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SYLLABUS
The content of all modules is drawn from personal experience and field experimentation
backed up by years of research into the theory and application of cathodic protection in field
conditions.
Each module is supported by documentation including pictures and data from actual field
activities.
The cost of each module includes on-line, real time discussion period at the end of each
module.
We can supply the instruments needed for this course, but will require payment plus
shipping costs prior to dispatch. Your organisation may already have the required
instruments or chose to obtain them locally.
Module 01
Module 02
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Module 03
Module 04
Equivalent circuits
Physical modelling of CP measurement techniques.
Practical construction of 8 measurment models.
Simulation of field conditions on the bench.
Field trip to confirm theoretical and model integrity requiring a
report.
On-line real time discussion.
Module 05
Significance of the paper presented at the
Australasian Corrosion Conference of 1982
Practical bench work to confirm this paper.
Field trip to confirm theoretical and benchwork integrity
requiring a report.
On-line real time discussion.
Module 06
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C.P. criteria.
The Prinz Cell. The Baekmann Cell,
The Alexander Cell and arrangement suggested by
Jim Gosden of the British Standards Institute.
Summary of the present status of the criteria for 'protection'.
Practical bench construction of an 'isopotential cell' and an
Alexander Cell.
Field trip to use both types of cell requiring a report.
On-line real time discussion.
Module 07 (under
construction)
Ground resistivities.
Resistivity measurements.
Temperature and pressure effects.
Effects on corrosion.
Spread of protective currents.
Effects on monitoring measurements.
Groundbed siting.
Practical work with Mega, soil boxes, resistivity cells etc.
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Computerisation of CP
The Dynamic Project
History of CP computer analysis.
Some software tools for analysis.
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Module 1
An introduction to cathodic
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protection
What is cathodic protection?
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The public are not generally aware that our gas and oil
comes to us through pipes that are inclined to rust but
are protected by 'Cathodic Protection'.
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CATHODIC PROTECTION IS
DIFFERENT
Unfortunately, cathodic protection is not a unit
composed of simple elements in the way that batteries
are, because the electrolyte is the ground itself. This is
an uncontrollable feature with an almost infinite
variety of qualities.
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UNDEFINABLE ELEMENTS
Pipelines are more complex, and can be regarded as
many interface reactions connected together, in
parallel.
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FURTHER COMPLEXITY
Each coating fault is a metal-to-electrolyte interface
which is capable of a different reaction, electromotive-force (EMF) which cannot be measured as it is
in parallel with all other EMFs on the same section of
pipeline.
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OVER PROTECTION
There are several other problems, however, as too
much current passing onto a steel surface can cause
embrittlement, which under certain circumstances can
be as detrimental as corrosion itself. This is manifest
in such applications as the protection of the external
surfaces of drill pipe casings, where a considerable
amount of cathodic protection current is used.
Another fear of 'over-protection' is that of cathodic
disbondment of the coating. This happens when the
coating manufacturers specifications are exceeded.
Cathodic protection current passing onto the metal
causes the release of hydrogen which disbonds the
coating. In reality this is rarely a problem.
The current will only pass onto the metal at a coating
fault, and the density of the current will depend on the
size of the coating fault and the current locally
available. As the current blows the coating from the
metal, the volts drop at the interface will decrease, and
equilibrium will be reached with a very small increase
in additional disbondment.
If there is no coating fault, then no cathodic
disbondment will occur, as recognised in the British
Standard Code of Practice for testing the coating
manufacturers specification. This requires a specific
size of coating fault on a steel coupon, to be subjected
to an increasing voltage over a specified period. The
test cannot be carried out on a coupon with perfect
coating as the disbondment is observed under the
coating at the edge of the fault.
These matters will be covered in detail later in the
course
THEORY V PRACTICE
We simply want to stop corrosion but we need to
know when we have succeeded. Cathodic protection is
immensely successful, and cost effective, but every
leak is a demonstration that we have not applied it
correctly.
Link to page on Cathodic Protection Measurements
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corrosion than the technical and scientific progress that makes control
possible.
Module 2
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History of development of
the Cathodic Protection Network
Pipelines are mainly made of steel and coated with material that protects them
from chemical reaction with their backfill. This coating must be electrically
resistant and is inspected immediately before the pipeline is buried or
submerged.
Steel pipes leave the factory in lengths of about 40 feet which are welded
together into continuous lengths before lowering into the ditch. Each length has
been factory coated but the gaps left for welding are coated in the field.
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The coating inspection is known as 'holiday detection' from the old expression
of paint inspectors that the painter had taken a holiday when leaving a bare
patch. The primary inspection is visual plus a continuous spring ring is
wrapped round the pipe and rolled along using an insulated handle which
connects the spring to a very high voltage coil.
The voltage is set so that an arc occurs at a coating defect and rings a bell in the
detector box. The inspector marks the fault which is repaired and re-checked.
The detection and repair of coating faults delays the work of pipe laying which
involves using heavy plant and equipment in difficult circumstances, all of
which make it very easy to damage the coating further.
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Cathodic Protection
Cathodic protection test leads are connected to the pipeline metal at intervals
varying from half kilometer to one mile, depending on the country and
operators specification. Additional test points are provided at locations where
the pipeline passes beneath roads, railways, canals and rivers.
The test leads are very well insulated because they are copper and would tend
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The test leads are bought to the surface through a pipe or concrete post set in
the ground. The ends are normally attached to brass nuts and bolts which
protrude giving access for electrical connection to instruments.
Vandals often damage these test posts so it is sometimes necessary to simply
use a steel post and set the lead in concrete or epoxy compound to the top of the
post.
Cathodic protection Inspectors were required to connect the test lead to the
negative terminal of a voltmeter, connect the positive terminal to an electrode
described as a 'half-cell' which was placed on the ground directly above the
pipeline.
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It was thought that the half-cell was a reference potential against which it was
possible to measure the voltage which would give an indication of the corrosion
status of the pipeline metal.
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Field workers found that moving the half-cell would produce a significantly
different result and when they reported this the data was altered to suit the
expectations of the clients consultant engineers.
From the 1950's to the 1970's, the source of scientific excellence and
engineering guidance was a publication known as 'Peabodies' published by the
National Association Of Corrosion Engineers.
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It was very clear that corrosion control was not effective as leaks were
increasing alarmingly.
I was allowed to utilise some of my unique survey procedures to build an
overview of the corrosion status of the region.
I specified the 'two half-cell' survey to a contractor Mark Derefaka in early
1975 at Bomu Manifold which had been bombed during the Biafran war.
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Another manifold had been quickly built over the old one, to get the oil
flowing, but there were no drawings of the old buried pipework as they had
been lost in the destruction of some of the head office buildings.
This contract proved the value of mapping the potential profile of the ground
and showed the exact position of all the old pipework prior to exacavation.
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Pocket calculators had just become available so I was able work out the likely
locations of corrosion using electrical laws and reconciling each part of the
system.
My survey teams would enter their readings on wall graphs using map pins
linked with cotton.
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I used an assortment of metal coupons and sensitive meters but the problem
was that the current must be measured without disturbing the reaction. The
effect of the cathodic protection must be measured without disturbing the
passage of that current onto either the anodic or cathodic interface.
The only way to do this is to create a real corrosion cell in such a way that the
corrosion current can be observed in any state of equilibrium.
Return to the UK
During a period of independant research and development in the UK I designed
the Alexander Cell into a working unit.
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I had a solicitor witness the document above to substantiate that I had indeed
invented and constructed the device myself at that time.
I then spent four years as a cathodic protection technician working first for
Atkins Inspection and later with Global Cathodic Protection on contract to
North Thames Gas.
Before I took the position I was interviewed by Mike Foskett, Chief Corrosion
Engineer for North Thames Gas who was based at Staines. We discussed my
experience in Nigeria and he agreed that I could conduct field trials of the
Alexander Cell (in my own time) at North Thames Gas pipeline locations.
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The reason for its development was the corrosion failures of pipelines that had
been operated in compliance with the British Standards Institute Code Of
Practice (CP1021) on which the pipeline licencing in the UK was based.
I joined one of four teams of technicians who were making notes of each
voltage as the cathodic protection current was switched off and on at the
nearest transformer rectifier.
Mike Fosket told me that they used the computer to plot the voltages in both
states and that they had started by plotting the difference until they realised that
this plot did not show the coating faults as they had hoped.
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The theory had been that they could use the difference between the on and off
readings to work out if the corrosion had been stopped.
In fact, they had found the principles that I had used several years before of
plotting the ground potential profile.
