Similar tactics reduce corrosion and crime: by aggressively targeting and eliminating corrosion problems, mills can reduce costs by US$ 5 to $10 per ton with only minimal resource allocation.

Although they seem inevitable, almost everyone agrees that crime and corrosion are very undesirable. Both phenomena exact substantial costs--direct and indirect--on society. They require significant resources and the existence of entire "industries" to "manage" them. The net burden of crime in the United States exceeds morn than US$ 1 trillion per year according to David Anderson's research published in the October 1999 Journal of Law and Economics. Anderson estimates that the per capita cost of crime is US$ 4100 for each citizen of the United States--an estimate that includes factors ranging from the value of the life of a murder victim to the more mundane chores of locking doors and locating keys.

Similarly, the latest estimate by the National Association of Corrosion Engineers (NACE-International) is that corrosion costs US$ 276 billion annually in the United States. This calculates to about US$ 1000 per citizen--larger than the gross domestic product (GDP) of most countries. My estimate for the annual cost of corrosion to pulp and paper companies in the United States is US$ 3-4 billion--averaging about US$ 15-20 per ton of paper and paperboard. Costs for corrosion related activities such as outages, inspections, repairs, etc., typically consume approximately 1/3 of an annual maintenance budget, depending to some extent on the types of products a mill makes.

This is very gloomy information, but the story also has some bright sides. In the past decade, U. S. Federal Bureau of Investigation statistics show that crime in the United States decreased by 18%. The point of this article is that the cost of corrosion can decrease by at least that much, without taking a decade, using practices and tactics similar to those that are so successful for crime fighters. This finds us in strong agreement with the estimate in the study by NACE "that 20%-30% of the total cost could be saved by using new corrosion management practices." (See Solutions!, November 2002, page 22.)

The method employed to counter crime successfully in the past decade is systematic computerized tracking of crime statistics. Initiated on a large scale in New York City in 1992 by Rudolph Giuliani and his first police chief, william Bratton (recently hired by Los Angeles, California, to control crime there), this technology identifies where crimes occur and the nature of the crime to deploy appropriate resources to prevent any recurrence. The key concepts are using statistics as a means of accountability and prioritization and ending tolerance of low level or "quality of life" crime. These tactics can be as effective for reducing corrosion costs in pulp and paper mills--systematically determining what causes corrosion, prioritizing prevention measures, tracking the statistics, and stopping tolerance of the misconception that corrosion is inevitable. This all seems so logical!

SOME INDUSTRIES USE THE CONCEPT

The chemical process industries already use this scientific approach to some extent. Refineries and petrochemical and chemical plants that admittedly deal with mine combustible or hazardous materials and products than pulp and paper mills generally allot significant resources to systematically monitor the condition of their equipment. The need of companies in those industries to avoid repetitions of severe incidents like Bhopal, the 1985 ARCO oil spill into the Ohio River, and the Pasadena, Texas, refinery fire gives them powerful incentive to aggressively manage corrosion, leaks, and failures in their equipment and plants. The companies also collaborate reasonably well with specialized suppliers and consultants to develop up-to-date standards and codes covering inspection, repair, and maintenance of major components and equipment, including pressure vessels, tanks, and piping. Pulp and paper mills already understand the value of systematic monitoring in some areas. Most notably, modern sensing technology and computerized analysis have wide use in maintenance of rotating equipment. These efforts are sufficiently successful in many mills that the "vibration analysis" team often finds it must constantly justify its continued existence. If bearings rarely "crash" any more, why do we need you? Effective "non-event engineering" always raises this question.

In addition, many pulp and paper mills also religiously track and analyze safety statistics to systematically reduce total safety risks and simultaneously lower safety costs. Some companies even use their safety statistics to publicly demonstrate their system for improving safety systematically. They also use safety statistics in performance reviews of mill management personnel.

PRACTICAL IMPLEMENTATION

Creating a system for tracking corrosion costs should he a relatively simple task in most pulp and paper mills Most mills already use computerized maintenance management systems (CMMS) to manage budgets and generate maintenance work orders. All that is needed is coding work orders issued to cover corrosion related work This normally, should include equipment inspections and repairs and replacement due to all types of corrosion and material degradation kiln refractories, the linings, conveyor chains and flights, chipper hoods, pump impellers, suction rolls, sewer deterioration, structural steel, etc. Including the scaffolding and cleaning work associated within repairs and inspections is also a goad idea.

Training of maintenance personnel that issue work orders--planners and engineers or hourly personnel--can make recognition of what requires coding for tracking easy. Mills obviously can customize tracking of corrosion costs to suit their CMMS and management situations.

The resulting information is often eye opening. Some paper mills have learned that more than 40% of their overall maintenance costs relate to corrosion. Identification of the three or four problems or activities that account for the most problems is also easy. The high cost of dealing with corrosion "surprises" in liquor tanks in pulp mills or with the maintenance often helps demonstrate the value of an organized tank inspection program. This also helps spot wasted inspection dollars. As with crime fighting, learning where problems occur and identifying them are the initial steps in their elimination

A statistical tracking system for corrosion costs can show the impact of deferring maintenance such as postponing maintenance painting or altering intervals between inspections and preventive maintenance activities. An example is the way condition-tracking systems have helped nuclear plants obtain regulatory approval to extend mandatory licensing intervals from two to three years.

Identifying the most costly corrosion problems makes establishing "best practices and procedures" to address those problems feasible. Partly because the industry is so traditional, solutions to corrosion problems in pulp and paper mills are. simpler and more cost-effective than any proposed to reduce "crime." As noted by the NACE study for all corrosion costs in the United States, existing, proven technology can eliminate most corrosion and material problems in pulp and paper mills cost effectively.

With internal and staff technical resources at a premium, most paper companies often must rely on outside companies to obtain the specialized training, support, and materials necessary to implement an effective corrosion-tracking system in any mill. Key elements for successful implementation are the following:

* Establish the technical "best practice" procedures and guidelines that also underpin the system when mill personnel involved in the effort come and go over time.

* Devise appropriate ways to focus efforts of managers to achieve irrefutable benefits.

Besides wide adoption of this concept by crime fighters worldwide, companies in several cost-challenged industries have realized the value of this approach in today's cost-focused business climate. This article should encourage some U.S. pulp and paper companies to render more serious consideration now that they understand how to begin.

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C&ME COMMITTEE MAINTAINS EXTENSIVE TIP LIST

There are 27 current TIPs produced by the 5 subcommittees of the Corrosion and Materials Engineering Committee (C&ME) of the TAPPI Engineering Division. They cover a wide range of subjects, including suction rolls, batch and continuous digesters, boilers. FRP equipment, duplex stainless steels, thermal spray and zinc-rich coatings, nondestructive testing and welding of corrosion-resistant allOys The C&ME committee has also recently sponsored three very practical handbooks--available on the TAPPI website (www.tappi.org)--on concrete, maintenance painting, one mill use of stainless steel.

David C. Bennett is principal engineer, materials and corrosion engineering at M&M Engineering, Ramsey, New Jersey, USA. Bennett is co-author and co-instructor for the TAPPI Short Course on Solving Corrosion Problems in the Pulp and Paper Industry. You can reach him at [phone], or email [e-mail]