A New Method for Corrosion Control in Dry Fire Protection Systems

There are currently two accepted methods for managing corrosion in fire protection systems. These methods include controlling the environment or treating the system with a chemical corrosion inhibitor. One method of controlling the environment is to use a nitrogen blanket and dehumidification, which can be costly. Chemical corrosion inhibitors are appropriate for wet and dry systems, but can be difficult to apply in a dry system. A new method is being developed to apply vapor-phase corrosion inhibitors to dry systems, which can address the concerns with existing methods. This entails saturating the system with vapor phase inhibitor using airflow to carry the inhibitor throughout the system. Lab evaluation and analogous field studies are presented that can identify this new application method as viable for managing corrosion potential in dry fire protection systems.