I described the 'two half-cell' procedure that I used extensively in Nigeria and it
was adopted as and additional check to locate the exact position of coating
faults before excavation.
I was then required to carry out the final overline procedures, including the
Alexander Cell, to produce a written report for each location before excavation.
The use of OLI4 procedures alone produced 7% accuracy and the complete
Alexander Technology procedures produced 97% accuracy. The sampling was
100 excavations that I attended personally.
My success was such that Bob Greenwood visited site and saw the my
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Module 2
Explanation of the reasons behind current
trends in C.P. Technology.
Cathodic protection theory dictates that the metal must be reduced to below
its corrosion potential IN RELATION TO A STANDARD REFERENCE
POTENTIAL.
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Almost anyone with a rudimentary understanding can design a system that will
reduce corrosion by about 90% and so we have a situation now that there are
many 'cathodic protection experts' in positions of authority, world wide who
cannot explain why pipelines fail due to corrosion that should be prevented.
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combined with glass fibre re-inforcement. All these steps resulted in specialised
consultants becoming more significant in the fields of corrosion control,
coating manufacture and application.
Companies were formed for the manufacture of these coatings under the
scientific guidance of the specialists who were paid to research better products.
It was found that some products were so electrically resistant that they could be
applied very thinly. Some had sufficient tensile strength and impact resistance
that they could be applied without re-inforcement.
Present day coatings are very efficient but none can be applied without faults
because of the nature of pipeline construction.
It is because of these coating faults that cathodic protection is required by law
in most countries of the world.
Cathodic protection is only needed at these coating faults but their location is
not known.
Industry has developed a variety of methods to detect the location of coating
faults and these will be studied later in this course.
Pipelines continue to fail through external corrosion and there is a need to
monitor the effectiveness of cathodic protection. However most big pipeline
operating companies only take those measures that are required by law
governing the issue of their pipeline operating licences.
There is no commercial incentive to try to enhance the effectiveness of their
cathodic protection systems as the failures are covered by insurance.
The insurance companies can easily raise their premiums and the value of oil
and gas are such that the enormous profits can assimilate the cost of repair and
replacement of the damaged pipelines.
The majority of rich people world wide are best served by the present status of
corrosion control and cathodic protection and that is why CPN technology has
not been adopted world wide.
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the only person who had not received the message. His simple logic and the
evidence of his eyes showed him that the suit did not exist. His exclamations to
this effect werwe well received in the story but in real life the little boys
comments would not be popular. He was a 'whistle blower' who upset the
'establishment'.
The fable seems to end there, but in real life there remains the problem of the
Empeorors pride and 'entrepreneurs' money.
The purpose of this chapter is to allow the student to realise that
commercial pressures have a bigger effect on pipeline corrosion than the
natural effects of the corrosion reaction.
The technology contained in this course will not please many in the cathodic
protection industry as it challenges the very foundation of much of their work.
NACE and the rest of the cathodic protection industry have based all their
efforts on the fact that the copper/copper-sulphate or silver/silver-chloride
electrodes renders a reference potential on which it is possible to base cathodic
protection design and monitoring.
That is the 'invisible suit' that they sold to pipeline operators who wanted a
criterion so that they would know when cathodic protection was effective and
had indeed stopped corrosion.
Sir Humphrey Davy had proved that cathodic protection actually worked when
applied to copper cladding on ships and pipeline operators found that leak
frequencies dropped off dramatically when cathodic protection was applied to
pipelines but no one could say when the application was complete and to what
extent it had been achieved.
When it was recognised that there were errors in the measurements these were,
at first, blamed on inaccurate instrumentation and poor field work.
With the availability of digital instruments and some laboratory studies it was
possible to identify that there were real errors in field measurements that are
not present in laboratory techniques. These errors were all described as 'the IR
drop in the soil'.
It is significant that the 'experts' did not use the simple world 'voltage'. This
would have made it simple for any electrician to see the error and recognise the
way the mistake had come about. It would clarify the route to a simple solution
such as the Alexander Cell. However, this would not sell the 'invisible suit'. It
was necessary to cloud the issue with new terminology.
Scientists thought that they could eliminate the errors by taking the required
voltage with the cathodic protection current switched off. It seemed that the
error was caused by the measuring circuit alone and that by removing the
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current that was causing the voltage error, the measurement would be
equivalent to the actual reading at the interface, as required by Pourbaix.
The very first lagre scale attempt to utilise the 'off potential' theory was carried
out by North Thames Gas in the UK.
It was then realised that most pipelines were affected by more than one
transformer rectifier and that the current had not actually been switched off but
had been reduced by an unquantifiable amount.
Attempts were then made to sychronise the switching of all the transformer
rectifiers that affected each length of pipeline. This was difficult in the 1980's
as the technology was not available.
Instrument manufacturers and cathodic protection providers came out with
more and more sophisticated sychronised switching systems in an attempt to
achieve the required 'immediate off' potential.
In 2001 Roger Alexander (the little boy who saw the Emperor was nude) was
requested by NASA to submit a report for consideration by the American
Standards Authority relating to the Immediate Off Potential Survey.
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cannot know about the subject under discussion. It then follows that a persons
word is a valuable as his apparent wealth. The notion is that if a person is not
rich, he/she is not intelligent or wise.
The logic is that everyone knows that money = success and if you have no
money you are a failure.
What has this got to do with corrosion control and cathodic protection in
particular?
All of the above have directly affected the present status of corrosion control
and cathodic protection. Pipelines continue to fail and are repaired or replaced
at enormous expense and loss of money, energy and sometimes life.
If one of these failures reaches the general public there is an investigation and
enquiry that takes enough time for the public to lose interest. In the event of the
incident becoming politically important, many lawyers and polititians make a
lot of money. The first reaction of the investigators is to ascertain the cause of
the failure. These investigators normally are people involved with the
maintenance of safety standards and are keen to find taht the cause is not with
themselves or their immediate friends and associates.
The most convenient cause is local activity at a low social level. In the case of a
developing nation this is usually found to be people trying to steal the product
or clumsy behaviour of a mechanical device such as a digger or tractor.
It is very rarely blamed on corrosion as this is preventable by people in
positions of power and wealth, but if that is the conclusion of the inquiry then
the consultants have a ready excuse in that they claim that there are matters
beyond the control of science and that they can never guarantee total success of
cathodic protection.
The British Standards Institute Code of Practice CP1021 was withdrawn by Jim
Gosden when it was proved in public that the recommendations could not be
practiced. It has been replaced by a very loose document that carefully avoids
any specific procedure.
The National Association of Corrosion Engineers based in the USA (NACE)
has gained world wide authority over the years as no other national or
international body has come forward with a workable criterion for cathodic
protection. They publish a standard for cathodic protection of pipelines that is
available on the internet at a cost of $83. I am the founder and owner of CPN
and cannot afford this as no businessman or entrepreneur is prepared to pay any
money to me. NACE will not answer any correspondence from CPN and it is
proving impossible to arrange an official meeting with UK authorities.
It would seem that financial and commercial considerations are more important
than stopping corrosion.
CPN is not a commercial success but CPN technology has prevented and halted
corrosion in every challenge that has been faced during the past 30 years.
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Module 2
Financial and operational benefits of CP.
We must examine the finances of cathodic protection as a number of facts
Pipelines are a method of transportation and storage in competition with trucks,
trains and tank farms.
They are therefore a threat to the livelihoods of those who sell their skills in
these competitive industries.
Pipelines themselves require little maintenance and are only replaced on a
contingency basis.
Good maintenance is not in the interest of the pipeline construction industry.
The pipeline construction industry has a vested interest in pipelines needing
replacement.
Corrosion is a major contingency issue in the maintenance of pipelines and is
prevented by coatings to separate the metal from the environment.
The coating industry has a vested interest in pipelines failing so that they can
sell more advanced coating systems that they can claim will reduce the cost of
pipeline replacement.
Cathodic protection enhances the purpose of coatings and is therefore in
competition with the transport industry, the pipeline construction industry and
the pipeline coating industry. These three industries have a financial hold on
the energy industry.
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They also have a significant presence at the top financial levels in world energy
based societies. Cathodic Protection is so cost effective that it directly threatens
the livelihood of a small section of the very rich.
Insurance
As the energy industry gains importance in any social structure, contingencies
become an issue of high finance and political power.
When energy is dominant there is enough money to insure against corrosion
leaks and insurance companies simply put their premiums at a level where they
can make a healthy profit. During these periods they are not interested in
Cathodic Protection as the frequency of leaks is not an issue in their balance
books.
