Usualy, the system of cathodic protection of underground structures (pipelines) operates in modes that are far from ideal. For the effective action of corrosion protection, it is necessary to optimize the electrochemical protection system.
Optimization allows:
- Provide protective potential at the protected structure or determine the necessary measures for this;
- Reduce the cost of electricity to protect the structure;
- To increase the service life of anode ground electrodes and mg anodes by reducing the value of the protective current and, as a consequence, reducing the rate of their destruction.
The procedure for Optimizing of the CP system includes the following steps:
- Measurement of the parameters of the CP system at different operating modes of the cathode current sources;
- Building a mathematical model of the CP system based on the data obtained;
- Calculation of optimal operating modes;
- Checking the system operation at design modes.
Based on the experience of optimization of cathodic protection systems, as a rule, electricity costs for corrosion protection are reduced by 20%-40%, and the service life of anode ground electrodes is increased by 15%-25%.