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Mr K G Davies
57 Brook Rd
Flixton, Manchester
M41 5RY, UK
Tel: +44 (0) 161 748 3645
Fax: + 44 (0) 161 748 3645
Email: corrosioneer@btconnect.com
BGB Projects
LPR Corrosion Rate Meter
Technical Information
Registered Office: 18 Craig Avenue, Flixton, Manchester, M41 5PT – Tel: +44 (0) 161 748 3645 – Fax: +44 (0) 161 748 3645
Company Registration No: 333 7082 – VAT No: 693 2194 16
INSTRUCTION MANUAL – LPR METER
1. INTRODUCTION
The LPR Corrosion Rate Meter measures rates of corrosion of metals in corrosive
environments. There are many similar devices available, these are usually intended to
be used with corrosion probes of a relatively small surface area. The LPR Corrosion
Rate Meter is specifically designed for measurement of corrosion of steel reinforcement
in concrete where the surface area of the test electrode (rebar) can be large.
The meter uses the linear polarisation resistance (LPR) measurement technique and
controls the test electrode potentiostatically. The meter reads both the corrosion
potential (Ecorr) and the corrosion rate (in µm/year) of the test electrode.
Additionally, the meter can read Dallas Semiconductor DS2401 (or similar) electronic ID
number chips (i-buttons). These may be used to uniquely identify measurement
locations.
The meter stores up to 512 measurement results in non-volatile memory, time and date
stamping each one.
The LPR Corrosion Rate Meter is housed in a rugged polycarbonate enclosure and is
designed for a rough site use.
2. QUICK-START GUIDE
3.1. Controls
The LPR Corrosion Rate Meter is operated by two push buttons, green and red. A menu
system is used - the user selects an appropriate action by pressing one of the push
buttons. For most simple measurements only several presses of the green button are
required.
The meter is switched on and off using the key switch. The key may be removed only in
the ‘off’ position.
There are four 4mm screw terminals for connections to the test cell and a single round
connector for battery charger, communications and probe ID reading.
In normal use the SE (Blue) and WE (Green) terminals should be shorted using the
link provided.
If long (more than ~ 5 meters) connections to the test electrode are necessary it is
recommended that the voltage sensing connection to the test electrode is used. This
compensates for any ohmic drop in the test electrode connection and improves
measurement accuracy in this situation. Simply connect a fourth wire in parallel with the
WE (GREEN) connection to the SE (BLUE) terminal. In all other cases short the SE
terminal to the WE terminal at the LPR Meter.
The five pin circular connector connects to the battery charger, probe ID chip or to a RS-
232 serial link.
The meter then displays its identification number and Meter # 101
displays the main battery voltage. Battery: 12.5V
Next, the meter shows its current clock settings Meter # 101
(day/month/year hour:minute). 15/10/2004 23:59
Pressing the left (RED) button reads the measurement ID: 53FE-1234
point electronic identification. Use the supplied test lead LPR>
(5 pin to two 4mm plugs) to connect the meter to the
measurement point identifier connector.
Pressing the left (RED) button at this point returns the Reading # 001
meter to the previous display and the ID read may be <ID LPR>
repeated if necessary.
Pressing the GREEN button starts the corrosion rate Ecorr: -234.5 mV
measurement. The meter first initialises the Rate: *WAIT* 03
measurement and autoranges. A *WAIT* prompt is
shown for a few seconds during this time.
The meter then shows the measured corrosion rate in Ecorr: -234.5 mV
μm/year and a count timer showing the number of Rate: 70.1 19
seconds into the measurement. The corrosion rate
reading is updated approximately once per second.
This display confirms that the measurement results had Stored 101-001
been stored and shows the stored location number. <Review Next>
At this point the user can either review the results of the
last measurement (RED button) or proceed to a next
measurement (GREEN button).
The review display simply cycles through all the Stored 101-001
recorded parameters. Date and time are shown first. 15/10/2004 23:59
Next, the polarised potential is shown. Normally this will Stored 101-001
be about 20mV more positive than Ecorr. Epol: -103.4 mV
Pressing the RED button exits the preview and returns Stored 101-001
to the previous screen. <Review Next>
The meter may be safely turned off whenever this last screen is shown – the
measurement results are stored in the non-volatile memory just prior to the display of
this screen at the completion of the measurement.
5. OPERATING PRINCIPLE
5.1. Summary
The LPR Corrosion Rate Meter uses the LPR measurement method to determine the
corrosion rate of the connected test electrode.
