Paper No.

11023

Effect of Soil and Disbondment Configuration on CP Penetration into Coating Disbondment

Li Yan, Jean-Philippe Gravel, Muhammad Arafin

CanmetMATERIALS, Natural Resources Canada
3303 33 Street NW
Calgary, Alberta, T2L 2A7
Canada

ABSTRACT

Tests were performed to investigate the effect of soil and disbondment configuration on CP penetration
into coating disbondment. An innovative experimental setup was employed to measure the pH and
potential of pipeline steel under a disbonded coating without disturbing the environment inside the
disbondment. It was revealed that CP penetration was dependent on CP level, environment inside the
disbondment, and distance from the holiday. CP penetration increased with increasing CP level, and
decreased with increasing pH and distance from the holiday. For a circular FBE coating disbondment,
the existence of clay soil in the solution acted as a physical barrier for OH- generated inside the
disbondment to diffuse out, and lead to a very alkaline environment around the holiday area, i.e., pH 14.
The presence of soil would cause an inhibiting effect to CP penetration. Majority of CP current was
consumed at the holiday and vicinity, and only a very small portion of CP current could reach beyond 10
mm into the FBE and HPPC coating disbondment even at CP level of -1126 mVSCE. CP current could
reach deeper into a narrow tunnel-shaped disbondment than into a circular-shaped disbondment with
similar conditions, i.e., similar sizes of holiday and disbondment gap. Tunnel-shaped coating
disbondment was subject to hydrogen accumulation inside the disbondment. In particular, HPPC coating
disbondment had a higher tendency to trap hydrogen gas than FBE coating disbondment. The trapped
hydrogen gas could effectively block the CP current from penetrating into the disbondment. The critical
parameters required for the occurrence of near neutral pH SCC, i.e., near neutral pH and potentials close
to Ecorr, could be achieved inside the tunnel-shaped HPPC coating disbondment under elevated CP levels
of -926 mV and -1126 mV due to the presence of trapped hydrogen gas.

Key words: CP penetration, coating disbondment, clay soil, disbondment configuration, OH-, hydrogen
accumulation, trapped hydrogen gas

©2018 by NACE International.

Requests for permission to publish this manuscript in any form, in part or in whole, must be in writing to
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The material presented and the views expressed in this paper are solely those of the author(s) and are not necessarily endorsed by the Association.
1
 INTRODUCTION

The most effective method to mitigate corrosion on the external surface of a buried pipeline was to utilize
a protective coating supplemented by cathodic protection (CP). Ideally, these two systems should work
together so that if the coating is disbonded or has defects allowing electrolyte to contact the pipe steel
surface, the CP system would continue to function and provide corrosion protection to the pipeline.
However, the success of this approach greatly depends on the nature of coating failures. Corrosion
protection to the pipe with coating failures can only be achieved if sufficient CP current is able to reach
the exposed pipe steel.1-5 For instance, if adequate CP current is able to penetrate into a coating
disbondment, then corrosion related damages may be prevented. Otherwise, the exposed pipe steel can
be susceptible to corrosion and environmentally assisted cracking.
The extent of CP penetration into coating failures is associated with many factors such as coating
disbondment dimension, solution composition and conductivity, and coating type.1,6-9 It was observed that
CP was less effective to reach into coating disbondment as the disbondment became tighter, i.e. the
height of the gap between the coating and steel substrate decreased.1,6,9 CP would penetrate further into
the coating disbondment in solution with higher electrical conductivity.1,7,8 Jack et al.1 detected that CP
could only penetrate into disbondments with a relatively short distance, i.e., no more than 10 cm in ground
water with conductivities in the range of 0.5 to 5 mS/cm (equivalent to a resistivity range of 200 to 2000
Ω∙m). Ground water containing Ca2+, Mg2+, and carbonate ions could affect CP penetration and the
environment inside the disbondment by forming mineral deposits, and these deposit scales formed on
the top of the opening to the disbondment would act as barriers to CP penetration and alkalinity
migration.1
The available literature on CP penetration into coating disbondment predominantly employed
experimental arrangement with insulating polymer materials as pipeline coating alternative.6-9 In these
arrangements the outer surface of the disbondment was not exposed to solution , and CP could access
the disbondment only through the opening of the disbondment. In the real situation, for buried pipelines,
the coating outer surface is intimately in contact with soil and likely groundwater. CP and corrosive
species in the soil outside the coating disbondment can be possibly involved in the CP penetration and
mass transfer processes, and hence can impact the chemistry inside the disbondment.
This paper was a continuation of a previous study the focus of which was to examine the effect of different
pipeline coatings, namely, field applied two-part epoxy, fusion bonded epoxy (FBE), and high
performance powder coating (HPPC), on CP penetration into a circular-shaped coating disbondment.10
The intention was to investigate the effect of existence of soil in ground water and coating disbondment
configuration on CP penetration into coating disbondment.

