Simulating plant conditions in the laboratory – Principles and limitations

Before corrosion tests are carried out, one must realise the scale to be selected. As in chemical engineering the problem of “scaling down” and “scaling up” arises if plant conditions are to be simulated on a laboratory scale. As a consequence of the multiplicity of corrosion phenomena, parameters and mechanisms the number of corrosion testing methods is large and test procedures have carefully to be adjusted to the particular practical problem. Simulation principles are illustrated by a number of examples.