Introduction to Cathodic Protection.docVIP

Introduction to Cathodic Protection Foreword Corrosion or deterioration of metals has posed a problem to industry for many years. Of all the various anti-corrosion systems used, Cathodic Protection is one of the most efficient, being a positive and economical solution to the multiple corrosion problems encountered either on shore or offshore (marine environments). ? When dissimilar metals are in electrical or physical contact (the former through an electrolyte), galvanic corrosion can take place. The process is akin to a simple DC cell in which the more active metal becomes the anode and corrodes, where as the less active metal becomes the cathode and is protected. The galvanic series shown below in Table 1 can be used to predict the metal which will corrode in contact with another metal, based on whether it is cathodic or anodic with respect to another. On top of the table are the Noble or cathodic (protected) metals and at the bottom, the more active or Anodic metals. Table 1Standard electromotive force series for selected metals Metal-metal ion equilibrium (unit activity) Potential at 25 oC (77 oF), V Ag/Ag+ +0.80 Cu/Cu2+ +0.34 H2/H+ (reference) 0 Fe/Fe2+ -0.44 Zn/Zn2+ -0.76 Al/Al3+ -1.66 Mg/Mg2+ -2.36 Cathodic Protection is an electrochemical means of corrosion control in which the oxidation reaction in a galvanic cell is concentrated at the anode and suppresses corrosion of the cathode in the same cell. Figure 1 shows a simple cathodic protection system. The steel pipeline is cathodically protected by its connection to a sacrificial magnesium anode buried in the same soil electrolyte. Figure1 Cathodic protection was first developed by Sir Humphrey Davy in 1824 as a means of controlling corrosion on British naval ships. Virtually all modern pipelines are coated with an organic protective coating that is supplemented by cathodic protection systems sized to prevent corrosion at holidays (defects) in the protective coating. This combination of protect