Cathodic protection

Pipeline & Midstream Operations

Cathodic protection (CP) is an electrochemical technique used to control corrosion on buried or submerged pipelines. It works by making the pipeline the cathode of an electrochemical cell.

'Sacrificial Anodes' (zinc or magnesium) can be attached, which corrode instead of the steel pipe. For long pipelines, 'Impressed Current' systems (ICCP) use an external power source (rectifier) to drive current onto the pipe. Regular CP surveys are mandatory to verify the pipe is protected (-850mV criteria).