Houston is not only the energy capital of the world with almost all major oil and gas companies, but also home to a major port. There are many downstream, midstream and petrochemical companies, along with a great deal of transportation, electric power and water industry infrastructure within the Greater Houston and surrounding area. All these have large or small corrosion engineering issues, all the time. It is a fact that corrosion is a major issue in all industries and there is a great need to have the program started here at UH.
Corrosion in the USA alone will cost the economy over $1.1 trillion each year with a global cost reaching $2.5 trillion (as per NACE Impact Study, 2016), http://impact.nace.org/) illustrating the broad and expensive challenge that corrosion presents to equipment and materials. These estimates are based on a landmark study by NACE that estimated (direct) corrosion costs were $276B in 1998 as reported in the NACE Cost of Corrosion study. Many of the aging assets globally, like plants, equipment, bridges, reservoirs, pipelines have reached or exceeded their design Life. Catastrophes are likely unless corrective measures are taken. Thus maintaining life cycle corrosion and integrity management is vital to industrial economies.
University of Houston will produce individuals prepared to take positions which meet the needs of energy, environmental and other sectors. They will formulate designs and implementation strategies acceptable to all sectors of the industry where corrosion is a major issue. This program will benefit the industry professionals as well as students who want to focus more on corrosion engineering in addition to materials and metallurgy. Also, it will increase practical knowledge of students other than just theoretical aspects.
Why University of Houston?
- Located in the heart of the energy capital of the world
- Continuing cooperation and history with leading companies and professional networks
- Corrosion industry experts will be developing curriculum and instructing the courses
- Proximity of local events and active professional societies and organizations
Who Should Take This Certificate?
- Broad range of practicing engineers in the process, oil and gas, downstream, pipeline, water management and refinery industries
- Any BS degree holder in a relevant engineering field interested in enhancing knowledge and skills in corrosion engineering
Certificate Requirements
- BS degree in engineering or technology
- Applicants with at least a bachelor degree in a related science field with relevant interest or experience in corrosion field
Graduation Requirements:
In order to meet the graduation requirements for this certificate, students must earn at least a 3.00/4/00 overall GPA
Courses
Each certificate program will require students to take the three courses (9 SCH) or equivalent related approved courses as described below.
The new graduate certificate program in Corrosion Engineering will primarily focus on essential materials and corrosion, metallurgy and non-metallic materials and electro-chemistry.
CORR 6360 - Materials and Corrosion
- Overview of materials and corrosion for subsea production systems
- Principles and practices of materials selection including metallic, non-metallic, and coatings
- Materials used in the construction and deployment in subsea production systems
- The basics of corrosion with emphasis on the type of corrosion and materials degradation
- The critical use of industry codes, standards, recommended practice and project specifications
CORR 6310 - Electrochemistry
- Fundamental understanding of electrochemical processes and electrochemical materials technology
- Modern electrochemical theory to include the thermodynamics and kinetics of corrosion mechanisms.
- The role of Pourbaix and Evans and the effects of aggressive fluids, chemical species and content The environment and its conditioning via the principles of energy, heat and mass
- The formulation, selection, lab and field testing, and qualification of inhibitors
CORR 6320 - Metallurgy and Non-Metallic Materials
- Mechanical properties of metals and alloys;
- Metal strengthening processes, plastic deformation, work hardening, crystal imperfections, recovery, and recrystallization
- Dislocation and defect theory, deformation and fatigue of metals, polymers and brittle materials; composite materials with non-metallic fiberglass reinforced plastic (FRP), and carbon fiber composites (CFC) in particular
- The relationships between theory and best practice materials performance
- Optimization of materials selection and project economics
- The idea of building on ‘known solutions’
The new graduate certificate program in Corrosion Control and Management will primarily focus on asset integrity management, risk management and corrosion monitoring and control.
CORR 6330 - Protective Coatings and Inhibitors
- Overview of coating fundamentals and reasons for coatings
- Curing mechanisms, mixing and thinning and methods on the application equipment
- Primary function of a coating and he purpose of each coating component
- The practice of coating selection, repair and performance
- Selection and utilization of various types of corrosion inhibitors for different systems
CORR 6340 - Cathodic Protection
- Knowledge and techniques for testing and evaluating data to determine the effectiveness of both galvanic and impressed current Cathodic Protection (CP) systems
- A strong focus on interpretation of CP Data, trouble shooting and migration of problems including design calculations
- Understanding the principles and procedures for CP design on a variety of structures
- The complex practice of CP design, coatings selection and performance
- Emphasis on life cycle CP monitoring, retrofit, and repair
CORR 6350 - Asset Integrity and Risk Management
- Asset integrity and risk assessment and management due to corrosion
- Guidelines on how to perform an evaluation of a corrosion system
- Identification of safety hazards and critical areas of concern
- Identifying and defining the primary corrosion protection systems
- Practical techniques of corrosion risk management
- Unique approaches to the implementation of corrosion control and asset integrity management