EXPERIMENTAL PROCEDURE

Pipe coating and steel panel specimens

Two pipeline coatings were used in this paper, i.e., a fusion bonded epoxy (FBE) coating with a
thicknesses of 350 µm and high performance powder coating (HPPC) with a thickness of 1.5 mm,
consisting of a FBE inner layer, a chemically modified polyethylene (PE) adhesive layer, and a medium
density PE (MDPE) outer layer. The coatings were provided as free film coating sheets by the pipeline
coating manufacturer.
The steel panels were cut from a 1067-mm-diameter (42 inches) X100 pipe section. Two dimensions of
steel panels were used, i.e., 170 mm x 170 mm x material thickness, and 100 mm x 170 mm x material
thickness. The panel with the dimension of 170 mm x 170 mm x material thickness was used for the
circular-shaped coating disbondment setup, and the one with the dimension of 100 mm x 170 mm x
material thickness was used for the tunnel-shape coating disbondment setup. All of the panels were sand
blasted with natural almandine garnet grains to achieve a white metal finish (SA 3 as per the Swedish
Standard), and cleaned with methanol and forced air prior to coating application.

©2018 by NACE International.

Requests for permission to publish this manuscript in any form, in part or in whole, must be in writing to
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The material presented and the views expressed in this paper are solely those of the author(s) and are not necessarily endorsed by the Association.
2
 Test solutions
Two different test solutions was used in this study, i.e., NS4 solution and a mixture of 1 part NS4 and 2
parts of clay soil. NS4 solution is a synthetic groundwater solution to simulate ground water found around
pipelines with failures due to near-neutral pH SCC. The primary ionic concentrations in the NS4 solution
and the slurry are listed in Table 1. The test solution was purged with 5% CO2 balanced with N2 gas to
achieve an anaerobic and near-neutral pH condition (pH 6.8 ± 0.2) throughout the test duration. All the
tests were performed at the ambient temperature.

Table 1 Ionic concentrations of NS4 and soil slurry (mg/L)

Solutions K+ Na+ Ca2+ Mg2+ HCO3- Cl- SO42-
NS4 63.9 132.3 49.3 12.8 350.8 123.4 51.1
1NS4/2Soil 2.9 57.0 95.1 17.2 103 130 125

Detection probes
Each detection probe comprises a home-made Sb/Sb2O3 pH electrode and an Ag/AgCl (0.1M KCl in 4%
agar) reference electrode. The preparation of the Sb/Sb2O3 and Ag/AgCl reference electrodes was
described elsewhere.10
Coating disbondment and test cell design
The details about the design and preparation of a circular-shaped disbondment was described elsewhere,
Figure 1(a).10 The circular-shaped coating disbondment was employed in the test with FBE coating and
soil slurry. The designated disbondment area located in the center of the steel panel was left untouched
with a diameter of 130 mm. The four embedded detection probes were located at 10 mm, 20 mm, 35
mm, and 50 mm, respectively, to the holiday. The probes were labeled as #1, #2, #3, and #4 in sequence
based on an increasing order of distance between the probe and the holiday. Four spacers were utilized
to control the depth/height of the disbondment to be 1mm.
The tunnel-shaped disbondment, Figure 2(a), was fabricated with FBE or HPPC coating with a dimension
of 160 mm x 20 mm x 1 mm. A rectangular spacer ring was glued to the steel panel to define the area
and depth/height of the disbondment. The holiday with a size of 3-mm-diameter was positioned at one
end of the disbondment. The five detection probes were located at 10 mm, 30 mm, 60 mm, 100 mm, and
140 mm to the holiday, and were numbered as #1, #2, #3, #4, and #5 , respectively. The preparation of
the tunnel-shaped coating disbondment was similar to that of the circular-shaped one and was
documented elsewhere.10 Due to the fact that borosilicate glass pasteur pipettes (with the small tip of
around 1mm in diameter) were used as the holders for the Ag/AgCl reference electrodes, the detection
probes were rather fragile. Probe #3 embedded in the tunnel-shaped FBE and Probe#4 embedded in the
tunnel-shaped HPPC coating disbondment were damaged during assembling. As a result, no data were
available for these two probes.
Figure 1(b) and
Figure 2 (b) show the schematic diagram of the experimental arrangement inside the coating
disbondment and test cell. The two setups were almost identical except for the location of the holiday
and the placement of the counter electrode. The horizontal placement of counter electrode was
intended to make the distribution of the CP current uniform if there was any current directly going
through the disbonded coating. The containment vessel with lid without bottom was constructed from 5
mm thick acrylic sheets. The acrylic vessel was sealed on top of the coating disbondment using RTV
silicone. Each test was performed with ~1000 ml NS4 solution. To ensure that the coating disbondment
would be filled with solution, the disbonded area was gently tapped with a glass rod to force the trapped
air out prior to the test. A 7-mm-diameter graphite rod and a SCE served as counter electrode (CE) and
reference electrode (RE), respectively, to allow the application of CP to the steel panel. The solution
was purged with 5% CO2 gas prior to and throughout the test to maintain a neutral pH of 7.0 ± 0.2 in
the bulk cell.

