acid mine drainage or in brackish marshes. Well-mixed concrete, usually a mix of one part portland cement to two parts sand, may be applied to pipelines. The thickness of the coating applied may be up to 2 inches. If the concrete is properly mixed and tamped around the pipe, it may last 40 years. However, concrete has a tendency to absorb moisture and crack, which in many ways limits its use. In fact, in places where the coating cracks, electrolysis immediately starts to corrode the metal. This corrosion can be partially prevented by painting the pipe with a bituminous primer before coating it.
Metallic coatings such as galvanizing (zinc coating) are very effective in protecting metallic structures or pipes against atmospheric corrosion. This type of coating is ideal for cold-water lines and metals exposed to normal atmospheric temperatures. However, metals such as iron corrode rapidly when used in high-temperature equipment because at a critical temperature of approximately 140F iron becomes anodic to zinc. This results in the iron's becoming the sacrificial anode that corrodes readily.
Plastic tapes for wrapping come in rolls. They may be procured in various widths. The tape is wrapped around the pipes before they are laid in the trench. The wrappings are applied by a simple device that is clamped on the pipe and turned by the UT. Pipe joints are wrapped after the pipes are laid in the trench.
Galvanic cathodic protection is a method used to protect metal structures from the action of corrosion. As explained before, galvanic cell corrosion is the major contributing factor to the deterioration of metal by electrochemical reaction. The area of a structure that corrodes is the anode or positive side of the cell. Corrosion occurs when the positive electric current leaves the metal and enters the electrolyte. Galvanic cathodic protection is designed to stop this positive current flow.When the current is stopped, the corrosive action stops and the anodes disappear. This type of protection depends upon the neutralization of the corroding current and the polarization of the cathode metal areas.
Galvanic cathodic protection is a means of reducing or preventing the corrosion of a metal surface by the use of sacrificial anodes or impressed currents. When sacrificial anodes are used, it is known as the galvanic anode method. If impressed currents are used, it is known as the impressed current method. These two methods can be used separately or with each other, depending upon the corrosive characteristics of the electrolyte surrounding the structure.
The galvanic anode method of cathodic protection uses an electrode referred to as a sacrificial anode that corrodes to protect a structure. This sacrificial anode is electrically connected to and placed in the same electrolytic area of the structure. The anode used to protect iron or steel structures should be made of magnesium or zinc so it will produce a sufficient potential difference to cause the structure to become a cathode. The action of this type of galvanic protection causes the electric current to flow from the sacrificial anode through the electrolyte to the structure to be protected. The electrical connection between the two metals completes the circuit and allows the current to return to the corroding metal. The sacrificial anode becomes the anode of the established dissimilar metal galvanic cell, and the structure to be protected becomes the cathode. The current from the sacrificial anode is intense enough to oppose or prevent the positive current from leaving the anodes in the structure to be protected. These structure anodes are then suppressed, and the metal in the structure becomes a cathode. The prevention of these positive currents from the anodic areas in the structure reduces the corrosion rate to almost zero.
Galvanic cathodic protection is used in areas where the corrosion rate is low and electric power is not readily available. A typical example of
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