However, when the financial clout of energy is low the industry looks at
financial efficiency and it is found better to cut out the insurance companies
and take on the contingency risks in house.
All of the above affect decisions at the top level of finance and government
policy in relation to Cathodic Protection.
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Unfortunately finance cannot stop corrosion and science can. Scientists have
developed a system of working together to enhance the understanding of
science and broaden their knowledge.
Professional Bodies
Specialists have grouped together in Universities and professional bodies for
the purpose of exchanging knowledge.
As each speciality develops into practical value, these groups take advantage of
that to enrich themselves privately.
With the introduction of 'healthy competition' it becomes advantageous to
restrict the knowledge to within the group.
In an ideal world this would not be necessary but in the real world, the
intellectual property of each group has a value that is now traded as a
commodity.
The mass of knowledge that is possessed by each group represents each
individual's 'equity' in that group and so each must pay to enter the group to
buy that 'equity'.
It is now possible to obtain the consent of a group by simply paying without
aquiring the necessary expertise. Degrees and memberships can be bought and
their ownership does not necessarily mean that the person is competent.
However, membership of a particular group gives the right to contribute to the
group judgements that influence the commercial value of the group 'product'.
It is this process of power that has restricted the control of corrosion for at least
30 years.
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I found that the cost of a patents agent was not within my ability to pay so I
spent three weeks learning the requirements and filed my own patent
application that would give me the monopoly for a period of 18 months. This
cost a relatively small fee to the UK patents office.
In the process of doing this I found that a friend had tried to patent the
Alexander Cell in our joint names using the services of a patents agent.
I succeeded in having this patent application annulled by the patents office and
then tried to market the device.
I then found that the Alexander Cell simplified cathodic protection monitoring
to a extent that it undermined the complications that had been introduced by the
'professional bodies and universities.
It is these complications that support the need for their expertise in advising the
industry and charging very high consultancy fees.
I recently attended a meeting at a university where the leading professor asked
me why my technology was not successful and then went on to explain to the
meeting that the only way to monitor the effects of cathodic protection is by the
use of an electrode system identical to the Alexander cell ... which he drew on
the flip chart. I suggested that he had just drawn the Alexander Cell and he
agreed.
He had on the table copies of many of my published papers yet the business
professionals representing my interests at that meeting refused to arrange any
payment to me for the transfer of my knowledge to the professor.
Without any financial support I have been unable to progress CPN technology
further through that route.
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floating zero.
The copper/copper-sulphate electrode (known as a 'half-cell) was not a
'reference potential' when used in the manner defined in the cathodic protection
industry.
Tim ffrench-Mullens and Jim Gosden, the head of corrosion engineering for the
Central Electricity Board of the UK, were aware of this problem and scientists
in Europe were working on an acceptable solution that fitted in with the
practices of the day.
Technicians and field engineers were told that the problem was with the
instruments that were available in the field. Digital voltmeters were not widely
available at this time.
Peabody produce a table and formulae for correcting readings taken on a low
resistance volt meter and this will be explained fully in this course.
The validity of pipe-to-soil potentials, taken in the traditional way was
recognised some years later when the measurment was described (in a paper by
DR.Peabody himself and published published by NACE,) as an 'open circuit
measurement', and this renders it impossible to eliminate errors which are not
present in normal closed circuit electrical measurements.
The traditional technique for making the standard CP 'pipe-to-soil'
measurement had became open to question when pipelines began to fail in spite
of having been theoretically 'protected.
Some 'experts' had blamed operator error and then poor instrumentation for the
anomalies in the readings but it was then recognised that there is another
voltage included in the traditional 'pipe-to-soil potential measurement' and this
was named the 'IR drop in the soil'.
It was thought that improved instrumentation could remedy this problem and a
whole range of new meters were offered onto the market.
Methods were then proposed to overcome the problem which had been
identified.
In the late 1970's a theory was developed that it would be possible to eliminate
the error in pipe-to-soil potential readings by removing the CP current flowing
onto the pipeline.
It was reasoned that it would be possible to measure the 'protected potential'
after the CP current is switched off and before the pipe 'de-polarised'.
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Module 2
Measuring the effect of corrosion
control
Corrosion failures occur in spite of the use of cathodic protection.
This shows that there is an error in measuring the effectiveness of cathodic
protection.
Corrosion is electro-chemical and this suggests that electrical metering can be
used for short term monitoring.
The simplicity of the circuit of a single corrosion cell would tend to suggest
that there is a simple means available to make the required measurement.
Standard reference electrodes have a recognised and known potential which can
be used as an electrical datum point against which to measure other potentials,
in a laboratory.
We normally measure VOLTAGES which are the differences between two
potentials.
This causes confusion because the readings are commonly called "potentials",
where in fact, either of the two potentials can be regarded as zero and the other
will be either higher or lower. The meter will show positive or negative values
according to the polarity of the connecting conductors.
Cathodic protection theory dictates that the metal must be reduced to below its
corrosion potential IN RELATION TO A STANDARD REFERENCE
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BR> Field readings taken and analysed in the established way are not related to
each other, except through the low resistance of the pipeline itself. This is
easily demonstrated by a simple calculation base on Ohms law as follows.
Take any sample readings from a typical pipe-to-soil "potential" cathodic
protection survey and work out the amount of current that must be passing
through the pipeline between any two cathodic protection test facilities. It will
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Before going any further it is necessary to imagine electricity and this has been
likened to water pressure, with containers connected by pipes to allow current
to flow.
The pressure is caused by the height of the water in each container and not the
weight. The water will fill any connecting tube and then the pressure
downwards will be greater in the vessel which has the highest level. The reason
for this is obviously due to the imbalance between the pressures in the two
containers and electrical potentials have the same tendency when connected by
conductors.
This is fine when visualising a simple circuit such as a single corrosion cell or a
dry cell battery connected through a light bulb, but in a cathodic protection
circuit, or when corrosion takes place on a pipeline we have no means of
measuring each separate cell in this way.
If we examine the technique that is used in the laboratory then it becomes clear
that provision has been made to eliminate outside influences in this 'open
circuit measurement'. This is not possible in cathodic protection field work, and
yet laboratory derived theories are applied to readings obtained in the field.
It can be seen that it is impossible to measure the pressure differences in each
cell by making a single connection to the common reservoir at the bottom.
However it would be possible to stop the flow of water from the highest level
in the small vessels by adding a supply of water from a higher level.
However, it can be seen that the pressure measurement in such a system would
need to be between the lowest water level and the highest water level in the
whole system.
This would be a much greater voltage (Vp in the drawing) than that required to
stop the flow in the single cell with the biggest differential.
Comparing electrical pressure with that of water is a good starting point, but it
is better to imagine electricity as simply a pressure which can pass through
conductors, and is restricted by resistances.
Imagine trying to measure the gas pressure within a cylinder. We must allow
that pressure to act on a meter which will guage the pressure. This action will
consume some of the gas within the cylinder and it is the passage of the gas
which makes it possible to measure the pressure itself.
The same rule applies to electrical pressure and this used to cause considerable
inaccuracy in voltage measurements until the digital meters made it possible to
measure voltages while drawing very little current.
Back to the gas cylinder and imagine measuring the pressure with a guage
which draws very little gas. We still have the problem that this pressure has to
be compared to something. In the case of gases, we can related this pressure to
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atmospheric pressure, displayed in such a way that we can imagine its effect on
our senses. We are aware that we are all subject to atmospheric pressure and
the effect of increasing the pressure on the human body can be felt, when
swimming under water, for example. We use our muscles to compress stale air
which is then exhaled and can feel the current of air through our nose and
mouth. Gas pressure is therefore part of our lives with which we are familiar.
We can use this experience to imagine electrical pressure, which has similar
qualities.
Everything has an electrical potential (pressure) which has the tendency to
equalise on contact with another item of a different potential. It is this tendency
which causes current to flow and allows us to make.
In the same way that chemical reactions can give off gas, and increase the
pressure within a cylinder, for example, chemical reactions can cause an
electro-motive-force (EMF) which increases the electrical pressure, or
potential, on one side of the reaction.
In order to measure the electrical pressure of this reaction we must complete a
measuring circuit with a low resistant electrically conductive path. The whole
measuring circuit reaches equilibrium with a small amount of current flowing
depending on the requirement of the meter.(in the case of digital meters, the
current required to make the measurement is very small).