©2018 by NACE International.

Requests for permission to publish this manuscript in any form, in part or in whole, must be in writing to
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The material presented and the views expressed in this paper are solely those of the author(s) and are not necessarily endorsed by the Association.
3
 CP application and data recording
The CP potential and current were applied and monitored via a multi-channel potentiostat. All the pH and
potential measurements inside the disbondment were performed manually on a daily basis using a digit
precision multimeter. The potential values at each location inside the coating disbondment were
measured against the Ag/AgCl reference electrode embedded in that location. Three CP potentials of -
776, -926, and -1126 mV, equivalent to -850 mV, -1000 mV and -1200 mV versus Cu/CuSO4 (saturated)
reference electrode, were chosen to mimic the situations where the pipe system was under standard CP
protection, modest overprotection, and aggressive overprotection, respectively. 11Also, the application of
CP was interrupted for ~ 15 minutes on a regular basis to monitor the open circuit potential (OCP) of the
steel panel at the holiday and the locations with the detection probes.
All the tests were conducted at room temperature. Potentials were quoted against SCE in this paper.

(a) (b)

Figure 1: Schematic of the experimental setup for the circular-shaped disbondment, (a) top view
of the arrangement of detection probes inside the coating disbondment; (b) front view of the
test cell

(a) (b)

Figure 2: Schematic of the experimental setup for the tunnel-shaped disbondment, (a) top view
of the arrangement of detection probes inside the coating disbondment; (b) front view of the
test cell.

©2018 by NACE International.

Requests for permission to publish this manuscript in any form, in part or in whole, must be in writing to
NACE International, Publications Division, 15835 Park Ten Place, Houston, Texas 77084.
The material presented and the views expressed in this paper are solely those of the author(s) and are not necessarily endorsed by the Association.
4
 Results and Discussion

