A PRESENTATION ON CATHODIC

PROTECTION BASIC PRINCIPLES AND

PRACTICES
WHAT IS CORROSION?

Degradation of metal by its chemical reaction with a non-metallic matter such as

oxygen, sulfur etc.
Return of metal to the form in which it originally existed as an ore with complete loss
of its metallic properties.

Metal electrode through which current flows.

From metal into electrolyte-ANODE

From electrolyte into metal-CATHODE

Effect of Corrosion

One Amp of current can cause a loss of 9 Kg of Steel in One Year.

Even a small amount of Current discharge, 1 mA can result in 7 holes of dia. in a 2steel
pipe of standard thickness in 1-year time.

Corrosion can be mitigated by.

Cathodic Protection
Selection of Materials
Coatings

Cathodic Protection?

Use of DC Current from an External Source to oppose the discharge of corrosion current
from anodic areas of the structure.

Theory of Cathodic Protection

Steel in soil / water Anodic

Earth / Sea water Cathodic

As a result :-

Steel loses electrons and hence corrosion

To reverse the above:

Make steel Cathodic

Seawater / Earth Anodic

HOW DOES CATHODIC PROTECTION WORK?

Direct Current is forced to flow from an external source to the Structure. When the flow of
this current is so adjusted to over power corrosion current discharging from all anodic areas
thereby providing complete Protection.

Criteria for Cathodic Protection.

Steel in Soil: Pipe to Soil potential must be between

0.85 V to -1.2 V w.r.t Cu/CuSo4 Reference Electrode.

Steel in Water: Pipe to Electrolyte potential must be between 0.8V to 1.10V w.r.t
Ag/AgCl Reference Electrode.

BASIS FOR CURRENT DENSITY.

SOIL RESISTIVITY

>1000 ohm-cm 10 mA/m2

100-1000 ohm-cm 20 mA/m2

<100 ohm-cm 35 mA/m2

WATER RESISTIVITY

>150 ohm-cm 50 mA/m2

50-150 ohm-cm 75 mA/m2

<50 ohm-cm 110 mA/m2

Application of Cathodic Protection

Cathodic Protection with Galvanic Anodes.

Magnesium Anodes
Zinc Anodes
Aluminium Anodes

Cathodic Protection with Impressed current Anodes.

 High silicon chromium cast iron Anodes
Mixed Metal Oxide Anodes
Graphite Anodes

Fig. 1: Galvanic Anode System

Advantages of Galvanic Anode System

Simple in Installation
No External Power Source
No Maintenance
No Power Bills
Easy to Design
No expensive accessories like cables etc
Economical for small structures

Limitation of Galvanic System

Low Driving Voltage

Poor performance due to passivation
Limited Current
 Low life

Typical Application of Galvanic anode System

Small Pipelines with good Coating

Harbor Facilities, Steel piles, Jetties etc
Vessels, Tanks
Plant facilities and Equipment, Seawater intakes, Screens, Condensers, Heat
Exchangers etc.

Fig. 2: Typical Anode and Monitoring

Fig. 3: Impressed current cathodic protection system

Advantages of Impressed Current CP System

Current and Voltage can be varied

Can be used in almost any resistivity Environment
Can be designed for remote monitoring and control
Can be designed for measurement of Instant OFF / ON
No limitation of driving Voltage
System is extremely flexible

Limitations of ICCP Systems

Regular monitoring and maintenance required

Requires Main supply or another source of electric Power
Interference Problem must be considered.

Main data required for deciding a CP System

Details of Structure Dimensions

Surface Coating Scheme
Details of Soil Strata / Terrain
 Presence of Foreign Metallic Structures.
Details of cased crossings
History of corrosive areas
Stray current conditions
Operating Temperature
Availability of AC Power

Planning a CP System

Factors that govern the Design:

Choice of Cathodic Protection system

Amount of Total Current to achieve CP
No of CP Installations
o Spacing between them &

o Current Output of each Installation

Type of anodes and ground bed configuration

Any special conditions at certain locations needing modification of general CP Plan
Location of CP Test station.

Why do we need Plant Cathodic Protection

Initial Investment for Petrochemical complexes, Fertilizer Plants and Refineries are
very high.
The corrosion problems are not detected until some leak appears.
Leakages can be extremely disastrous causing fatal accidents and great financial loss.
Increases maintenance cost of repairs of leakages.
The corrosion problem can also cause plant shut down there by losing production.
Cathodic Protection can be installed at the time of erection of the plant at a very low
cost.
The CP cost could be 5-6 times, if it is installed after completion of project as it
involves lot of excavation and restoration of structures.