In the case of measuring the voltage of a dry cell battery, we connect a
voltmeter between the poles of the battery and the voltage is the difference in
electrical pressure caused by the chemical reaction at the interface between the
electrolytic paste and the inner surface of the metal container and the electrode
which serves as the positive pole of the battery.
The technique is simple because it is possible to confine the path of the current
to that of the measuring circuit and each element of this circuit can be
evaluated. Voltage drops can be measured around the circuit, using independent
meters and measuring current can be detected by magnetic field and other
techniques.
Natural corrosion cells are much different, as they can be physically minute or
large. Large corrosion cells can contain micro-cells within the same area where
anodic areas completely surround cathodes or vice-versa. When studying such
cells, we are not able to separate the component parts, and the measurements
have come to be known as 'open circuit measurements'.
This type of measurement involves connections to the electrolyte as well as the
metal and this requires the use of an electrode. There is a danger that this will
introduce another EMF into the circuit, by the reaction between the electrode
and the electrolyte. We therefore use an electrode in a solution of its own salts,
which has a known reaction EMF. We can then make a connection between the
electrolyte in the cell and the earth electrolyte, in the hopes that there will be no
electrical disturbance to the measuring circuit.
In the laboratory, this disturbance is prevented by the use of a glass capillary
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filled with inert gel, which is used as a conductor from the reaction interface to
the reference electrode. The reference electrode is a metal in a saturated
solution of its own salts, as this has a known reaction potential. Reference
electrodes are related to each other by known voltages and are used as
international standards. Without this consistency it would be impossible to
evaluate the reaction, develop theories or design cathodic protection systems
etc.
Unfortunately, it became the practice to apply the same principles in cathodic
protection field work. It seems that many thought that the electrode could be
regarded as a reference against which other potentials can be established. They
thought that pipe to soil voltages were pipeline metal potentials which could be
plotted against a fixed potential supplied by the use of the 'reference electrode'.
There are still remnants of this concept in cathodic protection practice today,
which are manifest in 'attenuation curves' etc., which are used by some in the
design of CP systems.
This subject can now be studied in greater detail by computer modeling which
makes it much clearer that the fixed potential is normally that of the pipeline
metal, and the variation in the measured voltage is due to the different
potentials elsewhere in the measuring circuit.
Imagine that we require to know the voltage of two dry cell batteries which are
arranged in parallel. That is to say that each is in connection with a common
conductor to the positive pole and another common conductor to their negative
poles. Both conductors would carry equilibrium current according to the
reaction within each battery and the voltage between the two conductors could
be measured by connecting a meter between the two. Unless the two cells are
separated, it is impossible to evaluate the voltage of each battery. Even this is
not as complex as the expectancies of cathodic protection monitors.
If we take two batteries and half bury them in an electrolyte with their positive
poles exposed and connected, we have two corrosion cells in closer condition
to those found on a pipeline. A circuit drawing of this arrangement will show
that current will pass through the ground to equalise the pressures caused by the
interface reactions within each battery.
We must now try to evaluate the reaction within each battery using a high
resistance voltmeter and an electrode. We cannot break the circuit or separate
the batteries but connections can be made to the metal or the electrolyte or
both. It will be seen that we are only capable of measuring voltages across
various spans of the circuit, and cannot establish a reference within that circuit.
The laboratory techniques cannot be applied to these conditions as there are too
many variables which are impossible to evaluate.
If we increase the number of half buried batteries connected together, we
improve the similarity to a pipeline, but in order to be more realistic, we must
include some which have their positive poles buried. The complexity of the
situation is now apparent and what seemed to be a simple measurement, now
seems almost impossible.
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Roger Alexander
Organization
Mailing address
Including postal code and
COUNTRY
roger.alexander@virgin.net
ABSTRACT
Steel pipelines transport the worlds energy supplies from their natural reservoirs to the
consumers. These pipelines pass under ground which is sometimes densely populated or
where the public would be threatened by an explosive failure.
The integrity of these pipelines is therefore of huge financial and public safety consequence,
and yet there is no international standard criterion for cathodic protection of these pipelines. .
This is the problem that is addressed by this paper.
INTRODUCTION
Steel naturally corrodes when in contact with an electrolyte, such as the ground in which it is
buried or the water in which it is submerged. The first line of defense against corrosion is a
coating of inert material which chemically separates and electrically
isolates the pipeline metal from its environment.
However, a perfect coating is impossible in practice and the electro-chemical reaction is
concentrated at coating faults. Cathodic protection has been developed as an extremely cost
effective method of extending the life of metal structures by an order of magnitude.
Unfortunately it has proved very difficult to monitor the effects of cathodic protection and there
are frequent disastrous corrosion failures at locations where it was thought that corrosion had
been prevented.
In 1974 two oil pipelines in West Africa leaked 6 weeks after being constructed. They
continued to develop further leaks until the author diagnosed and corrected 'interference'
current from another CP system. They have not leaked since. ROGERIS THERE A
REFERENCE FOR THIS? Bob . The pipelines concerned were Ekulama 14 and Ekulama 17
which were 6 diameter steel pipelines coated with Napco thin film coating each from the
repective oil well to the gathering station at Ekulama which is in the Eastern division of Shell
Nigeria. There are records of these events but I do not know if they would be considered to be
in commercial confidence.
Cathodic Protection requires scientific knowledge and engineering discipline to apply. In 1978
a wrong connection at an oilfield installation caused 20 pipelines to leak within 3 weeks due to
the accelerated corrosion caused by the direct electric current leaving the pipe metal.
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Despite cathodic protection being required by law in most countries there is no internationally
agreed criterion at present.
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The 'Pourbaix' diagram was published in the 1950's and was hailed as validation of the -0.850v
criterion in relation to a copper/copper sulfate electrode.
Problems
Pipelines have continued to leak, even when this criterion has been reached, and new criteria
have been proposed, but none have been adopted internationally.
In 1982 the paper ' New Developments in Measuring the Effectiveness of Cathodic Protection'
was presented to the Conference of the Australasian Corrosion Association, Hobart, Tasmania
discussing the problems involved in establishing when corrosion has stopped. This author
made a presentation on this subject to the London Branch of the Institute of Corrosion Science
and Technology on the 10th of January 1984 and had a paper published in the International
Journal 'Corrosion Prevention and Control' in October 1984 entitled An Examination of CP
Monitoring using the half-cell and voltmeter which disputes the present interpretation. Much
research has been carried out, resulting in a number of techniques being suggested, and
devices patented. None of these
devices have achieved international acceptance, and there is still no reliable criterion for
cathodic protection.
The papers rely on the reader being conversant with details of corrosion science whereas the
aim is to find a criterion, which is easy to understand, and achievable with instruments that are
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The position of the pipeline was marked using Pearson type instruments.
The transformer/rectifier for this section was switched on for 5 seconds and off for 2 seconds.
The pipeline metal was contacted through CP test points and a trailing wire was connected to
the negative pole of a digital voltmeter, carried by the technician. The positive pole of the
voltmeter was connected to a copper rod suspended in a saturated solution of copper sulfate
that was put in contact with the ground.
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Fig 7. The form on which the technician entered the voltage readings.
Millions of 'on' and 'off' readings were fed into the computer during a four-year period by four
teams of technicians and two engineers engaged on the survey. The computer plotted the 'on
readings', the 'off readings' and the difference between the two, which was anticipated to show
the results of corrosive activity. The third plot was abandoned after a few months as it was
then thought to be insignificant.
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During the four-year condition audit, several 'Pearson type' techniques were used to identify
the position of the pipeline and to pinpoint coating faults.
A method was devised to record the 'Pearson' signal and make a permanent, graduated record
that could be compared to physical examination, following excavation.
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Fig 10 One example of a 'two-half-cell' plot showing potential gradients in the soil.
Further refinements were made to the original survey and the format entirely changed to
determine the locations to excavate for physical examination.
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Fig. 11. The final report format for excavation at locations suspected as having
active corrosion.
At total of 102 excavations showed less than 10% success in predicting the condition of the
coating and pipeline metal by the CIPS survey.
The operating organization developed 'the intelligent pig' concurrently with this over line audit,
but cathodic protection monitoring has the advantage of indicating the cause of corrosion
damage as well as suggesting remedial measures by adjusting the cathodic protection system.
It is also possible to monitor the success of remedial measures inexpensively.
Observations
The survey did not meet the requirements of the laboratory recommendations for making the
'polarized potential' measurement that should be made on an analogue recording voltmeter
capable of showing the 'kick' in the downward curve.
