An Investigative Study of Corrosion Effects of Cereals on the Grinding Components of Commercially Available Grinding Machines

Abstract

This study investigates corrosion effects of household food products such as cereals on commercially available grinding machines. Samples of grinding machine materials, such as alloys of cast iron and mild steel, were exposed to water and to two identified cereal environments, i.e. corn and sorghum in solution. The loss in weight of the alloy samples in the various environments were determined over pre-determined intervals. The corrosion rates of the alloys were then determined from analysis and found to be 15.314 W/T and 13.863 W/T for cast iron and mild steel, respectively, where W is the weight loss and T is exposure time. It was discovered that corn had more corrosive effects on the alloy samples as compared to sorghum. Furthermore, cast iron has higher corrosion rate than mild steel. This research work reveals the extent of corrosion on grinder materials in cereal environments and so would aid the foundry men in appropriating the chemical composition of the alloys to suit such environment.