When the user selects a measurement start the internal analog to digital converter
measures the potential between the reference electrode (RE) and the test, or ‘working’,
electrode (WE). This is shown to the user as the corrosion potential, Ecorr.
When satisfied that a valid Ecorr is being measured, the user starts the polarisation
sequence. The meter connects the auxiliary electrode (AE) to the potentiostat circuitry
and polarises the test electrode to the measured Ecorr voltage. This is done by setting a
voltage equal to Ecorr on an internal digital to analog converter.
Next, the meter applies a 20mV anodic overpotential and measures the resulting
polarisation current. The polarised potential of the test electrode is also measured (Epol).
The ‘sense’ terminal is used to carry out this measurement, as to avoid any ohmic drops
in the test electrode lead. During the 60 seconds of measurement the meter monitors
the polarisation current and autoranges the current sensing circuitry as required.
The corrosion rate is computed from the value of the polarisation current (ΔIapplied) and
from the polarisation overpotential (ΔE = Ecorr – Epol)
ΔI applied 1 ⎛ βc βa ⎞
I corr = × ⎜ ⎟
ΔE 2.3 ⎝ βc + βa ⎠
where βc and βa are the cathodic and anodic Tafel slopes. For practical purposes the
equation can be simplified to:
ΔI applied B
I corr = ×B=
ΔE Rp
In order to calculate the actual penetration rate Icorr is substituted to the Faraday
equation, giving:
B .
5585 1
penetration rate = × 365 × 24 × 60 × 60 × ×
Rp 9.645 × 10 × 2 7.87
4
On completion of the measurement the circuitry de-polarises the test electrode back to
Ecorr and disconnects the auxiliary electrode from the potentiostat.
5.3. Limitations
There are two major uncertainties in the measurement of corrosion rate of steel
reinforcement in concrete.
The first is that of the precision of the Stern-Geary parameter which depends on the
exact electrochemical conditions at the corroding interface. The value of 60 mV is a
reasonable compromise for passive steel embedded in concrete.
A second uncertainty is that of the test electrode area being polarised. The 100 cm2 test
electrode surface area used in the calculation is only a nominal value, in practice the
measurement results should be adjusted for the actual test electrode area present.
Further errors can be caused by the resistivity of the concrete surrounding the test
electrode (rebar) and by the placement of the reference electrode relative to the auxiliary
electrode and to the rebar.
6. RS-232 COMMUNICATIONS
6.1. Summary
The meter communicates via a RS-232 interface. An adaptor for connection of the LPR
Meter to a standard 9 pin RS-232 serial lead (male to female) is supplied.
Communications may be carried out using a terminal emulator program (e.g. Windows
HyperTerminal), other suitable software or the supplied application (LPR232.EXE)
6.2. Protocol
All serial communications are at 9600 baud 8N1 (eight bits, no parity, one stop bit). No
handshaking is used as normally the host machine will be fast enough to handle the
relatively slow data throughput.
Note that <CR> or <LF> input terminator characters are not required.
When powered up, the LPR Meter automatically checks RS-232 Ready
whether an electrical connection to a RS-232 device is
present. If a RS-232 connection is found, the meter
display will confirm this and the meter will wait for
incoming RS-232 characters. Power off the meter and
disconnect the RS-232 lead to terminate the
communications and to return to normal operation.
Send *C to clear all stored data. The stored data will be irreversibly erased.
All stored data is deleted and the next available data Clearing...
slot pointer is set to 1
Send *TYYMMDDHHMM.
For example, to set the date and time to 23:59 on 15th October 2004, send
*T0410152359.
Note that no checks are carried out for plausibility of the time and date value. Please
check that the value displayed immediately after this operation is correct. The ‘seconds’
value is set to zero on receipt of the final *T command character.
The meter will set its internal real time clock to the Time set to :
required time, read back the clock time and show it on 15/10/2004 23:59
the display.
6.5. *D – Dump
The output may be captured into a text file and further analysed in a spreadsheet or
similar.
After a 10 second delay the meter sends back all stored Sending...
data as 512 comma delimited lines. The reading 123
number currently being sent is shown on the display.
The LPR Meter is powered by a sealed lead acid gel 12V battery.
The battery must be charged only using the supplied charger. The use of any
other charger or power supply may result in a permanent damage to the
instrument or in its destruction.
Lead acid batteries are very reliable provided simple charging procedures are observed.
