Cathodic Protection (CP)

The science of cathodic protection (CP) was born in 1824, when Sir
Humphry Davy made a presentation to the Royal Society of London:
"The rapid decay of the copper sheeting on His Majesty's ships of war,
and the uncertainty of the time of its duration, have long attracted the
attention of those persons most concerned in the naval interest of the
count. ... I entered into an experimental investigation upon copper. In
pursuing this investigation, I have ascertained many facts ... to illustrate
some obscure parts of electrochemical science... seem to offer important
application." Davy succeeded in protecting copper against corrosion from
seawater by the use of iron anodes.

From that beginning, CP has grown to have many uses in marine and
underground structures, water storage tanks, gas pipelines, oil platform
supports, and many other facilities exposed to a corrosive environment
(see Corrosion Costs Study findings). Recently, it is proving to be an
effective method for protecting reinforcing steel from chloride-induced
corrosion. (reference)

History of Cathodic Protection

Cathodic protection has become a widely used method for controlling the
corrosion deterioration of metallic structures in contact with most forms
of electrolytically conducting environments, i.e. environments
containing enough ions to conduct electricity such as soils, seawater and
basically all natural waters. Cathodic protection basically reduces the
corrosion rate of a metallic structure by reducing its corrosion potential,
bringing the metal closer to an immune state. From a thermodynamics
point of view, the application of a CP current basically reduces the
corrosion rate of a metallic structure by reducing its corrosion potential
towards its immune state as shown here for iron and steel or here for
aluminum and its alloys.

Cathodic Protection Basics

Corrosion Costs and Preventive Strategies Study

The cost of cathodic protection of metallic structures subject to corrosion

can be divided into the cost of materials and the cost of installation and
operation. Industry data have provided estimates for the 1998 sales of
various hardware components totaling $146 million. The largest share of
the cathodic protection market is taken up by sacrificial anodes at $60
million, of which magnesium has the greatest market share. Major
markets for sacrificial anodes are the water heater market and the
underground storage tank market.

The costs of installation of the various cathodic protection (CP)

components for underground structures vary significantly depending on
the location and the specific details of the construction. For 1998, the
average total cost for installing CP systems was estimated at almost one
billion (range: $0.73 billion to $1.22 billion). The total cost for replacing
sacrificial anodes in water heaters and the cost for corrosion-related
replacement of water heaters was estimated at $1.24 billion per year;
therefore, the total estimated cost for cathodic and anodic protection is
$2.22 billion per year. (reference