corrosion rate of buried or submerged metallic struc tures, such as a pipeline. Since cathodic protection requires the flow of electrical current through the soil and onto the pipeline, chemical changes occur at the pipeline soil inter face. Current flowing onto a metallic pipeline results in the for mation of @ calcareous deposit, which consists principally of calcium hydroxide and magnesium hydroxides. The result is an increase in the pH at the soil pipeline interface, and the for mation of hydrogen on the surface of the pipeline: a situation commonly referred to as polarisation. In order to reduce the current required for the protection of underground or underwater pipelines, they are usually coated with an inert material such as polyethylene (PE), coal tar or fusion bonded epoxy (FBE). The cathodic protection cur rent then flows principally to holidays or voids in the coating, For a pipeline to be considered cathodically protected, a potential of at least -850 mV in neutral soils needs to be measured between the pipeline and a saturated copper ret erence electrode. Moreover, the -850 mV has to be measured without any IR drop, due to the possibility of cathodic protec: tion current flow through the soil influencing the measure ment. This is often referred to as an IR free reading, or instant OFF potential Close interval survey (CIPS) The most tried and tested method of measuring the effec. tiveness of cathodic protection on pipeline systems is a close interval potential survey (CIPS). These can be undertaken on coated or bare pipelines, either on land or underwater. The spacing between readings can vary from less than a metre to several metres, The CIPS surveyor walks over the pipeline, ‘taking readings at regular intervals, with a connection to the pipeline through a trailing wire. Figure 1 shows a surveyor performing a CIPS survey. Recent advances in computer technology and awareness, along with the use of global positioning system (GPS) timing, has significantly improved the accuracy and effectiveness of CIPS surveys. Figure 2 shows the graphic results of a close interval survey. Unlike traditional test station surveys, where the cathodic protection system is only monitored at test stations which may be as much as 2 km apart, CIPS surveys provide considerably more information about the level of cathodie protection and the C athodic protection is an electrical method of reducing the Pipeline integrity Figure 1. CIPS surveyor equipped with GPS data logger, trailing wire dispenser and halt-cell poles. : Figure 2. Graphic results of CIPS sur and instant OFF potentials correlated showing rectifier ON ith distance. integrity of the pipeline coating along the full length of the pipeline. Figure 3 shows the pipetosoil potential of a pipeline cathodic protection system that has been monitored for many years by performing an annual test station survey. Over the REPRINTED FROM WORLD PIPELINES MARCH 2003pipeline corrosion control yeers, corrasion personnel have noted unprotected potentials broadcast information about their position, es wel as the pre uring the annual test station survey, and have installed sacri cise time and a timing pulse once per second. The time and ficial anodes at the test stations the pulse (PPS) broadcast each in order to improve the level of ‘second are utilised by the survey cathodie protection. Lacking = | equipment, current, interrupters proper survey equipment, they | and SmartLoager™ for precise were unaware of the absence of | timing of the rectifier intertup- cathodic protection between the tion and reading. test stations. With modern CIPS | By utilising the GPS timing survey equipment, the level of pulse, modern GPS synchro- cathodic protection over the | nised current interrupters entire length of a pipeline can | (Figure 4) have significantly | easily be measured and record advanced the aocurecy of CIPS od to reveal any defects in the cathodie protection system. surveys by offering a timing sym chyonisation accuracy of greater than 1 x 10% seconds. As the timing is controlled by the GPS interrupti - satellite system they are always nterruption Figur @. close interval potentials showing the intuenee or swrenvonised, prided tat they ny ordel te mmeceure: 8 al anodes installed at test stations. are receiving the GPS satelite pipeline's level of cathodic signals, GPS synchronised cur- protection effectively, it is nec ~-———— rent interrupters ere able to essary to eliminate the IR drop meet the needs of the corrosion component of the reading engineer regarciess of the size ‘rom the polarised potential of of the rectifier to be interrupted. the pipeline. This is accom | GPS synchronised interrupters plished by momentarily inter- are typically available from 10 - rupting the output of the | 200 A, and custom units capa cathodic protection rectifiers, | ble of interrupting the AC supply Current interrupters on three phase rectifiers can be (timers) are installed in rest: built. The use of GPS synchro fiers that influence the area rised current interrupters has to be surveyed. On a large eliminated the need to resym pipeline system, this may chronise the current inter: involve 10 - 20 rectifiers over | a M | rupters. As long as they have Several hundred kilometres. i