Because of the extremely corrosive environments inside many industrial exhaust ducts, sprinkler systems have not been successfully designed to protect against fires originating within these ducts. Damage to the exhaust ductwork system caused by fire can lead to interruption of the plant operations for an extended period of time with substantial financial losses. Research has been performed to evaluate the corrosion resistance properties of various materials and coatings such that corrosion resistant sprinklers and fire protection hardware can be developed for use in these flammable exhaust ducts and other corrosive industrial environments. Laboratory tests, including electrochemical techniques and crevice coupon immersion tests, were used to select suitable alloys and coatings,for in-situ field test rack studies. These results are providing the basis for the development of fire protection systems suitable for these industrial exhaust ducts.' (C) 2009 American Institute of Chemical Engineers Process Saf Prog 29: 70-78, 2010