Attempts were made to find a satisfactory way to conduct a recorded CIPS and they clearly
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demonstrated that the polarized potential could not be readily identified as required by the
laboratory test and that other influences would have to be evaluated to obtain a true potential
for the purposes of applying the principles of the Pourbaix Diagram.
Fig 12. Analog recording voltmeter with stepped electrode showing the difficulty of identifying
the 'kick' in the downward curve.
Attempts were made to correct readings using analog recording voltmeters with static
electrodes to evaluate the voltage differences over a period of time at a single location. This
would also be necessary in order to apply the principles of Pourbaix and Faraday.
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Fig 13 Recording voltmeter with static electrode showing how the on and off potentials varying
during a period of several minutes.
All cathodic protection systems work in an environment influenced by other cathodic protection
systems. By isolating one section we alter the equilibrium, which we wish to measure, in the
act of making the measurement. (See also later note)
Synchronized switching of TR's was attempted and found to be impossible to achieve. Several
techniques have been suggested since this audit but successful results do not seem widely
available despite the marketing of sophisticated and expensive
instrumentation.
No attempt was made to switch the sacrificial anodes that were influencing the sections under
test although some of these were temporarily disconnected.
The exact position of each reading would have to be recorded and repeatable for the survey to
have any value.
Comments on this type of survey.
Cathodic protection systems are switched on while in service, and the current flowing from the
cathodic protection anode is a significant part of the electrical equilibrium. It is a powerful
electro-motive force within the integrated circuits of both the corrosion reactions and the
measuring system and to remove this force from the corrosion reaction is to falsify the results
of any measurement.
Removing the 'IR drop' in the measuring circuit can easily and cheaply be achieved using an
isopotential cell as suggested by many reputable and leading scientists. There are two
versions patented and a simple unpatented version of the same principle can easily and
cheaply be made by anyone.
Instant off and CIPS readings cannot be analyzed using either Ohms Law or Kirchoff's Laws
but are traditionally interpreted by the informed guesswork of specialists.
We should aim to determine whether corrosion has stopped by non-intrusive techniques that
can be confirmed by physical inspection at coating faults that are detected to be corroding.
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Module 2
Students are required to make two 'half-cells'.
This is necessary to make it clear that a copper/copper-sulphate electrode is a
very simple article with no mystical powers or scientific properties that are
difficult to understand.
It is simply a copper rod immersed in a saturated solution of copper sulphate.
Copper sulphate is the result of disolving copper in sulphuric acid and therefore
the scientific description 'in a saturated solution of it's own salts' is correct.
Copper sulphate crystals can be obtained from Ebay and Distilled water can be
obtained from any garage.
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Any clear plastic material can be used as the tube in which to place the copper
sulphate crystals and the porous plug can be made from wood or gypson
(plaster of Paris). Other domestic fillers can be used but they must be porous
when they have set.
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Scientists would have us believe that it is crucial to have pure copper and a
pure saturated solution solution, but in fact you will be able to check this out
when you have made the two electrodes.
You will be able to alter the purity of one cell and make a voltage measurement
against the potential of the other.
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The two Cu/CuSO4 electrodes will be used extensively during the remainder of
this course.
The real purpose of the 'half-cell' is that of a convenient ground contact for
buried pipelines and as a contact with the water in the case of submerged
pipelines or structures.
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Cu/CuSO4 electrode.
Report forms
METHOD
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Notes.
This is the standard type of measurement that has been recorded
over many years by most operating organisations.
The reading will indicate that the CP is functioning and connected
in the correct polarity.
Such records can be related to corrected readings where the errors
have been identified by using other procedures.
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Cu/CuSO4 electrode.
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METHOD
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Notes.
This is the standard type of measurement that has been recorded
over many years by most operating organisations.
The reading will indicate that the CP is functioning and connected
in the correct polarity.
Such records can be related to corrected readings where the errors
have been identified by using other procedures.
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(Happily, another delegate stood up, announced himself as having a PhD in the
subject, and stated that I had satisfied him in all aspects. The other 100
delegates glared at my critic so he sat down red-faced.)
However, these two incidents show that you will always be faced by someone
who cannot rebutt your presentation of the facts, and who will resort to trying
to confuse everyone with long words. It is for this reason that I have developed
the ability to demonstrate and repeatedly confirm everything that I know about
cathodic protection and corrosion.
Thermo-dynamics deals with energy and corrosion releases energy in the form
of electrons. These electrons flow in the opposite direction to that shown on a
voltmeter as the direction of Direct Electrical Current (DC)
You will find some who want to show their superior knowledge by pointing
this out. The answer is to agree and then ask if this is shown on any of the
meters that have ever been used in the field by corrosion engineers.
The direction of the electron flow only confuses the matter and should be
ignored.
This will only receive further attention when we can see an electron and see
that it makes a difference to the practical application or measurement of
cathodic protection. There are more complications that are already present in
the study and practice of cathodic protection engineering.
The main point of the laws of thermodynamics, relating to corrosion and
cathodic protection, is that the energy released by the chemical reaction
between metals and their environments must complete a circuit to reach
equilibrium. Everything must balance out.
The metal disolves, giving off energy, which we can measure using a digital
voltmeter. We can 'see' this corrosion using and Alexander Cell.
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This energy can be called Electric Motive Force or EMF. This adds to the
property known as 'electrical potential'of the eletrolyte which has disolved the
metal. This is at the anode on top of the Alexander Cell.
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In practical work the measurement is complicated by the fact that the electrical
balance of the circuit formed by connections between all the metalic structure
must be measured in 'open circuit' as they are all submerged in common
electrolyte of infinitely variable conductivity.
We therefore need the skills of electronic engineers and considerable computer
power to analyse the true status of each corrosion reaction.
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People will refer to the Pourbaix Diagrams and scientific papers by Pourbaix
and Evans because they are recognised as having explained how cathodic
protecion works in thermo-dynamic terms. That is what I have been told by
qualified scientists and I am not about to argue with them... they have been paid
a lot more than me for their conclusions!
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I have reproduced the Pourbaix Diagrams several times and believe that they
show a state of equilibrium in which metal has not got the energy to disolve. It
does not matter what equations etc he used to prove this as everyone believes
him ... so that's OK.
It is VERY IMPORTANT to understand how the measurements were made to
obtain the values included in these equations.
In plain words this drawing shows a piece of steel called 'the working electrode'
corroding in an electrolyte. The corrosion current passes through the electrolyte
to the other piece of steel called the 'counter electrode'.
The potential of each piece of steel is regulated by a device called a
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The Daniel Cell is a glass module that allows absolute electrical potentials to be
measured.
The Daniel Cell is used to establish the relative potentials between metals in
saturated solutions of their own salts.
you can see a steel coupon in acid connected to a voltmeter and the meter
connected to a copper coupon in acid.The glass loop connecting the two is
filled with porous material.... rolled up paper will do...and that provides a
conductive path for the current to pass through
In this way they can assign numerical values to electro-chemical reactions.
Scientists can then work out theories to explain the behaviour of corrosion.
Our job is to see if these theories can be seen to work in the field.
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or we can take the readings A-B=3 and B-C=6 in which case the meter has
assigned the value of zero first to A and then to B.
It is clearly better that we relate both readings to one zero as this avoids
calculations and confusion.
This becomes more obvious if we need to know the relationship between four
potentials using a single voltmeter. We need only to take three readings
providing we establish our own reference potential. A=0 therefore A+B+-3,
A+C=-9 and A+D=3.
being able to think this way is essential to the cathodic protection field engineer
and technician. It is the only way to picture what is actually going on with
regard to corrosion and CP currents.
It is possible to calculate the relationships if we take different readings but it is
unnecessary and confusing... so let's not do it. Unfortunately traditional
cathodic protection readings do not have a common zero but it is possible to
establish the common zero using standard CPN Procedures.
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Standard Laboratory Techniques allow scientists all over the world to cooperate in the general advance of science and understanding.
Standard tests are carried out to ensure accurate product data can be published
and that the quality of products conform to the specification required by the
consumer.
However, we should not rely on the scientific establishment to provide absolute
solutions to pratical problems
The following is my reason for doubt.
During a visit to UMIST I was shown a glass tank that was set up to conduct a
'cathodic disbondment test' intended to conform to the BSI code of practice.
Specified positioning of the test coupons in relation to the reference electrode
had been ignored and readings were being adjusted by controlling the anode
potential level.
The test was ineffective, but the reported results would contain enough of the
right numbers to keep the client (a major paint manufacturer) happy and to
convince the paint users that the BSI standard had been met.
