See discussions, stats, and author profiles for this publication at: https://www.researchgate.

net/publication/298072444

Optimization of sacrificial anodes for one offshore jacket

Article · February 2016

CITATIONS READS

0 1,121

5 authors, including:

Jiongzhou Zhang Xiutong Wang

Stony Brook University Institute of Oceanology, Chinese Academy of Sciences
306 PUBLICATIONS   824 CITATIONS    51 PUBLICATIONS   356 CITATIONS   

SEE PROFILE SEE PROFILE

Zhigang Lan
China National Offshore Oil Corporation
10 PUBLICATIONS   25 CITATIONS   

SEE PROFILE

All content following this page was uploaded by Xiutong Wang on 31 May 2017.

The user has requested enhancement of the downloaded file.

CATHODIC PROTECTION
Optimization of Sacrifcial
Anodes for One Offshore Jacket
Zaifeng Wang, Institute of Oceanology,
Chinese Academy of Sciences, Qingdao,
China; University of Chinese Academy of
Sciences, Beijing, China; China National
Offshore Oil Corp., Beijing, China
Baorong Hou, Jie ZHang, and Xiutong
Wang, Institute of Oceanology, Chinese
Academy of Sciences, Qingdao, China
ZHigang Lan, China National Offshore
Oil Corp., Beijing, China
I
20 FEBRUARY 2016 MATERIALS PERFORMANCE
To optimize the cathodic protection
(CP) system for one offshore platform
jacket, the relationship curves be-
tween the protective current density
and potential were obtained using
laboratory and real-world experi-
ments. Based on calculations for tradi-
tional anodes, Al-Mg composite an-
odes, and special-shape anodes, the
study reduced the total required
weight of anodes by about one third.
The numerical simulation was used to
optimize the position of each anode to
provide uniform potential distribution.
The monitoring experiments showed
that the jacket achieved good CP.
In one offshore oil development zone,
sacrificial anodes are often used to provide
cathodic protection (CP) for the submerged
portions of uncoated offshore platform
jackets. Long-term monitoring data
showed that the potential values of numer-
ous jackets could be more negative than
–1,000 mV vs. a silver/silver chloride (Ag/
AgCl) reference electrode after 10 years of
service. Some potential values were even
more negative than –1,020 mV vs. Ag/AgCl.
To reduce CP costs by saving on materials,
optimization of the jackets’ sacrificial
anodes has become a significant research
topic in recent years.
Optimization has two meanings in this
case: one is to reduce the total number (and
weight) of the anodes and the other is to
optimize the positions of the anodes. A num-
ber of studies report reductions of the total
weight of the anodes. Rossi, Zhang, and Liu
discussed new composite sacrificial anodes
for offshore structures.1-4 In these studies,
the anode was made of two diverse anodic
materials (aluminum alloy on the inside
with magnesium surface layers), which
offered significant reductions in weight and
cost of the anode material. However, these
composite sacrificial anodes were not gener-
ally used in ocean engineering.
A NACE International technical com-
mittee report indicates that the shapes of
the anodes could be changed to improve
current output capacity and reduce the
number of anodes, but there are no further
discussions on the method.5
Other studies have used the numerical
simulation method to optimize the distri-
bution of potential and current density
(CD). Adey, Strommen, Wang, and Lan,
respectively, used the finite element
method (FEM) or the boundary element
method (BEM) for optimizing potential
and CD throughout the jacket. 6-9 These
results needed to be verified by further
experiments.
In this article, the relationship curves
presented for the protective CDs and poten-
tials in an offshore oil development zone
were measured using laboratory and real-
world experiments. The methods for reduc-
ing weight and optimizing the anode posi-
tions were combined to seek the best
optimization results, which were partially
verified by monitoring experiments on the
actual jacket.
Experiments
Laboratory Experiments
For the experiments carried out in a
laboratory, the corrosion medium was fresh
NACE INTERNATIONAL: VOL. 55, NO. 2
water collected from the actual area. To
simulate the formation of rust on the sur-
face of the jacket during construction,
DH36 steel was exposed to the atmosphere
of the area for six months. The surface area
dimensions of the steel samples were 10 by
10 mm. The samples were connected to
wires and encapsulated with epoxy resin,
leaving only the working surface exposed to
seawater. Every three days, the seawater
was replaced. Constant potential experi-
ments were carried out using a TD369 †
constant-potential instrument, and divided
into eight stages: –1,100, –1,050, –1,000,
–950, –900, –850, –800, and –700 mV. After
the current values were stabilized and
recorded, the next stage of the experiment
was implemented.

