This dry, warm air is continuously circulated around machinery and equipment to prevent rust. Indeed, in machinery spaces, equipment may be partially disassembled, while entry hatches to fuel and other tanks opened to benefit from the preservative effects of DH operations. Yard maintenance crew and Committee Members gather on maindeck, amidships for a photo shot, after a two-day inspection. Corrosion of ferrous metal is a natural process in which metal returns to its native ore. Changing anodic and cathodic areas develop on metal for a number of metallurgical or environmental reasons.
Corrosion occurs at the anodic areas.
Cathodic protection mitigates corrosion through the use of a low voltage DC current that polarizes the hull to a potential equal to or more negative than its most active anode. IOWA's hull will be protected by an external electro-catalytic protection system, that is suspended around the ship. The battleship at present has a sacrificial zinc anode system, in which the zinc below the waterline sacrifices itself to protect the hull. By augmenting the protection provided by the zinc anodes with a suspended cathodic protection system, it is hoped to extend the service life of the zinc anodes while establishing a more effective CP network Both dehumidification efforts and cathodic protection rountines require skill and hard work. For instance, if the voltage in a cathodic protection system is wrong, it can destroy a hull rather than preserve it.