Natural corrosion inhibitors - Proposal to obtain ecological products of low cost from industrial waste

ABSTRACT The corrosion inhibitors are obtained from natural plant extracts or biodegradable material, and cause a reduction in the intensity of dissolution of metals by lowering their corrosion. Research conducted in recent years report that many plants have, in their constitution, compounds with antioxidant activity, mainly polyphenols. This paper will present the history of the development of natural inhibitors from fruit extracts for application in neutral and acid media carried out in Labcorr / COPPE / UFRJ. The orange peel, mango peel, passion fruit peel, cashew peel, papaya seed and grape pomace extracts were analyzed. The extracts were obtained by three different extraction methodologies: infusion extraction, polarity gradient extraction and hydroalcohol extraction. The inhibition efficiencies of the extracts tested were obtained by weight- loss tests. The neutral medium studied simulates the composition of water of industrial cooling systems with high concentration cycle, with 1050 ppm of chloride, 450 ppm of calcium and 160 ppm of bicarbonate and pH 7.5. The performance of extracts was good in both media studied. The concentrated grape pomace extracts had the best inhibition efficiency in the weight-loss tests with a period of 72 hours of immersion in neutral medium, whose value was of 74%. The efficiency of these inhibitors was more significant in 1 mol·L-1 hydrochloric acid media, with efficiencies above 93% in a period of 24 hours of immersion.