The patent badge is an abbreviated version of the USPTO patent document. The patent badge does contain a link to the full patent document.
The patent badge is an abbreviated version of the USPTO patent document. The patent badge covers the following: Patent number, Date patent was issued, Date patent was filed, Title of the patent, Applicant, Inventor, Assignee, Attorney firm, Primary examiner, Assistant examiner, CPCs, and Abstract. The patent badge does contain a link to the full patent document (in Adobe Acrobat format, aka pdf). To download or print any patent click here.
Patent No.:
Date of Patent:
May. 24, 2005
Filed:
May. 21, 2004
Elvin D. Thomas, Iii, Ft. Washington, MD (US);
Keith E. Lucas, Upper Marlboro, MD (US);
Paul Slebodnick, Springfield, VA (US);
Elizabeth A. Hogan, Upper Marlboro, MD (US);
Elvin D. Thomas, III, Ft. Washington, MD (US);
Keith E. Lucas, Upper Marlboro, MD (US);
Paul Slebodnick, Springfield, VA (US);
Elizabeth A. Hogan, Upper Marlboro, MD (US);
The United States of America as represented by the Secretary of the Navy, Washington, DC (US);
Abstract
A system using tank corrosion sensors to provide for an overall assessment and monitoring of the electro-chemical corrosion and coatings condition in ships' tanks, and particularly in ships' seawater or compensated fuel tanks. The system includes reference half-cells mounted along a suspended cable and one instrumented sacrificial anode at the end of the cable to provide optimal sensing capability within a tank structure. The reference half-cells and the sacrificial anode measure a potential and current output, respectively. Together the measurements provide objective information that can be used to predict corrosion damage and coating deterioration occurring throughout the structure of the tank. The system may be used for an overall assessment and monitoring of the electro-chemical corrosion and coatings condition. In a preferred embodiment, the measurements are stored in a datalogger that is optimally contained within an associated instrument housing. If used with other systems in other tanks, the system may be used to monitor the relative tank condition, trend tank condition changes over time, range tank behavior into three categories and provide a direct analysis methodology for making tank maintenance decisions.