Patent ID: 8111078

Claim:
A method to form an oxidation power sensor for monitoring corrosion of a corroding metal in a corrosion environment, comprising the steps of: a) Placing a corrosion-resistant electrode next to a surface of the corroding metal to be monitored, whereby there is an ionic conducting path between the corrosion-resistant electrode and the corroding metal via an electrolyte, wherein placing the corrosion-resistant electrode comprises selecting a material of the corrosion-resistant electrode such that the corrosion-resistant electrode is more catalytically active for cathodic reactions than the corroding metal such that a cathodic current density of the corrosion-resistant electrode defines a bounding average corrosion current density for the corroding metal; b) Controlling the potential of the corrosion-resistant electrode to be substantially equal to a corrosion potential of the corroding metal; c) Measuring a cathodic current from the corrosion-resistant electrode; and d) Using the cathodic current from the corrosion-resistant electrode to detect corrosion or to derive a uniform corrosion rate of the corroding metal.