Complexities of Plant CP

Scattered Underground Pipelines

o -Pipes in Parallel

o -Bifurcations
 o -Closely grouped network

Different pipes could be of different materials and coatings.

Area of influence shall vary from pipe to pipe.
Heavy underground civil structure reinforcements
Earthing network.
Tank Bottoms

Corrosion Control for Above Grade Storage Tanks..

The Tank bottom in contact with soil undergoes corrosion. This could lead to leakage,
loss of product and cause environmental hazards.
It is much simpler and economical to install CP system during the construction stage.

Cathodic Protection for Pipelines

Main data required for deciding a CP System

Details of Structure Dimensions

Surface Coating Scheme
Details of Soil Strata / Terrain
Presence of Foreign Metallic Structures.
Details of cased crossings
History of corrosive areas
Stray current conditions
Operating Temperature
Availability of AC Power

MAJOR EQUIPMENT USED FOR CP SYSTEM

ANODES
MMO ANODES
SILICON IRON ANODES
GRAPHITE ANODES
The anodes are installed in deep well borehole groundbeds.
Fig. 4: TYPICAL DEEPWELL INSTALLATION WITH MMO ANODES

SOLAR GENERATORS:

CP Stations where input power is not available, Solar generators are used to power the CP
system.

ANODE JUNCTION BOX:

The anode junction boxes are used to distribute the DC power from the T/R unit to the anodes
at each CP station. The anode tail cables and the positive header (from T/R) is terminated
inside the AJB.One circuits with suitably rated shunts for monitoring the current output of the
anode string.

NEGATIVE DISTRIBUTION BOX:

The negative header cable (from T/R) and negative drain cable from the pipeline are
terminated inside the NDB at each CP station. Each circuit shall have a variable resistor to
control the current and suitably rated shunt to monitor the current.

SOLID STATE POLARIZATION CELL:

Pipeline to be earthed at all overhead powerline crossings where the voltage is greater than
100 kV. Connected across the pipeline and the system earthing. Prevents the CP current drain
from the structure to the system earthing. Shunts all fault currents and induced currents to the
earth.

SURGE DIVERTERS:

Surge Diverters are used across Isolating Joints Facilities. Provides surge protection to
Isolating Joints in case of a lightning strike or other faults.

MONITORING

For routine maintenance and monitoring of effectiveness of the CP system the following test
facilities are provided along the pipeline.

1) POTENTIAL MEASUREMENT FACILITY: For measurement of the pipe to soil potential

with respect to a portable reference cell. These facilities are provided at a regular interval of
one facility every two kilometers

2) DRAIN POINT TEST FACILITY: At each CP station a drain point test facility is
provided. Two permanent reference cells, two polarization coupons, and one corrosometer
probe are used to measure the pipe to soil potential with respect to a permanent buried
Cu/CuSO4 reference cell and the instant OFF potential from a buried coupon. Corrosometer
allows monitoring of the corrosion rate and thereby the performance of the system.
Permanent Reference cells are used to feed data for SCADA system.

3) FOREIGN SERVICE CROSSING/PARALLEL FACILITY: To carry out interference

testing at foreign pipeline crossing or foreign pipeline running parallel to SGP. To
facilitate the mitigation of Interference effects

MONITORING OF CP SYSTEM:

Economic and safety considerations require close supervision and maintenance of all
cathodic protection systems. Monitoring can be divided into three categories:

Monthly Monitoring
Quarterly Monitoring
Annual Monitoring

MONTHLY MONITORING:

Recording drain point potentials

Ground bed resistance
 Anode current output
T/R output and T/R settings
Solar output settings

QUARTERLY MONITORING:

Recording Structure to Electrolyte Potential at measurement location. (Only ON

potentials to be recorded)
Bonding Currents to be measured.
Isolation joints to be tested using Swing Test.
Reports to be generated.
Solar output settings

CLOSE INTERVAL POTENTIAL (CIP) AND DIRECT CURRENT VOLTAGE

GRADIENT (DCVG) SURVEYS:

It is recommended that a Close Interval Potential Survey should be conducted within

one year after commissioning the C.P. system. This should be repeated once every
three to five years.
Based on the CIPS data, DCVG survey should be conducted immediately at sites
where under protection has been observed during CIP survey. It is also recommended
that DCVG survey is conducted for the entire pipeline once every three to five years.