To charge the LPR Meter connect the supplied charger lead to the five pin circular
connector. Ensure that the LPR Meter is turned off. Power up the charger. The charge
LED indicators will light as follows :
Charging from a discharged state (battery voltage of 9V) to a fully charged state (battery
voltage >12V) will take approximately three hours. The meter may be safely left on
charge after this period as the charger will automatically switch to a trickle charge mode.
The LPR Meter battery voltage is displayed after power-up of the meter. On a fully
charged battery the LPR Meter will take in excess of 250 readings before it needs to be
recharged.
The LPR Meter will continue to operate down to a battery voltage of approximately 7V,
however it is recommended that the battery is recharged when the battery voltage drops
to 9 to 10 V.
Recharge the LPR Meter battery after use and prior to long term storage.
The real time clock battery may need replacing after three or more years.
To replace the real time clock lithium coin cell proceed as follows :
Other calibration voltages and dummy cell resistances may also be checked, for
example a resistance of 1kΩ should give a corrosion rate reading of 7.00 ±0.35 μm/year
etc.
Check that the main battery is charged. Recharge if required. The main battery is only
charged when the LPR Meter is turned off with the key switch.
If the main battery does not hold charge satisfactorily, replace it.
8.2. LPR Meter powers up but appears to lock up during the power up sequence
Reset the real time clock to the correct local time. If the real time clock unacceptably
loses or gains time replace the clock battery.
The display backlight is turned off automatically after a few minutes of inactivity to
conserve battery power. Pressing either of the push buttons will turn it back on.
Press the buttons firmly. The meter actually waits for a button release before carrying
out the required operation.
Check connections to the test and reference electrodes. Check the reference electrode
potential with a separate voltmeter. Interference from mains cables running close to the
measurement connections may also cause unsteady corrosion potential readings. A
changing corrosion potential will result in an inaccurate corrosion rate measurement.
Check connections to the electrodes. This is usually the result of a changing corrosion
potential during the measurement.
Check connections to the electrodes. This is usually the result of a broken auxiliary (AE)
electrode lead.
This is a normal response of the electrochemical processes at the test electrode surface
to the applied polarisation. The displayed corrosion rate value should start high and
decrease over the measurement period before levelling off to a final value. The
measurement may me terminated manually if a steady value is being measured before
the preset 60 second measured time.
Connect the LPR Meter to a PC using the supplied adaptor. Run the supplied
application (LPR232.EXE). Select the appropriate serial port (COM1 to COM4). Power
up the LPR Meter. The circuitry will automatically detect that a PC is connected and will
display ‘RS-232 Ready’ message. Check operation by clicking the ‘Test’ button. The
LPR display will show ‘20’ indicating that the serial connection is operational. Click either
of the three function buttons (Get Data, Clear Data, Set Time) as required. Power off the
LPR Meter when done and disconnect from the PC.
It is a comma delimited file which can be directly opened with spreadsheets such as
Microsoft Excel. The file format is as shown below.
The columns are as described above in the RS-232 section of this document.
Time (HH:MM:SS)
Reading Number
(DD/MM/YYYY)
Meter Number
Measurement
Rate (um/y)
Ecorr (mV)
ID Number
Battery (V)
Rate Error
DAC Error
Epol (mV)
Range
length
Date
Inexpensive USB to RS-232 adaptors are widely available. Beware that some
motherboards will assign the USB/serial port thus created as COM9 or higher. Consult
manufacturer’s data to rectify this or contact us for a modified version of LPR232.EXE.
Corrosion
Control Services
Meter # 101
Battery: 12.5V
Meter # 101
15/10/2004 23:59
Reading # 001
<ID LPR>
ID: 53FE-1234
LPR>
Stored 101-001
Epol: -103.4 mV Ecorr: -234.5 mV
Rate: 70.1 um/y
Stored 101-001
Rate: 70.1 um/y
Stored 101-001
Stored 101-001 <Review Next>
R:3 t:60 e:00
Stored 101-001
Battery: 12.5 V
No
201
201
201
201
which cannot be changed by the operator
4
3
2
1
No
which cannot be changed by the operator Meter Record
07/08/2008
07/08/2008
07/08/2008
This column displays the TIME 07/08/2008
Description of columns…………….
which cannot be changed by the operator
Time
12:38:06
12:37:34
12:36:37
11:43:50
0000-0000-0000
0000-0000-0000
0000-0000-0000
0000-0000-0000
These are the headers (not shown on downloads)………………
-376.4
-375.9
-375.9
-417.8
potential - Epol
(mV wrt Ag/AgCl/KCl)
-357.0
-356.8
-356.7
-398.0
These are the type of records downloaded. Note all 512 records are downloaded each time
11.6
13.4