Test with circular-shaped FBE coating disbondment in soil slurry

Figure 3(a) - (c) show the current, potential, and pH measurements obtained underneath the circular-
shaped FBE coating disbondment in soil slurry. The total test duration was 142 days. CP levels of -776,
-926, and -1126 mV were applied to the test panel within 0 – 9, 10 – 65, and 66 – 142 days,
respectively. The visual examination of the disbondment at the end of the test showed that the coating
disbondment was somewhat deformed, i.e., the outer surface of the disbondment was slightly wavy and
the height of the disbondment turned uneven. No deposit formation was observed on top of the coating
holiday. The data obtained from the test with the same coating disbondment, but submerged in NS4
were included for comparison, Figure 4.10
Figure 3(a) shows the current measurements obtained from the test with circular-shaped FBE coating
disbondment immersed in soil slurry. The CP current started at a value of ~ -2 µA and gradually turned
into positive currents after 9 days at -776 mV. The CP potential was then switched to -926 mV.
Correspondingly, the CP current jumped to over -15 µA and slowly reached a plateau of ~ -3 µA by the
end of Day 65. The CP level was further increased to -1126 mV on Day 66. The CP current showed an
initial value of over -30 µA and decayed to a relatively stable value of ~ -9 µA by Day 142. In general,
the current transients exhibited gradual decreases with time at each CP level without any abrupt and
drastic changes caused by deposit formation and release of large hydrogen bubbles as observed in the
test with FBE coating disbondment in NS4, Figure 4(a). Small current fluctuations, i.e., less than 1 µA,
did occur during the course of the test, which could be resulted from the formation of small hydrogen
bubbles.
Figure 3: Measurements obtained from the test with circular FBE disbondment in soil slurry, (a)
transient current; (b) potential; and (c) pH.(b) and (c) present the potential and pH data monitored at
various locations inside the circular-shaped FBE disbondment submerged in soil slurry. The potential of
the steel panel inside the disbondment (Emeas) decreased with time, i.e., moving to a more negative
direction, and did not reach a steady state within the first 9 days at CP of -776 mV. The pH inside the
disbondment increased with time and reached the pH range of 8-9 at this CP level. A decreasing trend
of potential accompanying with a decrease in CP current and an increase in pH indicated that the
potential inside the disbondment was dominated by the environment inside the disbondment such as
pH, rather than the CP current, which was in good agreement with the previous study. 10 Emeas gradually
achieved steady states at CP levels of -926 mV and -1126 mV. Steady Emeas values at -926 mV and -
1126 mV suggested that the processes associated with Emeas reached quasi-equilibriums inside the
disbondment including diffusion and migration of various species such as OH-, K+, and Na+, generation
of OH-, and CP penetration. The smooth current and potential transients indicated that the formation of
deposit covering the holiday and large hydrogen bubbles escaping from the disbondment likely did not
occur in this test.
The potential and pH values shown in Figure 3(b) and (c), especially the pH values, exhibited more
noticeable differences among the four detection locations compared to those obtained in the test with
NS4, Figure 4(b) and (c). The potential also showed a consistent decreasing dependence on pH across
the four detection locations. The variation of pH with location indicated that the environment inside the
disbondment submerged in soil slurry tended to be heterogeneous. A possible reason could be that the
disbondment submerged in soil slurry was tighter compared to that immersed in NS4 solution as the
density of soil slurry was higher than that of ground water. The soil slurry on top of the disbondment
would cause a greater compression and make the disbondment more confined, especially in the areas
beyond the four spacers, i.e., Probe #3 and #4. The tight disbondment would limit the diffusion and
migration processes of species and generate localized environment. In the test with circular-shaped
FBE coating in NS4, the lowest pHs was always obtained at Probe#1 among the four detected
locations, Figure 4(c). In contrast, the highest pH values observed at Probe #1 under elevated CP
levels, i.e. CP of -926mV and -1126 mV, implied that the existence of clay soil in the solution would act
as a physical barrier for OH- generated inside the disbondment to diffuse out to the bulk solution leading
©2018 by NACE International.
Requests for permission to publish this manuscript in any form, in part or in whole, must be in writing to
NACE International, Publications Division, 15835 Park Ten Place, Houston, Texas 77084.
The material presented and the views expressed in this paper are solely those of the author(s) and are not necessarily endorsed by the Association.
5
 to a very alkaline environment around the holiday area, Figure 3(c). Increasing pH would inhibit the CP
penetration by driving Ecorr to more negative values, and thus lead to low Epola values. The pH at the
Probe#1 reached close to pH 14. Such a high pH had never been achieved in the tests with NS4
without the presence of clay soil. The surprisingly low pH values detected at Probe #2 at CP levels of -
926 mV and -1126 mV could be caused by blockage of the detection probe surface, i.e., the Sb/Sb2O3
probe was isolated and not seeing the solution. One hypothesis was that the disbonded coating was
compressed and possibly touching the Sb/Sb2O3 probe at Probe#2.

(a) (b)

-1126 mV

-926 mV

-776 mV

(c)

Figure 3: Measurements obtained from the test with circular FBE disbondment in soil slurry, (a)
transient current; (b) potential; and (c) pH.

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6
 (a) (b)
-1126 mV
-1126 mV

-926 mV

-776 mV -926 mV

(c)

Figure 4: Measurements obtained from the test with circular FBE (350 µm in thickness)
disbondment in NS4 solution, (a) transient current; (b) potential; and (c) pH.10

