One of the important corrosion problems which is always confronting the electric power industry is that of replacing corroded condenser tubes.
In Southern California the Department of Water and Power of the City of Los Angeles, the Southern California Edison Company, both have steam power plants which utilize sea water for cooling. The sea water in the Los Angeles harbor and vicinity is contaminated with sewage and industrial wastes which cause a special corrosion problem on the condenser tubes and other equipment in contact with sea water. Condenser tubes which have a fairly long life in other sea-shore cooling equipment only last a few months.
The Department of Water and Power has been making a special study of this corrosion problem, and in the steam unit put into service last year and other units now under construction, a large number of different alloy tubes have been installed to test their...