Real-World Experiments
Real-world experiments were carried
out in the field on an offshore platform
near the jacket. The surface area dimen-
sions of the steel samples were 50 by 50
mm. The samples were placed directly into
seawater and connected by wires to a con-
stant-potential instrument on the plat-
form. The experimental procedures were
the same as in the laboratory.
Monitoring Experiments
of the Jacket
Before the samples were launched into
the seawater, the potential measurement
probes, each with a Ag/AgCl reference elec-
trode, were fixed on the jacket. The poten-
tials of the cathode and anode were
recorded for an extended period.
Results and Discussion
Relationship Curves
of the Protective Current Density
and Potential
As shown in Figure 1, the maximum CD
is ~60 mA/m2, so this was selected as the
final CD. The initial CD to achieve polariza-
tion is double this value, ~120 mA/m 2.
There are some differences between the
laboratory experiment and the real-world
†
Trade name.
FIGURE 1 Protective CD and the potential relationship curves.
experiment. To reduce errors, the average
TABLE 1. CP PARAMETERS FOR
curve between them is regarded as the
boundary condition for the numerical THE JACKET
simulation. Parameters Values
Structure surface area 10,000 m2
The Traditional
Design life 20 years
(Chinese Standard) Anode
Table 1 lists CP parameters for the Resistivity of seawater 20 Ω/cm
jacket. According to the calculation Anode material Al-Zn-In-Cd
method in NACE RP0176,10 the initial cur- Driving force 0.25 V
rent output required 234 anodes, the main-
Anode length 2,300 mm
tenance CD required 146 anodes, and the
final current calculation required 160 Anode radius 130 mm
anodes. For this application, the proper Steel core radius 30 mm
number of anodes would be 234. Weight per anode 312 kg
Current capacity 2,500 A·h/kg
The Al-Mg Composite Anode
The Al-Mg composite anode is a new
technology that can increase the initial tional anode (0.6 V > 0.25 V); therefore, the
output current of an anode by covering the outer magnesium layer can be used to
outer surface of a traditional aluminum accomplish the initial polarization during
anode with a thin layer of magnesium. the first two months after installation on
Because the outer magnesium layer is very the jacket. As shown in Table 2, the initial
thin, the added thickness is inconsequen- current output per Al-Mg anode is 13.3 A,
tial. In the early stages of polarization, the while the initial current output per the tra-
size of the Al-Mg composite anode is ditional anode is only 5.55 A. Therefore, the
almost equal to the traditional (Chinese Al-Mg composite anode is more suitable
standard) anode. The driving force from for the initial polarization. Based on these
Mg is much higher than that of the tradi- calculations, the number of composite

NACE INTERNATIONAL: VOL. 55, NO. 2 MATERIALS PERFORMANCE FEBRUARY 2016 21

CATHODIC PROTECTION

To study special-shaped anodes further,

three curves based on the length and num-
ber of traditional anodes were calculated
(Figure 2). These include anode lengths of
2,300, 1,000, and 1,500 mm. A new formula
to plot these three curves is shown in Equa-
tion (4):

N=
(
0.4134S× ln
4L
V /L )
−1

0.25L (4)