Figure 5(a) – (d) show the potential values of the pipeline steel at different probe locations inside the
FBE disbondment submerged in soil slurry under CP and no CP conditions. The degree of CP
penetration into the coating disbondment was estimated using the potentials difference between these
two CP conditions which was denoted as polarization potential, Epola, in the previous study.10 Due to the
identical Epola behavior at Probe#3 compared to that at Probe#4, only the data obtained at Probe#4
were shown in Figure 5. Unfortunately, no Epola data were available from the test with circular-shaped
FBE (350 µm) coating disbondment in NS4 solution for comparison. At the holiday, Figure 5(a), the Epola
values were obvious at the elevated CP levels, i.e., Epola were around 30 mV and 150 mV at CP levels
of -926 mV and -1126 mV, respectively. At CP of -776 mV, the corrosion potential of the steel panel,
Ecorr, at the holiday quickly approached -775 mV from its original value of -735 mV before the
application of CP due to the fast established alkaline environment. As a result, a negligible potential
difference, namely, little CP penetration, was detected at the holiday location at CP of -776 mV. At the
location of Probe #1, small Epola values were observed at the early stage of CP applications of -926 mV
and -1126 mV, i.e., 10 ~ 15 mV. After the high pH environment was established and stabilized inside
the disbondment, the potential difference disappeared and no CP penetration was detected. Negligible
Epola and CP penetration at locations of Probe #2, #3 and #4 were detected under all CP conditions. It
was implied that the penetration of CP was dependent on CP level, environment inside the
disbondment, and distance to the holiday. CP penetration decreased with decreasing CP level, and
with increasing pH and distance from the holiday. The majority of CP was consumed at the holiday
area, only a very limited CP penetration could be seen inside the FBE coating disbondment. The limited
CP penetration was present in areas adjacent to the holiday and would disappear as the high pH

©2018 by NACE International.

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7
 environment was established inside the disbondment. Similar observations were made from the test
with circular-shaped FBE (750 µm) coating disbondment in NS4 solution in the previous study.10

-776 mV

-926 mV

-1126 mV

(a) (b)

(c) (d)

Figure 5: Potential measurements with CP and without CP inside the circular-shaped FBE
disbondment in soil slurry at, (a) coating holiday; (b) Probe #1; (c) Probe #2; and (d) Probe #4.

