Soil cathodic protection

Cases (e), (g), and (h) are of interest in the cathodic protection of warm objects (e.g., district heating schemes [89] and high-pressure gas lines downstream from compressor stations [82]) because the media of concern can arise as products of cathodic polarization. The use of cathodic protection can be limited according to the temperature and the level of the mechanical stressing. The media in cases (a) and (f) are constituents of fertilizer salts in soil. Cathodic protection for group I is very effective [80]. 

It is important to realize that only some of the pores vill contain vater and mo. t of them will not be filled but probably lined with ivater. The tortuosity and small size of the pores in the concrete gives a higher resistivity for inland atmospherically expo.sed concrete structure.s than for marine or soil cathodic protection systems. Added to this is the fact that not all the pores are 100% full, or even lined with water. This makes a very unusual highly oxygenated, stagnant, high resistivity, alkaline medium. This contributes to the unique requirements of cathodic protection systems for atmospherically exposed reinforced concrete structures. 

This is one of the oldest techniques of corrosion protection of steel in a corrosive environment, such as water or soils. Cathodic protection has been applied very successfully to the protection of pipelines, storage tanks and underground structures in petroleum and oil industries. Cathodic protection has been widely applied for the protection of concrete structures. In principle, a small negative voltage is applied to the steel in concrete which makes all the steel surface the cathode and eliminates the anode areas on the steel surface. This technique has been discussed in detail in Chapter 5. The cathodic reaction at the surface leads to increased alkalinity which passivates steel. 

Cathodic Protection This electrochemical method of corrosion control has found wide application in the protection of carbon steel underground structures such as pipe lines and tanks from external soil corrosion. It is also widely used in water systems to protect ship hulls, offshore structures, and water-storage tanks. 

The basic standard for cathodic protection was laid down for the first time in DIN 30676 to which all the application areas of the different branches of protection can be referred. In this the most important point is the technique for accurately measuring the object/soil potential [58]. The usual off-potential measurement method for underground installations has been slowly implemented and enforced in Europe since the 1960s [59]. 

Practical measurements providing data on corrosion risk or cathodic protection are predominantly electrical in nature. In principle they concern the determination of the three principal parameters of electrical technology voltage, current, and resistance. Also the measurement of the potential of metals in soil or in electrolytes is a high-resistance measurement of the voltage between the object and reference electrode and thus does not draw any current (see Table 3-1). 

For determining the off potentials of cathodically protected pipelines, time relays are built into the cathodic protection station to intermpt the protection current synchronously with neighboring protection stations for 3 s every 30 s. The synchronous on and off switching of the protection stations is achieved with a synchronous motor activated by a cam-operated switch. The synchronization of the protection station is achieved as follows a time switch is built into the first protection station. An interruption of the protection current is detectable at the next protection station as a change in the pipe/soil potential. Since the switching time is known, the time switch of the second protection station can be activated synchronously. The switching of further protection stations can be synchronized in the same manner. 

Stainless steels in soil can only be attacked by pitting corrosion if the pitting potential is exceeded (see Fig. 2-16). Contact with nonalloyed steel affords considerable cathodic protection at f/jj < 0.2 V. Copper materials are also very resistant and only suffer corrosion in very acid or polluted soils. Details of the behavior of these materials can be found in Refs. 3 and 14. 

Corrosion susceptibility in aqueous media is assessed on the basis of the rating numbers [3, 14], which are different from those of soils. An increased likelihood of corrosion is in general found only in the splash zone. Particularly severe local corrosion can occur in tidal regions, due to the intensive cathodic action of rust components [23, 24]. Since cathodic protection cannot be effective in such areas, the only possibility for corrosion protection measures in the splash zone is increased thickness of protective coatings (see Chapter 16). In contrast to their behavior in soils, horizontal cells have practically no significance. 

Even with the superposition of the ac with a cathodic protection current, a large part of the anodic half wave persists for anodic corrosion. This process cannot be detected by the normal method (Section 3.3.2.1) of measuring the pipe/soil potential. The IR-free measurable voltage between an external probe and the reference electrode can be used as evidence of more positive potentials than the protection potential during the anodic phase. Investigations have shown, however, that the corrosion danger is considerably reduced, since only about 0.1 to 0.2% contributes to corrosion. 

Current control can be more advantageous where rail/soil potentials are predominantly positive. Current control is also preferred in the cathodic protection of steel-water construction if the anode resistance fluctuates due to changes in electrical conductivity. 

Deep anodes are installed where the resistivity is high in the upper layers of soil and decreases with increasing depth. This type of installation is recommended for densely populated areas and for local cathodic protection (see Chapter 12) on account of the small space needed and the smaller voltage cone, which avoids interference with foreign structures. 

No damaging interference to foreign objects has to be considered in cathodic protection with galvanic anodes because of the small current densities in soil and the lower anode voltages. 

Fig 9-18 Current distribution and voltage cone Af/ at a defect in the pipe coating of a cathodically protected pipeline and the variation in the pipe/ soil potential of a pipeline subjected to interference. 

With underground installations in the soil, it must be ensured that no water can penetrate in gaps between cathodically protected and unprotected parts since the cathodically unprotected side of the coupling can be destroyed by anodic corrosion. Sections of pipe behind the insulator must be particularly well coated. 

Fig. 10-8 Pipe/soil potentials and protection currents for a pipeline. Drainage test x-x after 1 year o-o. P = potential test point R = pipe current test point LA = cathodic protection station / = insulating joint SP = pipe casing potential test point.

As in the case of corrosion at the insulating connection due to different potentials caused by cathodic protection of the pipeline, there is a danger if the insulating connection is fitted between two sections of a pipeline with different materials, e.g., mild and stainless steel. The difference between the external pipe/soil potential is changed by cell currents so that the difference between the internal pipe/ medium potential has the same value, i.e., both potential differences become equal. If the latter is lower than the former for the case of free corrosion, the part of the pipe with the material that has the more positive rest potential in the soil is polarized anodically on the inner surface. The danger increases with external cathodic protection in the part of the pipeline made of mild steel. 

The cathodic protection of pipelines is best monitored by an intensive measurement technique according to Section 3.7, by an off potential survey eveiy 3 years and by remote monitoring of pipe/soil potentials. After installation of parallel pipelines, it can be ascertained by intensive measurements whether new damage of the pipe coating has occurred. These measurements provide evidence of possible external actions that can cause mechanical damage. 

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