Figure 4, A modem GPS synchronised portable current ower and can receive the satel order to ensure that all interrupter. lite signal, they will always be cathodic protection current synchronised with other GPS flow is halted during the interrupters on the system. instant OFF pipe-to-soll poten: Figure 5 shows a waveform tial measurement on recortied during @ CIPS survey Only a few years ago, crys: f ‘on a coated pipeline. The wave- tal oscillators controlled the Viviun | | form Shows the interruption of timing of current interrupters. the rectifiers operating on a 2 The frequency of the crystals sec cycle with an OFF time of arfted with time and tempera 600 ms. The waveform was ture and it was necessery to | | recorded by a Hexcorder™ ips Current re-set the current interrupters to0— yc | survey instrument, which recorc: frequently in order to keep ed 4000 pipeto-soil potential them synchronised. This eT ‘00 a0 wo ~~ aw | readings over a 2 sec interval. some anor a | sims | TRewattort clea snows tht long cross-country pipelines, |__ iti J all interrupted rectifiers were with someone having to drive Figure 5, Waveform showing the effect of interruption of the synchronised. The waveform several hundred kilometres on gathodle protection rectifiers on the pipe-tosoll potential. also shows that there is induc a weekly basis to re-synchro- Inductive spikes can be seen following tum OFF and turn ON tance in the interrupted circuit, rise the current interrupters. of the rectifier. tifa Vonaueramiemat lect Global positioning for approximately 100 ms after the tum OFF and turn ON of the rectifer current. system By recording waveforms at regular intervals, the surveyor The global positioning system consists of 24 satellites in orbit can observe that the equipment is functioning correctly, and around the world. These satellites receive the precise time that the gathered data will be accurate. from an atomic clock in Boulder Colorado, USA. The satellites fey ac ates, corres erdineare hale Sen TRGB tHE REPRINTED FROM WORLD PIPELINES MARCH 2003effectiveness of cathodic protection systems by measuring the mean value (Figure 8). A simple mathematical formula in a pipeto-soil potential of the pipeline. Until the development of spreadsheet programme can calculate the deviation from the GPS synchronised current inter mean value at each point in rupters and survey equipment, the pipetosoil potentials were often in error, as the IR drop component of the reading was not always accounted for. With GPS synchronised interrupters and survey equipment (such as the Hexcorder™ with its builtin GPS synchronisation), accurate polarised potentials can be measured and recorded; thus indicating the level of cathodic protection with the IR drop com ponent taken into consideration (Figure 2) Modern close interval survey — equipment, such as that shown in Figure 6. Modern GPS synchronised CIPS survey instrument Figure 6, can measute cistance with GPS synchronisation. in either metric or imperial units, allowing accurate pipeline chainages to be tagged to each recorded pipetosoil potential time. As each rectifier ON and OFF potential is stamped with ‘the UCT, the time-stamped data recorded by the survey instru ment can be compared with the ‘SmartLogger™ data, and cor rection made for the potential deviation from the mean value. Although this method is not per fect, as the SmartLogger™ is placed at discreet points along the pipeline, and there may be a difference in the magnitude of the deviation from the location to the location of the survey instru ment, it still works reasonably well DCVG Direct current voltage gradient survey (DCVG) is an electrical method of measuring the volt reading. Accurate _chainages age gradient of potential allow the pipeline operator to Perera between two reference elec- locate or verify ereas of inade- | ae trodes placed on the surface of quate protection. y accurately ES the soil close to a pipeline measuring the rectifier ON and " 4 Wherever a pipeline coating Is instant OFF potential, the level of iia 5 damaged (holiday), there will be cathodie polarisation on the a increased current flow. This cur pipeline system can be readily identified, and corrective action taken if deemed necessary. gradient is equal to the current Further information can also. > isatk flow multiplied by the resistance Figure 7, SmarLogger with GPS eynchoistion logs the be toed to ea ous sun Pele 7. Smartoger with GPS synchonization lx tae awe rent flow will result in a voltage ‘gradient in the soll if the voltage as the latitude and longitude of fectifer interruption, IR). The larger the holiday, the each reading location and its greater the current flow, and elevation above sea level. —— consequently the larger the volt The universal coordinated = age gradient, This technique can be use: ful in locating large coating defects. However, the surveyor must have considerable knowl edge of the pipeline, the soil resistivity, the moisture content of the soil, the cathodic protec tion system, and the location and output of the rectifiers. For a given holiday size, the voltage tials. This can lead to erro- gradient will be much smaller in neous data, or to data that is low resistivity soil than in high difficult to