-- Report on Cooperative study with Tokyo Institute of Industry and Nitto Shinco Company

By Zheng Meng, Wang jing; National Engineering Research Center for Marine Corrosion Protection, IOCAS

In the last month of 2012, we were dispatched by Institute of Oceanology, Chinese Academy of Science (IOCAS), to do cooperative study with Tokyo Institute of Technology and Nitto Shinco Company. Tokyo Institute of Industry owns many advanced research topics as well as the top-ranking scientific instruments. Nitto Shinco Company is one of the biggest manufacturer which making anti-corrosion tapes and paste.

Our group has been concentrating on the R&D of Corrosion Protection of Steel Structure in Marine Environment for many years before National Engineering Research Center for Marine Corrosion Protection is authorized by Ministry of Science and Technology in 2011. The main purpose of this cooperative study is to do further discussion about on the performance testing technical, and compare the research and evaluation of anti-corrosion products with Nitto Shinco Company.

The first place we visited was corrosion laboratory in Tokyo Institute of Technology. Both the researcher and students have a busy schedule there, and they all work on different subjects. Because the government encourages study of energy material nowadays, many graduate students choose battery and electrochemistry as their theme. Whatever you do in the Lab, reporting the research progress every week is a routine.

The most time of this cooperative study was spent in Nitto Shinco Company. Many traditional anti-corrosion products are being produced there, used in marine project, pipeline, oil tank and many other fields. They have very strict regulations towards manufacture and test. For example, the person to operate machine should point to the machine with finger, while say the operation loudly (also the condition such as temperature or speed), and have a detailed record as soon as possible. The importance of standardization impressed us greatly.

Through the visit to performance testing department in Nitto Shinco Company, we found our equipments and test instruments in IOCAS are rather new and advanced. However, we haven’t established an operation and management system. Standardization is fairly important, to take full use of the recourses and develop the R&D efficiency.

The gap between local research center in China and the international corporation abroad is becoming narrow gradually, with more and more cooperative study from now on.