Corroded Aluminum Bus
Corroded Aluminum Bus
(OP)
Trying to determine the source of corrosion of aluminum rigid bus in a substation. There isn't any galvanic corrosion going on. The air isn't caustic but there is a lot of humidity. The bus doesn't have weep holes drilled along it's length and the ends are capped. I'm thinking moisture is building up in the bus, but unsure of how this would cause corrosion. Does anybody have any ideas?






RE: Corroded Aluminum Bus
Bill
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"Why not the best?"
Jimmy Carter
RE: Corroded Aluminum Bus
RE: Corroded Aluminum Bus
Bill
--------------------
"Why not the best?"
Jimmy Carter
RE: Corroded Aluminum Bus
Dust is another factor, often introducing dry salts that interact with dew and rain to give some corrosive products.
One of my substations was adjacent to a chlor-alkali/chlorinated hydrocarbon manufacturer on one side and a calcium chloride producer on another. Had some really interesting corrosion.
old field guy
RE: Corroded Aluminum Bus
By the way, do you have pictures of that bus that corroded in an "interesting way"?
RE: Corroded Aluminum Bus
I no longer work for that company, a rather large electric utility with a number of substations feeding industrial facilities. I can tell you that over the life of one substation, we had tracking across the glass pots at the tops of oil-filled bushings. The tracking paths were deep enough to detect by dragging a fingernail across the surface.
old field guy