Test with tunnel-shaped FBE coating disbondment in NS4

Figure 6(a) – (c) show the current, potential, and pH measurements obtained underneath the tunnel-
shaped FBE coating disbondment in NS4 solution. The total test duration was 220 days with 0 – 67
days at CP of -776 mV, 68 – 125 days at CP of -926 mV, and 126 – 220 days at CP of -1126 mV. No
calcareous deposit was observed around the holiday, and no noticeable deformation of coating
disbondment occurred during the course of the test.
The CP current, Figure 6(a), was around -1 mA, -3 mA, and -4 mA by the end of CP of -776 mV, -926
mV, and -1126 mV, respectively. The current values obtained from this test was much smaller than
those achieved in the test with the same coating and solution but a circular-shaped coating
disbondment before the holiday was covered with calcareous deposit, i.e., current values within 0-42
days shown in Figure 4(a). The small currents could be due to the tight disbondment without noticeable
deformation during the test, while the currents shown in Figure 4(a) were associated with a deformed
disbondment and the gap of the deformed disbondment around the holiday was well higher than 1mm.
The tests with circular-shaped FBE coating disbondment demonstrated that the area adjacent to the
holiday would contribute to the total CP current at the early stage of each CP application. Another
possible reason could be that the area surrounding the holiday was smaller in the tunnel-shaped
disbondment compared to that in the circular-shaped disbondment. In the circular-shaped disbondment,
the holiday was located at the centre of a disbondment with a diameter of 130 mm, while in the tunnel-
©2018 by NACE International.
Requests for permission to publish this manuscript in any form, in part or in whole, must be in writing to
NACE International, Publications Division, 15835 Park Ten Place, Houston, Texas 77084.
The material presented and the views expressed in this paper are solely those of the author(s) and are not necessarily endorsed by the Association.
8
 shaped disbondment, the holiday was positioned at one end of a tunnel with a width of 20 mm and a
length of 160 mm. Assuming that the CP could penetrate into the coating disbondment by 10 mm, the
surface area of pipe steel underneath the disbondment on which CP current could be generated during
CP application would be more than 1.5 times as much in the circular shaped disbondment as that in the
tunnel shaped disbondment. The difference would be more significant if CP penetrated further into the
disbondment, as the area in the circular-shaped disbondment was proportional to the square of
penetration depth, while the area involved in the tunnel-shaped disbondment with a defined width was a
function of penetration depth. Although the total CP current generated from the tunnel-shaped
disbondment was smaller than those generated in the tests with the circular-shaped disbondments, due
to the smaller area surrounding the holiday, a higher CP current density could be resulted inside the
disbondment, which could lead to a more significant CP penetration.
Another interesting observation from the test with tunnel-shaped disbondment was that the hydrogen
bubbles generated by CP tended to be trapped inside the disbondment and gathered at the
coating/solution interface. When the hydrogen bubble grew into a substantial size, it could restrict the
CP current by blocking the flow path of current. The big current spike occurred within Day 185 to Day
190 was due to the release of large hydrogen bubbles from the holiday by tilting the steel panel at ~ 5
degree with the holiday end facing up. In contrast, the holiday in the test with circular-shaped
disbondment was located at the summit of the disbondment on a curved steel panel and hydrogen gas
would favor to move up to the holiday and be released to the bulk solution without growing into
hydrogen bubbles with significant sizes.
Figure 6(b) and (c) show the potential and pH measurements inside the FBE tunnel-shape
disbondment submerged in NS4. At CP of -776 mV, the pHs at the Probe #4 and #5 were detected to
be higher than those at the locations closer to the holiday. This was consistent with the observation in
other tests, Figure 3 and Figure 4.10 Although small Epola values, i.e., no larger than 2 mV in Figure 7(d),
was detected at Probe #4 and #5 at CP of -776 mV, instant pH increases at these locations upon CP
application could be a result of a small solution volume combined with a low OH- leaking out rate at the
edge of the disbondment. No significant potential differences among the four probe locations were
detected at this CP level. As the CP level increased to -926 mV and -1126 mV, the potential of the steel
underneath the disbondment displayed a location dependence. More negative potentials were detected
at locations closer to the holiday. The pH values at the Probe #1 and #2 gradually exceeded those at
Probe #4 and #5. The accumulation of hydrogen gas inside the disbondment created a blocking effect
on CP current and caused Emeas moving to a more positive direction and pH dipping to lower values
within Day 135 to Day 185.
Figure 7(a) – (d) present the potential values of the pipeline steel at different probe locations inside the
tunnel-shaped FBE disbondment submerged in NS4 solution under CP and no CP conditions. The data
obtained at Probe #4 were similar to those at Proble#5, and thus were not included in the paper to
avoid duplication. At the holiday, Epola increased with CP levels, i.e., the average Epola were 24 mV, 55
mV, and 143 mV at CP of -776 mV, -926 mV, and -1126 mV, respectively, Figure 7(a). At a given CP
level the largest Epola values were always detected at the holiday. CP penetration vanished as the
probes located further into the disbondment. The degree of CP penetration decreased in an order of
holiday, Probe#1, #2, #4, and #5. At Probe#4 and #5, Epola was no larger than 2 mV and existed only at
the beginning of the application of each elevated CP level. This trivial CP penetration disappeared
within 10 days after the CP was applied. No CP penetration was detected at Probe#4 and #5 at CP
level of -776 mV. At Probe#1 and #2, some degree of CP penetration was observed at all CP levels
and CP penetration always exhibited the greatest extent at the start of each CP level. Epola with values
of 12 mV, 29 mV, and 44 mV (the average of the first two measurements at each CP) at Probe#1, and
4 mV, 10 mV, and 18 mV at Probe#2 were detected at the early stage of -776 mV, -926 mV, and -1126
mV, respectively. The existence of large hydrogen bubbles in the disbondment adjacent to the holiday
significantly blocked the CP penetration, i.e., Epola approached zero at Probe#1 and #2 within Day 180
to Day 190, and recovered right after the removal of hydrogen bubble.
If the first set of measurements at CP of -1126 mV, i.e., measurements on Day 138, was used as an
example, Epola values of 116 mV, 45 mV, and 17 mV at the holiday, Probe#1, and Probe#2,
©2018 by NACE International.
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9
 respectively, could be obtained, Figure 7(a)-(c). The potential drop denoted as Edrop, was calculated to
be 71 mV from the holiday to Probe#1 by taking the difference between 116 mV and 45 mV, and 99 mV
from the holiday to Probe#2. The Edrop from the holiday to Probe#2 could be expressed as,
Edrop2=Edrop1+I2R2 (1)
Where Edrop1 and Edrop2 were the potential drop caused by solution inside the disbondment from holiday
to Probe#1 and Probe#2, respectively, I2 was the current reached Probe#2, and R2 was the solution
resistance from Probe#1 to Probe#2. If Edrop1=71 mV and Edrop2= 99 mV were used in Equation
Edrop2=Edrop1+I2R2 (1), then I2R2=28 mV could be obtained. The Edrop1 could also be written
as,
Edrop 1 = I1R1 (2)
where I1 was the current reached at Probe#1 and R1 was the solution resistance from holiday
to Probe#1. Assuming that the resistivity of the solution inside the disbondment was uniform, the
resistance of the solution from the holiday to a particular location inside the disbondment could be
calculated using,
𝝆𝒍
𝑹= 𝑨 (3)
where l was the length from the holiday to the location inside the disbondment, ρ was the resistivity of
the solution, A was the area of the cross section of the disbondment. Therefore, a ratio of 0.5 could be
calculated for R1/R2. A current ratio of 5 was calculated for I1/I2 by combining equations of I1R1=71 mV,
I2R2=28 mV, and R1/R2=0.5, confirming that the majority of CP current was present in the area adjacent
to the holiday.

