Investigating the Source of Heavy Metals in Industrial Storm Basins and Atmospheric Corrosion

Moisture and air pollutions intensify metallic and nonmetallic surface corrosions. Corroded surfaces exposed to rain washing cause pollution transportation in water and soil environment, especially in industrial areas. Investigation of storm runoff quality in Pars Special Economic Energy Zone (PSEEZ) has shown heavy metals in storm basins of gas refineries and petrochemical industries.In this paper, atmospheric corrosion in PSEEZ gas and petrochemical industries was investigated to determine metallic pollution sources. Considering the geographical location of industry, the topography, and prevailing winds, the location of four air monitoring stations were determined. Then, major air pollutants like sulfur dioxide, sulfatation rate, and chloride deposition as well as relative humidity were investigated in all four stations. Annual average concentrations of Zn, Cu, and Al showed that at present the severity of atmospheric corrosion in 62.5% of the time is moderate, in 33.3% is moderate to high, and in 4.2% is in the range of corrosive and very corrosive. Furthermore, based on annual averages, the severity of atmospheric corrosion for carbon steel was classified as very corrosive.