Salt, vinegar, smoke, chloride, cleaning products - all include products that can be corrosive to materials through the substances they emit into the air. The fine metals of a heat exchanger should be protected from these influences, to avoid corrosion and to ensure long-term functioning of the appliance.

Corrosion and corrosion protection is therefore an increasingly important topic in refrigeration and air conditioning technology. With regard to this, the first step is to identify and understand what is going on under certain conditions in the ambient air.

A corrosive atmosphere can not only occur indoors, where warehouse goods or manufacturing products emit substances into the air, but also in the open air, where environmental influences or industrial emissions have an effect on the appliance. Among the most important substances with harmful influences are carbon dioxide, carbon monoxide, hydrocarbons, ammonia, nitrogen oxides, sulphur compounds, fluorides, chloride, and their reaction products.

Particularly in the vicinity of power plants or the aluminium, iron, steel and stone industries, an aggressive atmosphere emerges. Near water, on the other hand, the high concentration of chlorides can exert a material changing effect. Heat exchangers, which are exposed to these site conditions, will be destroyed sooner or later, if they are not specially protected. Heat, moisture, pollution or other environmental factors also increase this effect.

For effective corrosion protection, all these environmental conditions must be taken into account. Below is a selection of materials that are resistant to these influences protect the appliance from corrosion in the long term.