(a) (b)

-1126 mV

-926 mV
-776 mV

(c)

Figure 6: Measurements obtained from the test with tunnel-shaped FBE coating disbondment in
NS4, (a) transient current; (b) potential; and (c) pH.
©2018 by NACE International.
Requests for permission to publish this manuscript in any form, in part or in whole, must be in writing to
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10
 -776 mV

-1126 mV
-926 mV

(a) (b)

(c) (d)

Figure 7: Potential measurements with CP and without CP inside the tunnel-shaped FBE coating
disbondment in NS4 at, (a) coating holiday; (b) Probe #1; (c) Probe #2; and (d) Probe #5.

Test with tunnel-shaped HPPC coating disbondment in NS4

Figure 8(a) to (c) show the current, potential, and pH data obtained from the tunnel-shaped HPPC
coating disbondment in NS4 solution. The total test duration was 250 days with 0 – 47 days at CP of -
776 mV, 48 – 137 days at CP of -926 mV, and 138 – 250 days at CP of -1126 mV. No calcareous
deposit around the holiday and no noticeable deformation of coating disbondment was observed at the
end of the test. However, hydrogen accumulation and release were detected during the course of the
experiment. The HPPC coating employed in this study had a high tendency to trap hydrogen bubble
inside the disbondment. Not only the hydrogen produced inside the disbondment, but also the hydrogen
generated at the holiday tended to be trapped underneath the disbondment.
Figure 8(a) presents the current transient monitored in the test with the tunnel-shaped HPPC coating
diabondment in NS4. The current spikes occurred at the CP level of -776 mV and the early stage of CP
level of -926 mV were associated with hydrogen bubble accumulation and release. No significant
changes in CP current detected upon the switch of CP from -776 mV to -926 mV along with a low CP
current, i.e., less than -3 mA at CP of -926 mV, indicated the existence of hydrogen gas inside the
disbondment blocking the CP. The steel panel was tilted at an angle of around 5 degree on Day 80, as
done for the test with tunnel-shaped FBE coating disbondment, to avoid the accumulation of hydrogen
gas inside the disbondment and around the holiday. The similar currents with less noisy transient
suggested that the tilting assisted in some extent to avoid the frequent popping events of hydrogen gas,
but did not completely remove the hydrogen accumulated inside the disbondment. To check the extent
at which hydrogen gas could interfere the CP current and penetration, the setup was put vertically with
the holiday facing up to intentionally remove the hydrogen gas trapped inside the disbondment on Day
145, and then returned back to the 5 degree position. The removal of the hydrogen gas led to an
prompt increase in CP current to over -40 mA. However, this high CP current only lasted for about 5
©2018 by NACE International.
Requests for permission to publish this manuscript in any form, in part or in whole, must be in writing to
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The material presented and the views expressed in this paper are solely those of the author(s) and are not necessarily endorsed by the Association.
11
 days before it suddenly dropped to less than -10 mA, and further abrupt decrease in CP current to less
than -5 mA was observed on Day 207 indicating the existence of hydrogen gas inside the disbondment
and around holiday again. The high tendency of trapping hydrogen bubbles was also observed in the
circular-shaped HPPC coating disbondment test. The causes of this phenomenon was to be identified
in the coming research.
Figure 8(b) and (c) present the potential and pH measurements inside the tunnel-shaped HPPC coating
disbondment in NS4. The Emeas values did not show a shift to negative direction as CP was switched
from -776 mV to -926 mV which was consistent with negligible changes in current upon the increase of
CP level. The hydrogen bubble release events caused Emeas fluctuations at the CP level of -776 mV
and the early stage of CP level of -926 mV, i.e., a release of hydrogen bubble could lead to an instant
drop of Emeas to more negative values, and after enough hydrogen gas was accumulated inside the
disbondment Emeas would quickly return back to the positive values. An slight alkaline environment with
pH of 7.5 to 8.5 was develped by the end of CP level of -776 mV. The pHs climbed to a pH range of 9 –
10 at CP of -926 mV before they dropped to neutral at around Day 80. The pHs remained neutral within
the period of Day 80 to Day 144. It was implied that a CP current of less than -3 mA was not high
enough to generate an alkaline environment inside the disbondment, under which circumstance OH-
leaking rate would exceed its generation rate inside the disbondment, and hence no OH- concentration
could not be built up. After the removal of the hydrogen gas, a pH range of 9.5 to 11 was generated and
maintained with a CP current range of -4 mA to -9 mA. The volatile pH measurements at Probe#1
could be caused by the substantial interference of hydrogen gas around the holiday area. It was worth
pointing out that critical parameters required for the occurrence of near neutral pH SCC, i.e., near
neutral pHs and potentials close to Ecorr, could be achieved inside the disbondment under elevated CP
levels of -926 mV and -1126 mV with the interference from trapped hydrogen gas.