analyse and inter Figure 8. SmartLogger data showing the effect of tellurle resistivity soil, as determined by time (UCT) of each reading is of | gfeat importance for tellurie anc stray current correction, and wil be discussed below. During clase interval. sur veys, external factors often affect the results. Telluric and dynamic stray currents can seriously affect the measured and recorded pipeto-soil poter- pret. activity on the pipe-to-soll potential of a pipeline. ‘Ohms Law. The surveyor must A log of the pipe-to-soll constantly be aware of the limi potential is obtained during the survey by using a ions of the DCVG survey. ‘SmartLogger™ (Figure 7), which has a GPS engine, and syn- Figure 9 shows the voltage correlated with distance for gra- chronises with the GPS interrupters to record each rectifier gents along a pipeline with severe coating damage, Each voltage interruption eyele. When there is telluric or stray current activity, gradient was tagged with the UCT. the GPS the potentials recorded by the SmartLogger™ will vary from coordinates and the elevation of the reading. The GPS coordi REPRINTED FROM WORLD PIPELINES MARCH 2003,pipeline corrosion control Figure 9. Direct current voltage gradients (DCVG) correlated with distance, eae # a nance eae J} Figure 10. CIPS combined with DCVG showing correlation of voltage gradients with pipe-tosoil potential data. Pipeline Integrity Beem Coes COS see ee UCM ew aya) CIPS and DCVG Survey Equipment Remote Control and Remote Monitoring Stray Current Ident. Mapping Cathodic Technology Limited ete ey SU UP OUR eee AOL reer re ease cer Cr) [email protected] www.cath-tech.ws nates were used to establish the chainage of each reading. A DCVG survey measuring only the voltage gracient in the soil (traditional method) gives no indication as to the level of cathod- ic protection on @ pipeline. Finding and repairing coating defects does not ensure cathodic protection or corrosion prevention, and may actually accelerate corrosion. If the pipeline is not receiving sufficient cathodic protection current to achieve a polarised potential that meets the criterion for protection (850 mv), then even with the IR drop taken inta consideration (i.e. eliminated), cortasion may occur and may be accelerated if the area ratio of anodic areas (holidays) to cathodic areas (coated pipe] is small. A DCVG survey should never be considered as either equal to or 2 replacement for a close interval potential survey. A DCVG sur vey should be used as a supplement to a close interval potential survey to locate areas of severe coating damage. Cathodic Technology Lid has discovered that digging up a pipeline often results in coating damage, No matter how carefut ly the work is performed, coating, damage is inevitable. Thus, a coated pipeline should only be excavated for coating repair if the level of cathodic protection cannot be increased to result in a polarised potential that meets the criterion for protection. An improved method of DCVG survey One way of improving the DCVG survey is to record the voltage gradient of the pipeline simultaneously with the ON and OFF potential of the pipeline. By recording the distance (chainage), the reotifier ON and rectifier OFF potentials, and the GPS coord nates and UCT, an accurate picture can be constructed of the level of cathodle protection, the location of holidays in the coat- ing and their effect on the level of cathodic protection. Figure 10 shows the graphical results of a combined DOVG. ‘and CIPS survey with each reading correlated with distance. Each recorded value was tagged with the chainage, GPS co-ordinates and UCT. Its easy to see the effect costing Nolidays Nas on the rectifier ON and OFF potentials and on the cathodic polerisation of the pipeline, The pipeline operator makes decisions as to whether to increase the level of cathodic protection, or to recondition the coating in orcer to maintain effective cathodic protection Internal inspection Intemal inspection of a pipeline is a costly and onerous proce- dure, which reveals matallurgical problems such as laminations, buckles, dents and internal cortosion, none of which can be measured of recorded by CIPS or DCVG techniques. Internal inspection also reveals areas of external corrosion where the cathodic protection was deficient and corrosion has resulted in thinning of the pipe wall. Numerous older pipelines are not equipped for intemal inspection, and require the addition of pig launchers and retview ers, a costly supplement to a pipeline system. Properly applied ‘and maintained, cathodic protection backed up by regular CIPS surveys will ensure that corrosion ofthe external surfaces of the Pipeline will not occur. In most pipeline systems, the interval between intemal inspections can be increased if regular CIPS, and DCVG surveys are undertaken, resulting in a significant reduction in cost for the pipeline operator. References 1. PAVISON, R.L, OCiage Intexe! Potential Surveys - Planting Executond, Results MACE Matenal Fertormance, February 1998, MARTIN, B, Cath Tech ternational Lt Lincoln, UK Survey Data contol of Exenal Corrosion of Underground or Submerged Metall Ping Syetamsd NACE Intemational Resonmnardied tract RP1692002, 3 REPRINTED FROM WORLD PIPELINES MARCH 2003,