Prof. Les Wolff wrote this particular BSI code of practice and had supported
me (in writing) relating to my publication about the problems that are inherent
in cathodic protection field work. He was specific about the positioning of the
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reference electrode which should have been EXACTLY 10mm from the
metal/electrolyte interface.
There is much more to this matter than is apparent from a purely scientific
point of view. UMIST were busy 'selling the king his new coat'. Dr Scantlebury
was the tailor who convinced the King of Paint that the new suit would serve
the purpose and he was believed because of his reputation and qualifications.
It is vitally important for corrosion engineers to understand that field
conditions are not readily mirrored in the laboratory
The purpose of CPN is to stop corrosion. If our custommers want corrosion
stopped they will have to come to us as all competition is interested in is
making money.
During my travels as a corrosion engineer all of my client have said that what
they have learnt at university has not worked in the field.
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Module 3
Open circuit measurements
This is a name used by Peabody of NACE to describe an electrical
measurement made when one pole of the meter is connected to the electrolyte
rather than a definitive point on a metalic circuit.
A normal electrical measurment is made by contacting metal conductors Such
measurements can be studied in the confines of a laborarory or on a bench,
using trays and containers with sufficient space to allow the movement of the
contact point within the electrolyte.
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It will be seen that the measuring circuit of the standard cathodic protection
measurement consists of a conductor from the negative pole of the meter to a
conductor in a pipeline test post that is directly connected to the pipeline metal.
The pipeline metal is then in contact with the ground/water at undefined
coating faults.
The positive pole of the meter is connected to a conductor to a copper rod in a
saturated solution of copper-sulphate. The solution soaks through a porous plug
and makes contact with the ground/water.
It is realised that a silver/silver chloride electrode is traditionally used in sea
water measurements but this does no make any difference to the measuring
principles.
There is a volume of electrolyte between the pipeline metal and the point where
the electrode contacts the mass of the electrolyte.
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This can be carried out in the field or on a bench in a tray of wet sand.
It can also be replicated on a mathmatical model using a computer.
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It has long been recognised that there are errors in the data that has been
recorded relating to cathodic protection field work. These errors have all been
refered to as 'the IR drop in the soil'
NACE has recognised that there are difficulties in making 'open circuit
measurements'.
CPN has always recognised the inherent errors in conventional CP
measurements and has developed a suit of procedures to take advantage of the
features that cause them.
Two papers in this course define the errors in practical and scientific terms.
The drawing above is intended to draw the attention of the field corrosion
engineer to the circuit that he is engaging with every time he makes a cathodic
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The purpose of the bench work in this course it to help the student visualise electricity. Cathodic
protection engineers must be able to use their instruments to 'see' what is happening as a result of
corrosion and to 'see' the results of the cathodic protection systems that they install, commission and
adjust.
We need a plastic tray of earth or sand which we can keep dry or damp and saturate with different
purities of water. We need steel nails, batteries a multi-meter and an assortment of connectors.
The pictures on this page give you and idea of how you 'play around' to prove to yourself the contents of
Module 03 and to start you visualising the content of the whole course.
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You will see that the half cell is not used in the above pictures and that the results of sticking the nichol
plated copper probes into the sand yield useful data.
In the next picutures you will see that we use super absorbant cloth instead of sand.
This is because it is easier to transport and can more readily show the stains fom corrosion product.
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Equivalent circuits
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The problem is that the path of the electrical current passes through 'mass earth'
and that cannot be accurately expressed by the
symbolism used by convention in the electrical industry.
A dry cell battery is a corrosion cell and can be incorporated into a working
model of an equivalent circuit.
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By using a length of steel pipe and a thick copper wire, we can pruduce an
equivalent circuit of several corrosion cells on a pipeline.
We then balance the battery outputs with a transformer rectifier and we have
the equivalent circuit of a single cathodic protection
system applied to a single pipeline.
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This is a useful aid to study cathodic protection in the field as we can now
visualise the electrical balance.
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We have four glass flower vases, each being three tubes joined so that water
can level out in each tube.
We have placed these vases in compartments of a transparent container, each
supported at a different level and the fourth section being filled with sand so
that we cannot see the bottom part of the flower vase. This shows that we are
limited in the information that we can gather about the status of each tube and
each vase. Our meter allows us to 'see' the potential of one tube by comparison
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to each of the other tubes. In the case of our model, our eyes allow us to
evaluate the water levels in each of the tubes but not in the parts buried in sand.
Each glass flower vase represents a coating fault, with the water level in each
tube being the electrical potential (or EMF) of that particular surface reaction.
If the 'circuit' of each tube is completed through the connecting glass tube and
atmospheric pressure, then the water will reach equilibrium and the surfaces
will be level.
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If the 'potential' of each tube is too low then the water will not flow between
them .... no current will flow and there is no metal or energy lost.
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We can use the whole model to show the difficulties in measuring the relative
potentials of all of the coating faults on a length of pipeline.
A side view of the water model shows that the level of each main compartment
is different and the level of each of the tubes might be different in relation to
the bottom of that tube.
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Now look at the sand filled partition and we cannot know anything about the
botoms of the tubes or the water levels that are out of our sight. All we can see
is the water level that is visible above the sand. This is exactly the situation we
are in when measuring the voltage between a half-cell and the pipeline in
cathodic protection work.
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It is necessary to play around with this model or the notion of this model so that
you understand that all 'potentials' have to be related to other potentials to be
significant. It is no good puting a potential value into a formula if it is not
related to a common zero value within that formula.
You can apply Ohms Law to a single corrosion cell because that is a single
circuit but you cannot apply it to two corrosion cells unless they are integrated.
You can relate this notion of modeling to that of using dry cell batteries. A dry
cell battery has a potential difference from one pole to the other and can be
compared to the tubes in each of the flower vases.
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The front page makes it clear that significant errors exist in the 'immediate off'
voltage measurements that are still the mainstay of cathodic protection
measurements.
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These scientist have missed one practical point. Before the advent of digital
multimeters there was a depression in the potential of the ground caused by the
cathodic protection current that was necessary to drive the mechanism of the
meter itself. This is described in detail in the Module dealing with
instrumentation.
Up until the 1980's there was a huge effort to get the cathodic protection
readings to a level that was virtually impossible. On the wide spread use of
digital meters it was found that 'protected' readings were achievable at locations
where they had been impossible. There is no way of establishing which of these
measurements indicates the true achievement of cathodic protection.
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The formulae above are a complex way of explaining that the voltage on the
meter is the sum of several potentials. We need to know one of them to
discover if the metal is corroding.
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Now THAT page seems to me deliberately confusing. If you wade through the
strange letters used to express quite ordinary things it is quite clear that there
are a lot of approximations and uncertainties in the rational.
Read it again and again whilst visualising each symbol meaning something
with which you are familiar. Question all assumptions that you do not regard as
proven. In real life you will find that the voltage drops for days after switching
off the TR. What the above formulae does not even consider is that we are
dealing with an unknown number of corrosion cells in parallel. The Pourbaix
diagrams make it plain that you must know the pH of the electrolyte to
determine the value they describe as Ep. Do not let this sort of scientific
expression cloud the issue. We need to know when the CP has stopped
corrosion at each location.
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The statement at the top of the above page is not correct in real life. Try it and
see for yourself. I have ..... many times.
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The above page has given a simplified equivalent circuit drawing of two
coating faults. In fact there might be two corrosion cells on a single coating
fault or a single corrosion cell consisting of an anode 500 meters from the
cathode.
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The page above shows 3 coating faults and makes assumptions that are not
necessarily correct.
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The page above shows 3 coating faults and makes assumptions that are not
necessarily correct.
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Students will now realise how the facts shown in Module01 are important when
reading the above page.
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It must be put into perspective that this paper quotes the results for surveys
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The above page is very important as it says clearly that CIPS is useless. CPN
Procedures are designed to overcome these problems and can render data that
can be computer analysed including the effects of all electrical flux.
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The above effects have been described as 'teluric effects..... this is a missnomer.
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I was engaged by British Gas ERS to carry out the field tests in response to the
studies of magnetic fluctuations and am very familiar with the results. It is quite
amusing as I got the job as no-one else understood how to do it. They were all
too busy using long words and spouting off at meetings.
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I have similar data and copies of chart recordings in the CPN archives.
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The above refers to a device that has since been patented individually by each
of the authors. We can easily manufacture our own device called the
Isopotential Cell and not be in breach of the patents.
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I have used isopotential cells in the field and in fact they have many problems
other than those described above.
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The Alexander Cell and arrangement suggested by Jim Gosden of the British
Standards Institute.
