
• said galvanostat for receiving and converting said voltage output into a current-time perturbation signal;
• a voltmeter/A-D converter for measuring polarization of said working electrode, wherein said voltmeter has an input impedance greater than 109 ohms;
• an external reader-head with a data link and power link connected to said computer for powering said system and extracting corrosion measurements data via said data link;
• and
• at least one computing device for receiving said corrosion measurements data and performing analysis to measure corrosion in said metal structures.

An embeddable system for detecting and measuring corrosion in a structure susceptible to corrosion, said system including a plurality of embeddable corrosion rate meters (ECRM) for collecting corrosion measurements data and at least one computing device for analyzing said corrosion measurements, said system comprising:

• at least one working electrode evenly separated from a counter electrode, wherein a separation distance between said at least one working electrode and said counter electrode determines an electrolyte medium resistance, said electrolyte medium resistance is less than or equal to a polarization resistance;
• a signal generator for generating a current source, said current source is connected to a plurality of resistances for creating a plurality of current amplitudes;
• a first selector for applying current through each of said plurality of resistances to said at least one working electrode and said counter electrode, wherein said current is applied via a galvanostat;
• and
• an external reader-head with a data link and power link connected to said computing device for powering said ECRM and transferring corrosion measurements data via said data link.

A method for detecting and measuring corrosion in a structure susceptible to corrosion, said corrosion being detected by a plurality of embeddable corrosion rate meters (ECRM) and analyzed by at least one computing device, said method comprising the steps of:

• determining an electrolyte medium resistance using a separation distance between at least one working electrode and said counter electrode, said at least one working electrode evenly separated from a counter electrode, wherein a electrolyte medium resistance being less than or equal to a polarization resistance;
• generating a current source connected to a plurality of resistances for creating a plurality of current amplitudes;
• applying a current from a first selector through each of said plurality of resistances to said at least one working electrode and said counter electrode, wherein said current is applied via a galvanostat;
• selecting via a second selector, a duration of a current pulse;
• measuring polarization of said working electrode using a voltmeter/A-D converter, wherein said voltmeter has an input impedance greater than 109 ohms;
• and
• powering said system via a power link connected to an external reader-head and collecting corrosion measurements data via a data link connected to said external reader-head, wherein said external reader-head is connected to said computing device.