Horizontal Anode Beds

Fig. 9-3 Grounding resistance of anodes in a continuous coke bed with a covering of earth t = 1 m and a diameter d = 0.3 m for a specific soil resistivity of p = 10 Q m. Horizontal anodes from Eq. (24-23), see line 9 in Table 24-1 vertical anodes R ...

The constant, C, depends on the dimensions of the anode bed. It follows from line 4 of Table 24-1 for a horizontal ground in the half space... 

The wattage is directly proportional to the grounding resistance of the whole anode bed and therefore to the specific soil resistivity. Equation (9-5) gives the grounding resistance of the anode installation which either consists of n horizontal or vertical single anodes or of anodes with a horizontal continuous coke bed of total length I = ns. The total cost function is given by [1] ... 

The current requirement of the protected object basically determines the design of the anode bed. For example, for a pipeline requiring 10 A with horizontal anodes laid in soil with p = 45 H m, according to Fig. 9-14, eight anodes are necessary. The grounding resistance of one anode amounts to Rq = 14 H. From Fig. 9-8, the grounding resistance of the anode bed with an interference factor F= 1.34 for 8 anodes spaced at 5 m comes to R = 2.34 Q.. 

Local distributed anode-bed systems are the most common design. This type of bed can be installed either vertically or horizontally depending on their position in the soil. Horizontal installations may be necessary when obstructions or other soil conditions make digging holes difficult. Horizontal installations are also used where soil resistivities are very low and the increased resistance of the horizontal installation is not significant. A minimum of 0.6 m of burial for all cables and 0.9 m of burial for the anode is recommended. Figure 13.13 shows a typical local horizontal distributed anode bed. 

Figure 5.49 Typical horizontal anode design chart for impressed current ground beds. (From TEXACO Cathodic Protection - Design and application school, Texaco Houston Research Center, Training Manual. Reproduced by kind permission of Cheveron, USA)...

The above procedure can be used to determine the anode to earth resistance. Design charts can be constructed for vertical anodes and horizontal anode ground-beds for both impressed and galvanic anode systems. The development of design curves is discussed in Section 5.31.2. 

The following example shows how the design curve can be used to obtain the resistance of impressed current and galvanic anodes. Separate charts are constructed for impressed current ground-beds and horizontal ground-beds. With each chart the following design information is provided ... 

The installation costs for a single impressed current anode of high-silicon iron can be taken as Kj = DM 975 (S550). This involves about 5 m of cable trench between anodes so that the costs for horizontal or vertical anodes or for anodes in a common continuous coke bed are almost the same. To calculate the total costs, the annuity factor for a trouble-free service life of 20 years (a = 0.11, given in Fig. 22-2) should be used. For the cost of current, an industrial power tariff of 0.188 DM/kWh should be assumed for t = 8750 hours of use per year, and for the rectifier an efficiency of w = 0.5. The annual basic charge of about DM 152 for 0.5 kW gives about 0.0174 DM/kWh for the calculated hours of use, so that the total current cost comes to... 

Vertical installations are used when there is a need to obtain lower resistivities, when there are difficulties with trenching for a horizontal bed, or when the physical surface area is limited. Generally, due to their length, vertical bed anodes are brittle and must be carefully handled to prevent breakage. Figure 13.14 shows a typical local distributed vertical anode system. The anode cable is prone to failure if the insulation is damaged in any way. As a result, particular care should be exercised in handling the anode leads. 

Anodes are installed in a continuous or non-continuous coke breeze bed in a horizontal ditch. 

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