ECTIVENESS OF CATHODIC PROTECTION FOR TANK SOIL SIDE AND

TANK FOUNDATION BACKFILLING MATERIAL ELECTRICAL CONDUCTIVITY

ABSTRACT
 Above ground storage tank bottom plate Soil-side corrosion is one of the main causes for
tank deterioration and environmental impact leak, this costs a lot for corrosion mitigation,
monitoring , tank outage for inspection ,repair and bottom plate replacement.
 Severe corrosion has been found on several tanks’ bottoms plate soil side at
petrochemical Companies. Corrosion led to the costly outage and repair of tanks bottom
plates ;however, tanks were provided with impressed current (ICCP )cathodic protection
systems .
 Tanks designed and constructed on liquid asphalt/sand mix backfilling and provided with
impressed current cathodic protection system with cast iron canister distributed anodes
around the tank concrete wall ring. Tank bottom plate soil side found with sever
corrosion due to the entrapment of the contaminated rain water.
 However Cathodic protection system operated at the design protection current and the
measured tank to soil potential meets the protection criteria, cathodic protection current
found picked up by the under-ground fire water piping network which connected to tank
shell and the measured potential was for the under-ground piping.
 Effectiveness of ICCP cathodic protection system for above ground storage tank soil side
corrosion mitigation depends on the design of tank foundation and electrical conductivity
of the backfilling material under the tank .
 The measured Pipelines and cables current (amount and directions) revealed that cathodic
protection current picked up by underground piping network and raised the measured
negative potential,
 Tank bottom plate soil side did not receive sufficient CP current (isolated by the asphalt
layer) and the measured potential reflect the potential of the underground piping which
picked up the CP current.

Introduction
This Document evaluates the effectiveness of tank bottom plate soil side cathodic
protection systems for Tanks Designed and constructed on liquid asphalt/sand mix
backfilling material.

Soil-side corrosion of the above ground storage tank bottom plates is a major concern
and maintenance issue. Above ground storage tanks are typically supported by concrete
ring walls.

It had been a common practice for most petrochemical Companies to construct the
above ground storage tank on liquid asphalt/sand mix or use impregnated asphalt
boards under the tank bottom plate which restricted by current API 650 and API 651
standards.

Due to tank bottom plate to foundation sealing aging and damages, contaminated rain
water ingress under the tank and trapped for long time as it is encapsulated in the gap
between bottom plate metal and asphalt (water evaporate and condensate on the steel
surface for long time as asphalt will not absorb water)

The tank bottoms are typically bare steel and supported by a liquid asphalt/sand mix.
The asphalt /sand mix is an electrical insulator.

Cathodic protection Pre design drain current was misleading as the provided DC current
picked up by underground fire water piping network and the measured potential raise
was for the pipelines not for the isolated tank bottom plate.

CP Annual survey records the potential of underground third party facilities (fire water
piping) . As Tanks, pipelines and earthing cables found electrically shorted with other
facilities.

Tanks MFL scan reports reviled sever spot tank bottom plate soil side corrosion and spot
metal loss and many patch repairs installed as per API 563 requirement. The calculated
short term corrosion rate found very high approached 0.45 mm/year.

pipeline and earthing cables current measurement carried out by using swan meter and
DC clamp meters to clarify the stray current to other assets , continuity and isolation of
the associated pipelines and cables from other facilities.

Tank bottom plate’s soil side found electrically isolated from the cathodic protection
anodes by the installed 100 mm thickness asphalt/ sand mix and did not receive
sufficient cathodic protection.

Back ground
Tanks and Cathodic Protection systems data

The above listed tanks designed and constructed about 25 years ago.

Tanks designed and constructed on asphalt/sand mix backfilling as this was the
corrosion mitigation method during the old days which is currently restricted by NACE
and API 651 standards.

Cathodic protection systems with distributed canister anodes designed and installed for
these tanks, however these systems are not effective as the tank bottom plates are
electrically isolated by the asphalt /sand mix backfilling.

Cathodic Protection System schematic.

API 651 Cathodic Protection of Aboveground Petroleum Storage Tanks

5.1.4 Limitations of External Cathodic Protection

Many factors can either reduce or eliminate the flow of electrical current and, therefore,
may limit the effectiveness of cathodic protection in some cases or preclude its use in
others. Such factors include:

a) tank pads such as concrete;

b) a non-conductive external liner between the tank bottom and anodes (unless
anodes are installed between liner and tank bottom);

c) high resistivity soil or coarse/large rock aggregate pads;

d) old aboveground storage tank bottoms left in place when a new bottom is installed.

These and other related factors are discussed in more detail in 5.3 and 5.4. It should be
recognized that external

5.3.5 Oiled Sand Pad

Historically, in some cases oil has been added to the sand for various reasons, including
compaction and corrosion control. However, if cathodic protection is applied, the
higher resistivity of oiled sand may prevent it from being effective. For new tank
construction, use of oiled sand is discouraged.

Field measurements by Swain meter and DC clamp meter.

The measured on& instantant-off tank to soil potential showing that thank meet the
protection criteria of -850 mV w.r.t CSE

Cathodic protection system design violated both NACE and API 651 strand requirement
as Tanks constructed on asphalt/sand mix backfilling, which electrically isolate the tank
bottom plate from the CP system anodes current.

Transformer rectifier CP current found picked up by underground piping (third

Cathodic Protection current returning through fire water pipe line metal may cause
pipelines internal corrosion at high resistance flange joints if internal coating was
deteriorated (fire water/service water is a conductive media)

Recommendations
New design of above ground storage tank shall not use oily sand or asphalt under tank
bottom pate .RBI strategy shall consider these tanks bottom plate soil side without any
cathodic protection.

New cathodic protection system based on NACE and API 651 standard requirement
along with HDPE release preventive barrier and grid anodes shall be provided for each
tank during bottom plate replacement when it is required (based on asset life
assessment and RBI study).

Another corrosion mitigation method as VPCI (vapor phase corrosion inhibitor along
with corrosion monitoring probes) can be used to extend tank bottom plate remaining
service life.

REFERENCES
API 650 Welded Tanks for Oil Storage
API 653 Aboveground Storage Tank Inspector

API 651 Cathodic Protection of Aboveground Petroleum Storage Tanks

SP0193-2016-SG (formerly RP0193) External Cathodic Protection of On-Grade Carbon