where N is the number of anodes, S is the

surface area of the jacket, and V is the vol-
ume of anodes. While this example only
calculates three curves, the new formula
FIGURE 2 Curves show the relationship between the length of anodes and number of anodes
can be applied to any other jacket.
required.
Based on the curves in Figure 2, the
number of anodes is reduced as the anode
length increases. The number of 1,000-mm
TABLE 2. NUMBER OF ANODES USED FOR THE JACKET anodes at the beginning of its curve is
Initial Maintenance Final Maximum greater than the number of the other two
Number Number Number Number anode sizes. The slope for the 2,300-mm
Output of of Output of of anode is greater than the slope for the
Type of Current Anodes/ Anodes/ Current Anodes/ Anodes/
1,000-mm anode, and the slope of the 1,000-
Anode (A) Blocks Blocks (A) Blocks Blocks
mm anode is greater than the slope for the
Traditional 5.55 234 146 4.07 160 234 1,500-mm anode.
Composite 13.3 98 146 4.07 160 160 When considering stress and welding,
Special- 8.42 155 146 6.9 95 155 anodes cannot be stretched infinitely.
shaped According to the slope of the curve, stretch-
ing the 2,300-mm anode to twice its normal
length is a better choice. So the length of
anodes required to meet the requirements M1 the anode (L) would be 4,600 mm. Then the
V1 = anode radius becomes less than that of the
of the initial protective CD is 98. Density of Mg
(2)
After the initial polarization is accom- traditional anode, or 91.9 mm.
plished, the outer magnesium portion of Because of the change in shape, anode-
The volume of the Mg layer per Al-Mg to-electrolyte resistance of the special-
the Al-Mg anode is depleted, and the inner
composite anode can be found with Equa- shaped anode becomes less than the tradi-
aluminum anode begins to provide mainte-
tion (3): tional anode, so the initial current output
nance current and final current. This
V1
means the second stage and last stages are M2 = from an anode is 8.42 A (Table 2), which is
N (3)
identical to the traditional anode. The much greater than the traditional anode’s
maintenance CD requires 146 anodes and initial current output of 5.55.
the final current requires 160 anodes. For According to the calculations, the The number of special-shaped anodes
this application, the proper number of thickness of the Mg layer of the Al-Mg com- needed to meet the requirements of the ini-
anodes would be 160. posite anode is 3 mm. This number is far tial protective CD is 155. The maintenance
According to the consumption rate of less than the Al anode radius (130 mm), so number of anodes needed to meet the
Mg during the first two months, the total the hypothesis about the shape/size of the requirements of a 20-year design life is 146
weight of Mg anode material can be calcu- composite anode is correct. (same as the traditional anode). The anode
lated by Equation (1): radius at the end of life is 36.2 mm. The
The Special-Shaped Anode final current output per anode is 6.9 A. The
M1 = area × initial CD × two months × It is possible that keeping the same vol- number of anodes at the end of life is 95, so
consumption rate of Mg (1) ume/weight of the traditional anode, but the required maximum number is 155. For
changing the length of the traditional this application, sufficient protection for
The total volume of Mg can be deter- anode, would reduce the total weight of the this jacket requires 155 special-shaped
mined by Equation (2): anodes. anodes.

22 FEBRUARY 2016 MATERIALS PERFORMANCE NACE INTERNATIONAL: VOL. 55, NO. 2

 Optimization of Sacrificial Anodes for One Offshore Jacket

Table 2 compares the three kinds of

anodes and shows the maximum required
number for each anode: 234 traditional
anodes, 160 Al-Mg composite anodes, and
155 special-shaped anodes. The special-
shaped anodes reduce the total weight by
33.76% compared to the traditional anodes.
Moreover, the special-shaped anode is easier
to produce and install, so 155 special-shaped
anodes are most suitable for this jacket.

The Best Arrangement of Anodes

The next objective is to efficiently
arrange the 155 special-shaped anodes
using a BEM model to obtain the most uni-
form distribution of CD and potential.
Using BEM, the study gives the distribution
of potential and CD according to each
FIGURE 3 The inner jacket potential distribution.
arrangement scheme of anodes. Based on
all calculated results of different anode
arrangements, the study determined the
best placement of anodes.
Figure 3 gives the inner jacket potential
distribution. Because the main leg will bear
piling tasks, the study puts more anodes on
diagonal bars but only a few on the main leg
to avoid damage to the anodes. The poten-
tial of the main leg (green) is more positive
than the potential of the diagonal bars
(blue), with a 20-mV difference between
them; however, both achieve the CP criteria.
Figure 4 shows more anodes placed on
the inside of the jacket to avoid damage
from construction, transport, and installa-
tion. The outer potential (green or yellow)
is more positive than the inner potential FIGURE 4 The outer jacket potential distribution.
(blue), but even the yellow area can reach
–960 mV and achieve the CP criteria.
Figure 5 illustrates that the potential of from monitoring the system are average Analysis and comparison of theoretical
the wells (yellow/orange) is more positive values. From these two curves, the maxi- calculations and real-world monitoring
than other areas and the potential at the mum error between calculated and mea- data demonstrate that this optimization
bottom is more positive than the potential sured potential is only 1.28% at Point 4. method successfully achieves uniform dis-
(green) near the surface of the sea. The Based on these two sets of data, it is clear tribution of protective current and effective
apparent reasons are due to well repair. that the value of the design agrees very CP potentials.
First, anodes cannot be put on wells; and closely with the average value of the mea-
second, diagonal bars and beams cannot be surements. Therefore, the optimization References
installed at the bottom of wells. The study, design is quite successful. 1 S. Rossi, et al., “Composite Sacrificial Anodes
therefore, only places anodes on the for Offshore Structures,” MP 29, 2 (1996): pp.
29-33.
upsides of beams; however, even the red Conclusions
areas at the bottom of the wells can reach The method of designing special-shaped 2 S. Rossi, et al., “Laboratory and Field Charac-
–943 mV and achieve effective CP. terization of a New Sacrificial Anode for
anodes reduces their total weight by 33.76%
Cathodic Protection of Offshore Structures,”
compared to traditional anodes. Moreover,
Corrosion 12, 54 (1998): pp. 1,018-1,025.
Monitoring and Verifying the special-shaped anode is easier to pro-
Figure 6 presents two sets of data— duce and install, so 155 special-shaped
measured and calculated potentials. Data anodes are more suitable for this jacket. Continued on page 24

