Relevance+of+corrosion

=Relevance of Corrosion to the Brewery Industry=  Corrosion is relevant to several aspects of the brewery industry. Some of these aspects include: cost, safety and conservation.

**Cost **
The largest concern is cost. If corrosion occurs in the brewing equipment, financial concerns can include the following: repair and replacement of the equipment; shutdown of the processes resulting in loss of product or efficiency; contamination of product; and waste due to over–design [1]. Also, corrosion may affect the taste of the product, thus decreasing market revenue. The economic repercussions include loss of sales, loss of supplies, and a diminished reputation of the business.

**Safety **
Beer is a food product; thus, the quality of the product must conform to Food and Drug Association (FDA) health standards. Corrosion in the brewery equipment produces metal ions that dissolve in the liquid product. The final product should contain a level of contaminants that is fit for human consumption.

Furthermore, if there is severe corrosion in the brewing equipment, there is the potential for mechanical failure of the metal. This poses a safety risk for the employees present if, for example, a pipe were to burst, or if a holding vessel were to crack.

**Conservation **
Metal resources are expensive. It is ideal to conserve the resources when designing and maintaining a system of equipment.

 Risk Assessment
Overall, corrosion is a major risk to an industry; therefore, companies need to follow industrial risk assessment techniques in order to prevent it from having negative economic, environmental and safety repercussions. Corrosion presents a major source of risk since corrosion-related failures can be a life-limiting cause of deterioration [2]. An intervention program is determined once the main mechanism of corrosion attack is identified; this is why it is important to understand corrosion, and the chemistry behind it, in order to prevent it from occurring [2].

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**References**
<span style="font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">[1] H.H. Uhlig and R.W. Revie, //Corrosion and corrosion control,// 3rd ed. USA: John Wiley and Sons, 1985, pp.1-201.

[2] Roberge P. 2008. Corrosion engineering: Principles and practice.<span style="font-family: arial,helvetica,sans-serif; font-weight: normal;"> United States: McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc.