In the United States, a major causal factor in the operational failure of underground piping systems and storage tanks is corrosion. This costly condition is avoidable if companies undertake active protective measures. Currently, one of the more common means of avoiding the issues arising or, at least, reducing the risk is to provide the pipelines with a protective coating. In many instances, the company employs cathodic protection for pipelines destined for underground application.
What Cathodic Protection Is and Does
Cathodic Protection (CP) is a method employed to control the speed and impact of corrosive forces only in the soil or underwater on metal pipes and other equipment. It is a simple and effective technique. It provides the base metal with a sacrificial coating. The coating acts as an anode and sacrifices itself to the rusting process, protecting the base metal beneath it. Oxidization occurs, but only to the coating and not the base metal comprising the pipeline.
Common Applications
CP systems provide protection for a variety of different structures in diverse environments. With a focus on different metals, the most common applications include the two major:
• Steel water pipelines
• Fuel – oil and gas, pipelines
CP is also popular throughout many industrial and manufacturing concerns. Even naval ships – the original application, reinforcement bars, home water tanks, and offshore oil tanks rely on it for protection against rust and other forms of corrosion. Metal fabricators and other metalworkers routinely utilize this method in protecting metal components.
Cathodic Protection For Pipelines
If you are installing any type of pipe system underground, you need to ensure the lines are capable of withstanding the various elemental forces capable of destroying them. Of serious concern is corrosion. By providing cathodic protection for pipeline, companies can reduce the risk of pipelines falling into swift disrepair. Moreover, it is the law. The EPA requires companies in the utility industry provide this form of protection for all post-2002 installed or buried piping.