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Field experience had revealed that such CP voltages were subject to an IR drop
in the soil' which was of indeterminate value.
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The IR drop in the soil is another way of expressing the potential difference
(voltage) between two places in the soil. The effect of these variations in
voltage is to alter the reading shown on the meter.
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Trials were carried out for an international oil company in Africa, but it was
found that the Instant off Potential measurement was impractical and would
be too expensive to be viable in field conditions.
This was due to the cathodic protection systems being integrated into a
complex electrical circuit being affected by at least 43 transformer/rectifiers
with a variety of output voltages and currents.
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It was also found that there were many other influences on the voltage readings
that could not be removed by switching the cathodic protection
transformer/rectifiers off. Attempts to isolate each section of pipeline for the
purpose of switching proved that the electrical equilibrium is altered by such
activity and results do not, therefore, show the normal corrosion status of the
pipeline.
The 'two half-cell' survey was developed and used successfully in West Africa
during this period confirming the variable potential of two copper/coppersulfate electrodes when placed in contact with the ground. Potential gradients
were plotted and used to identify coating faults, ground bed profiles and active
corrosion. These techniques are mentioned later in this paper.
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The author was a participant in this most significant CIPS survey that was
carried out between 1980 and 1984. At no time was it possible to measure the
kick in the volts drop as the current was switched off, as described by the
scientists in Holand on whose advice this type of survey was devised.
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a copper rod suspended in a saturated solution of copper sulfate that was used
to contact the ground.
The technician noted the highest and the lowest vontage readings on the meter
as the switching occurred at each point of ground contact. This was repeated at
10-meter intervals over the pipeline.
Millions of 'on' and 'off' readings were fed into a mainframe computer during a
four-year period by four teams of technicians and two engineers engaged on
the survey. The computer plotted the 'on readings', the 'off readings' and the
difference between the two, which was anticipated to show the results of
corrosive activity.
The third plot showing the difference between 'on' and 'off' was abandoned
after a few months as it was then thought to be insignificant.
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During the four-year 'condition audit', several 'Pearson' type techniques were
used to identify the position of the pipeline and to pinpoint coating faults.
A method was devised to record the 'Pearson' signal and make a permanent,
graduated record that could be compared to physical examination, following
excavation.
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Further refinements were made to the original survey and the format entirely
changed to determine the locations to excavate for physical examination.
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The Alexander Cell was field tested with permission of the pipeline operating
company.
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At total of 102 excavations showed less than 10% success in predicting the
condition of the coating and pipeline metal by the CIPS survey.
The survey enhanced by the two half cell grid survey and the use of the
Alexander Cell proved to be successful and accurate in it's predictions at 97%
of the excavations.
The operating organization developed 'the intelligent pig' concurrently with this
over line audit, but cathodic protection monitoring has the advantage of
indicating the cause of corrosion damage as well as suggesting remedial
measures by adjusting the cathodic protection system. It is also possible to
monitor the success of remedial measures inexpensively.
Observations
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The survey did not meet the requirements of the laboratory recommendations
for making the 'polarized potential' measurement that should be made on an
analogue recording voltmeter capable of showing the 'kick' in the downward
curve.
Attempts were made to find a satisfactory way to conduct a recorded CIPS and
they clearly demonstrated that the polarized potential could not be readily
identified as required by the laboratory test and that other influences would
have to be evaluated to obtain a true potential for the purposes of applying the
principles of the Pourbaix Diagram.
Attempts were made to correct readings using analog recording voltmeters with
static electrodes to evaluate the voltage differences over a period of time at a
single location. This would also be necessary in order to apply the principles of
Pourbaix and Faraday.
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Removing the 'IR drop' in the measuring circuit can easily and cheaply be
achieved using an isopotential cell as suggested by many reputable and
leading scientists. There are two versions patented and a simple unpatented
version of the same principle can easily and cheaply be made by anyone.
This is possible by combining existing technology with later developments,
which should be adopted as the international criterion for cathodic protection.
This would utilize the records and hard work of established cathodic protection
engineers and incorporate additional techniques that allow mathematical
analysis by computer.
Instant off and CIPS readings cannot be analyzed using either Ohms Law or
Kirchoff's Laws but are traditionally interpreted by the informed guesswork of
specialists.
We should aim to determine whether corrosion has stopped by non-intrusive
techniques that can be confirmed by physical inspection at coating faults that
are detected to be corroding.
A considerable amount of effort was made to draw attention to improvements
that were available to the CIPS type of survey but these improvements were
rejected as seen in the following correspondence.
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British Gas is now influential in the maintenance of pipelines world wide and
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has still not adressed this inherent error in it's maintenance procedures with the
consequence that pipelines are failing unneccesarily throughout the world.
Many of the scientists and engineers involved with this original survey are in
high advisory positions and were on a list of advisors to Prof Walsh of the
University of Southampton in the UK who stated that the Alexander Cell is the
only available method that satisfies the science behind the measurement of the
corrosion reaction under the influence of cathodic protection.
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downwards.
NUL-BALANCE METERS
Attempts were made to design specialised instruments
which balanced out this error with an opposition EMF
supplied from an internal battery. The idea was that if
they worked on a balancing process when the actual
measurement was made, then they would draw no
current. Some of these instruments became quite
complex but they all drew current during the original
balancing operation, and hence none reached the
accuracy which is possible with a digital meter.
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It can be seen in this picture that the test post has not been disturbed for at least
one year as the plant growth of all four seasons is in tact.
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In this picture we can see that the contact stud on the side of the test post bears
no mark resulting from an electrical connection to a meter. The bright metal
remains shiny for several months before oxidation cases slight dulling. This
particular studd has not been properly contacted for several years.
However, the maintenance records for this particular location will probably
show that it has been visited.
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Easily accessible test posts are usually chosen for more frequent monitoring as
often as one month intervals on a regular basis.
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The idea of the isopotential cell is to make a potential measurement without the
effects of the cathodic protection current creating a potential gradient in the
ground. We have already examined the act of making 'pipe to soil'
measurements and seen that the very act of measuring must draw current from
the soil to activate an analogue meter
We have already seen attempts to overcome this problem by charging up a
battery in a complicated instrument using a potentiometer. We have also seen
that a digital meter has such a high internal resistance that it draws very little
current to make the measurement.
In the system proposed by these three scientists a tube of inert but conductive
material is isolated from the ground except by contact through a porous plug set
in the centre of the base plate.
The reaction of the base plate to the earth electrolyte charges up the inert but
conductive content of the container but no further current flows.
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The whole of the content of the container becomes of one potential with no
gradient. It is at one potential throughout and can be correctly described as an
isopotential cell.
The ground surrounding the underside of the base plate is subject to the
potential gradients caused by the cathodic protection current and other
electrical flux.
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As the inert but conductive content of the cell is equal to the potential caused
by the reaction of the base of the cell to the electrolyte, it is the equivalent to a
potential measurement made at the interface between the pipeline metal and a
similar electrolyte in close proximity to the test.
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The base of the isopotential cell is a steel coupon of the pipeline metal and is
put in contact with the ground as close as possible to the pipeline. This subjects
it to the same corrosion reaction as a coating fault.
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The base plate is connected directly to the pipeline so that it serves the same
purpose as a weight loss coupon or other form of measuring electrode.
Rapelli index
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I then worked for a contractor on the development of the very first CIPS in the
world that was being carried out by North Thames Gas and the British Gas
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Council in the UK. The engineer in charge was Mike Foskett who gave
permission for the Alexander Cell to be trialed during the four year project.
The results of the trials were passed to Bob Greenwood who was a scientist at
the Gas Council Experimental and Reseach Station and who later bought an
Alexander Cell for scientific appraisal.
The Alexander Cell, DCVG and CIPS were closely examined at 100
excavations and it was found that DCVG is an accurate method of locating
coating faults but the predictions of the corrosion state by CIPS was 7%.
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The Alexander Cell is simply a corrosion cell in which the corrosion current
can be measured in closed circuit. This allows the true corrosion potential at the
active electrode to be calculated exactly including the effects of the pH of the
electrolyte and the corrosion circuit resistance.
The Alexander Cell is used as set out in the formal CPN procedure at this link
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Introduction
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Problem
Extrapolation
Solution
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Students should go to the nearest pipeline test post with an Alexander Cell, an
isopotential cell, two half-cells and a digital multi-meter.
They should carry out each of the tests and report with comments and draw
their own conclusions.
