Dr. rer.nat at Bundesanstalt für Materialforschung und -prüfung
Study of Chemistry in Cologne and Bonn University
1993 – 1996 Scientific Coworker at Research Centre Jülich
1996 – 1998 Scientific Coworker at South Westphalia University of Applied Sciences
Since 1998 BAM Berlin: Department Corrosion and Corrosion Protection
Special Topics: Failure Analysis
Materials in Contact with drinking water
Chairman of various standardization and research committees at EfC, DVGW, DIN, GfKORR
Member of various standardization and research committees at CEN, EfC, UBA, DIN, VDI, GfKORR, DVGW
Release of heavy metals from alloys used in drinking water: How to test and evaluate materials
The release of heavy metals from products in contact with drinking water is an important issue of public health. The amount of material released is determined by the composition of the local water, the material and its properties itself, but mainly depending on the time of contact. Time of contact is important in form of life-cycle of the material (weeks/months/years of use) as well as in form of stagnation time of the drinking water inside the products. Whilst polymeric materials will show a more or less constant leaching of compounds vs. contact time for months of operation, metals and alloys forming protective layers show a different behavior. In many cases surface effects dominate the first operation period followed by the bulk behavior of the metal. Thus, testing and evaluation of the materials is a complex task. EN 15664-1 describes the test procedure to evaluate the long-term behavior of alloys. The following discussion will elaborate the necessity of such tests and show the importance of individual tests for individual alloys
Canada in Lower Saxony or are penguins corrosion inhibitors?
A new animal enclosure in Hannover Zoo shows a Canadian harbor scenery and houses polar bears, penguins and seals amongst a complete Canadian style surrounding. The architects used a ship for the keeping of the penguins and separating seals and polar bears, thus creating a very good accessibility of the animals for the visitors.
The basins filled with artificial seawater, corrosion turned out to be a major concern. First damage was a leakage inside the body of the ship. The cause was damages of the coating combined with lack of cathodic protection resulting in high corrosion rates. The solution was to add a cathodic protection system and renew the coating with a system suited for cathodic protection.
The basins for polar bears and seals were constructed using sheet pile walls. The sheet piles showed localized corrosion up to 2.5 mm after two years of operation, creating the risk of water leakages. The corrosion rate was in the upper range that can be expected for such materials and media. The solution was to install a cathodic protection system and coat the splash zone of the sheet piles.
With the additional corrosion protection, operation of the enclosure is possible now for the expected lifetime of the construction of more than 30 years