Corrosion protection for electronics

Corrosive gases in the air attack circuit boards and electronic circuits. That causes faults, failures and unplanned downtime. A chemical filter removes those gases from the air before they reach the equipment.

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Which gases cause corrosion?

Moisture makes these gases more aggressive: above 50 per cent relative humidity, the copper corrosion class goes up one step for every 10 per cent of extra humidity. The source differs by sector. A data centre on an industrial estate, for example, is more often exposed to NOx and SO2 from its surroundings.

How corrosive is the air?

The measure for this is ANSI/ISA-71.04-2013. It has four classes: G1, G2, G3 and GX. G1 is the class that filter advice aims for.

You measure it with copper and silver coupons that hang in the room for about 30 days, or with a monitor that measures continuously. See Measurements and analyses.

Which filters protect against corrosion?

Usually chemisorption media: alumina granules with an impregnation that binds the gas chemically. See Chemical filters. The medium can also sit in a complete filter unit with a pre-filter and a final filter. See Filter installations.

Maintenance: how long will the medium last?

From a sample of the medium, a laboratory works out how long it will keep working, so you replace it in time and the air stays in class G1. See Measurements and analyses.

Where does corrosion occur?

You find corrosive gases in server rooms, control rooms, MCC rooms (motor control centres), switchgear rooms and at air compressors. Chemical filters are also used in laboratories, the pharmaceutical industry and petrochemicals.

Do you manage a switch room, MCC room or data centre? See corrosion in technical rooms. For archives, libraries and museums there is a site on air quality in archives.

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