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INTRODUCTION
The activities described in this report have a direct bearing on all cathodic
protection work and design,
Criteria presently being used for cathodic protection are now recognised to
contain inherent errors, and we are advised to make measurements in a
different way. However there is no internationally agreed criterion, that will
guarantee that corrosion has been halted.
Much research has been carried out, resulting in a number of techniques being
suggested, and devices patented.
The activities at this particular pipeline were intended to test a number of
procedures to determine the condition the pipe, and help to improve the survey
techniques which can be used to ascertain the condition of all pipelines within
the pipeline operation.
Many staff were instructed in these techniques when they visited the site during
the weeks of these activities.
Some of the data was gathered using a recording voltmeter but temperatures
were above the permitted level for the data logger that was then available.
However all data was gathered very critically and cross checked very carefully.
The arrival of specialised instruments will ensure that future data is of similar
high quality and the procedures used at this site are being prepared for use
during the forthcoming condition monitoring project.
CONCLUSIONS
This report proves that the ground itself is a complex mass of different
electrical potentials, causing or caused by currents from any sources.
Conventional measuring techniques include the effects of these potentials in the
measuring circuit, causing significant errors.
Complex techniques can evaluate the errors, but in this instance the corrected
voltage did not indicate the true condition of the pipeline.
The potentials, detectable at the surface, can be reliably used to detect the exact
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Causes of interference
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Useful information can be obtained from Google Earth, aerial photographs and
existing maps as well as any plans and 'as built' drawings available from the
client and other utilities in the area.
All structures should be mapped and examined to ascertain the electrical
disturbances that they cause in the ground that they occupy.
Concrete and brick constructions invariably contain some metal that causes a
footprint in the electrical potential at surface level. This can be detected and
plotted using the two half-cell procedure. This is not possible using DCVG
equipment as the nature of the instrumentation is inadequate.
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Structures such as water towers, pylons, wind turbines, church spires etc will
all have earthing systems to conduct lightning strikes to the ground. These will
be earthed using copper or bronze alloys that will be in electrical flux with their
surroundings.
Generators will be earthed and there can be an inbalance of the three phases.
This can cause surges that can be rectified by the layer of oxides on a pipeline
surface at a coating fault. This in turn causes a build up of charge in that length
of the pipeline which leaks back to earth at other coating faults..... the metal
will disolve at these places.
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This screen shot shows an spreadsheet model of a complete oil and gas
production area with all the delivery pipelines from the gathering stations to the
manifolds. The formulae that drive this model are all based on the laws of
electricity and for that reason the data that is used must be accurate and related
to a common base.
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In the picture above, the nail on the left was charged to a higher potential than
the nail on the right. The current flowed into the damp cloth and distributed
itself in all directions according to kirchoffs laws which describe it following
the paths of inverse resistance.
It can be seen by the distribution of corrosion products that the current then
passed onto the nail in the centre and from that nail towards the nail on the
right.
The central nail is an example of interference preventing corrosion where
current enters and accellerating corrosion where it leaves the metal and passes
onto the electrolyte.
Interference should be considered from the very first stages of design for every
cathodic protection system. This is because every metal pipeline is part of an
electrical circuit composed of every other pipeline and all other electrical
influences.
Before considering interference it is necessary to have a complete overview of
the pipeline system and to superimpose all known cathodic protection systems
over the pipeline network.
This is the reason that the schematic/equivalent circuit was drawn in 1977 as
shown below.
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The most commonly quoted is railways which are driven by DC charges. These
are carried in overhead cables and return via the rails which are earthed.
This means that there are surges of DC charges in the ground itself which will
take the least line of electrical resistance to complete their particular circuit.
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Remote earth is a resistanceless conductor and the charges in remote earth will
not cause a detectable surge. However, the charges are drawn from the rails and
the energy drained from these will cause a momentary potential gradient in the
electrical path from remote earth.
If there is a steel pipeline in this path then it will offer a lower resistance path to
the returning current, but if the coating is perfect then it will not.
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In order to affect the corrosion status of the pipeline there must be a point or
points of entry to the pipeline metal and point or points of discharge from the
metal into the ground. Where the current enters the pipe metal it will stop
corrosion but where it leaves it will accelerate corrosion.
However, it will cause errors in the voltage measurements whether or not it is
detrimental to the pipeline corrosion performance.
Accellerated corrosion is readily prevented by the exact placement of sacrificial
anodes which must be provided with a method of monitoring.
This is simple to carry out providing you have a clear perception of the
'electrical picture'. The picture above was taken at a pipeline crossing in West
Africa where two sacrificial anodes were installed successfully in 1976.
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We can construct a computer model of each situation and simple add the data
gathered by our specialised survey methods.
This will show the exact paths of the various currents and the exact position in
which to place the sacrificial anode in each case.
It will allow us to see the performance of each anode and to balance the
impressed current cathodic protection systems to reach a 'protected'
equilibrium.
It will allow us to recocile voltage measurements which might otherwise be
taken to indicate problems.
It is sometimes advantageous to use recording voltmeters and osciliscopes to
examine the causes and likely effects of some of these ground surges.
It is now possible that we can control the effects of this 'noise' very efficiently
using electronic means, which have been developed by NASA and are available
to us through our members in Italy, Sobrel.
The Alexander Cell certainly displays the effect of these features on the
corrosion reaction and is therefore the only known method of short term
monitoring for electronic corrosion control.
Other Interference possibilities.
The generation of AC electricity by mechanical means requires that energy
is applied to rotating magnets which induce a potential into coils of
conductor wire. These coils discharge current through carbon brushes into
cables which then are at a higher electrical potential than the metal to
which they are connected.
The magnet then charges the next coil in turn and the first returns to it's
basic potential value.
In countries such as the UK, generating companies are required by law to
supply electrical energy at exactly 50 cycles per second. That means that
each conductor is charged and discharges it's energy 50 times per second.
The amount of energy carried by each conductor depends on how far
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apart the 'potential' of each conductor is forced away from 'zero'by the
engine supplying the energy.
For a 50th of a second this is DC charge. There is then a mechanical
arrangement that forces the current to flow in the other direction until the
cable is charged negatively in relation to original 'zero'.
The whole generator system is balanced to maintain the zero at an equal
potential to the ground on which the generator is based.
Field generators are sometimes unbalanced and cause the potential of the
ground to alter. This can be manifest as a steady fixed potential increase of
decrease which can be plotted around the earthing system of the generator
itself or it can be in a waveform the effects of which can be detected up to
half a mile away in high resistance grounds.
Overhead high energy conductors (high tension wires) opperate in the UK
at a potential difference of 400,000 volts and have a field of of influence
that can effect buried pipeline that run parallel to them.
This can be seen in fluctuations in the voltages measured in pipe-to-soil
surveys.
In one such instance the voltages on the meter swung from 0.600v to
2.13volts in an irregular pattern over a period of 20 minutes. This was in a
location where three pipelines ran parallel to two high tension pylon runs
rated at 400,000 and 232,000 respectively for lengths of several miles.
I reported this matter to the operators of the pipelines but learned that
sections of each of the pipelines had been replaced as they took no action.
I was unable to offer assistance in this matter as I had no money to set up a
business. I was shut out in the cold by established service companies
despite a letter from the chief executive of one of the operators instructing
that my services be engaged.
Basic interference testing and resolution
The first step is to acquire all available drawings and maps of the area.
Local planning authorities, electricity suppliers, gas and water suppliers
an the national survey authorities are usefull starting points.
Satelite imaging is now a valuable rescource to give a factual picture on
which to base all the information (in the abscence of the dynamic project
which incorporates all this information)
The second step is to add all of the historical data available from cathodic
protection records to a schematic of the area in the form of a circuit
diagram.
The areas of high ground potential should be shaded in various degrees of
green allowing for areas in which corrosion might be found should be
shaded in various degrees of red. It is convenient to relate all of these
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There are more charges in the electrolyte at the left end of the nail which is then
a less resistant path to the electrolyte at the right end.
It is very important that students experiment themselves in order to confirm
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Set the experiment up as in the picture and note the positions of both half-cells
and the reading on the meter.
The purpose of these bench experiments is to allow students to understand the
nature of 'currents' and 'potentials' in relation to the recognition of interference.
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In this model we can see that the point at which the half cell touches the ground
has been related to all of the other points at which the half cell touched the
ground.
This is very important as the cathodic protection current passes from the
impressed current anode to remote earth at which stage there are an infinite
number of resistances in parallel. According to Kirchoff there is an infinite
conductor from this point until the current is approaching the locations at which
it can pass into the pipeline metal.
The resistance of the pipeline metal can be computed as we have the 'as built'
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