NACE INTERNATIONAL: VOL. 55, NO. 2 MATERIALS PERFORMANCE FEBRUARY 2016 23

CATHODIC PROTECTION

Continued from page 23 3 K. Zhang, et al., “The Problem and Solutions

of Initial Polarization of Marine Steel Struc-
tures in the Application of Cathodic Protec-
tion,” Marine Sciences 7, 31 (2007): pp. 20-23.
4 X. Liu, et al., “Study on the Performance of
Mg/Al Composite Anode,” Advanced Materi-
als Research 790 (2013): pp. 98-101.
5 NACE Publication 7L198, “Design of Galvanic
Anode Cathodic Protection Systems for
Offshore Structures” (Houston, TX: NACE
International, 1998), pp. 16-19.
6 R.A. Adey, et al., “Computer Aided Design of
Cathodic Protection Systems,” Applied Ocean
Research 4, 8 (1986): pp. 209-222.
7 R. Strommen, et al., “Offshore Cathodic Pro-
tection Design, Inspection, and Computer
Modeling: Innovations from the 1980s,” MP
12, 32 (1993): pp. 10-12.
8 Z. Lan, et al., “Simulation of Sacrificial Anode
Protection for Steel Platform Using Bound-
ary Element Method,” Engineering Analysis
with Boundary Elements 5, 36 (2012): pp. 903-
906.
9 W. Zaifeng, et al., “The Application of 2-D
Finite Element Method in Calculating
Cathodic Protection Fields of Steel in Marine
Environment,” Marine Sciences 7, 30 (2006):
pp. 38-42.
10 NACE RP0176-2003, “Corrosion Control of
Steel Fixed Offshore Platforms Associated
FIGURE 5 The potential distribution of wells.
with Petroleum Production” (Houston, TX:
NACE, 2003), pp. 36-40.

ZAIFENG WANG is a master student at the

Institute of Oceanology, Chinese Academy
of Sciences, No. 7 Nanhai Rd., Qingdao,
Shandong, 266071, China. He is involved
in the numerical simulation and corrosion
monitoring of CP.

BAORONG HOU is a professor at the Insti-

tute of Oceanology, Chinese Academy of
Sciences. He investigates marine corrosion
environmental factors, including the mech-
anism, research methods, and control tech-
niques of steel structure corrosion. He is a
member of the Chinese Academy of Engi-
neering and has a Ph.D.

JIE ZHANG is a professor at the Institute

of Oceanology, Chinese Academy of Sci-
ences. He is a specialist in the study of bio-
fouling. He has a Ph.D.

XIUTONG WANG is a professor at the

Institute of Oceanology, Chinese Academy
of Sciences. His research focuses on corro-
sion monitoring. He has a Ph.D.

ZHIGANG LAN is a senior engineer at

China National Offshore Oil Corp., Beijing,
FIGURE 6 Comparison between calculated and measured potentials.
China. He is a specialist in the study of new
energy. He has a Ph.D.

24 FEBRUARY 2016 MATERIALS PERFORMANCE NACE INTERNATIONAL: VOL. 55, NO. 2

View publication stats