-926 mV

-1126 mV

-776
mV

(a) (b)

(c)

Figure 8: Measurements obtained from the test with tunnel-shaped HPPC coating disbondment
in NS4, (a) transient current; (b) potential; and (c) pH.
©2018 by NACE International.
Requests for permission to publish this manuscript in any form, in part or in whole, must be in writing to
NACE International, Publications Division, 15835 Park Ten Place, Houston, Texas 77084.
The material presented and the views expressed in this paper are solely those of the author(s) and are not necessarily endorsed by the Association.
12
 Figure 9(a) to (d) show the potential values of the pipeline steel at different locations inside the tunnel-
shaped HPPC disbondment in NS4 under CP and no CP conditions. The data obtained at Probe #3
were similar to those at Proble#5, and thus were not included in the paper to avoid duplication. Similar
to other tests, the greatest Epola values were always detected at the holiday area. Trivial CP penetration
was detected at all three CP levels even at Probe#1 before the removal of hydrogen gas from the
disbondment, which was consistent with the current, potential, and pH data shown in Figure 8. As
discussed previously, this should be attributed to the blocking effect of hydrogen gas to CP current.
Modest Epola values, i.e., 74 mV and 33 mV, were detected at CP of -1126 mV at Probe#1 and #2,
respectively, upon the removal of the hydrogen gas on Day 145. Then the values of Epola quickly
dropped to around 20 mV and 10 mV at Probe#1 and #2, respectively. Negligible Epola was obtained
beyond Probe#2 throughout the test regardless of the CP level and the removal of hydrogen gas
indicating little CP current was present at locations further than 30mm into the disbondment.

-776 mV -926 mV

-1126 mV

(a) (b)

(c) (d)

Figure 9: Potential measurements with CP and without CP inside the tunnel-shaped HPPC
coating disbondment in NS4 at, (a) coating holiday; (b) Probe #1; (c) Probe #2; and (d) Probe #5.

CONCLUSIONS

Three tests were performed with different coating disbondments and test solutions to investigate the
effect of disbondment configuration and soil on CP penetration into coating disbondment. The
conclusions are,
1. In general, CP penetration was dependent on CP level, environment inside the disbondment, and
distance from the holiday. CP penetration increased with increasing CP level, and decreased with
increasing pH and distance from the holiday.
©2018 by NACE International.
Requests for permission to publish this manuscript in any form, in part or in whole, must be in writing to
NACE International, Publications Division, 15835 Park Ten Place, Houston, Texas 77084.
The material presented and the views expressed in this paper are solely those of the author(s) and are not necessarily endorsed by the Association.
13
 2. For a circular FBE coating disbondment, the existence of clay soil in the solution acted as a
physical barrier for OH- generated inside the disbondment to diffuse out, and lead to a very
alkaline environment around the holiday, i.e., pH 14. The presence of soil would cause an
inhibiting effect to CP penetration.
3. Majority of CP current was consumed at the holiday and vicinity, and only a very small portion of
CP current could reach beyond 10 mm into the FBE and HPPC coating disbondments even at CP
level of -1126 mVSCE. CP current could reach deeper into a narrow tunnel-shaped disbondment
than into a circular-shaped disbondment with similar conditions, i.e., similar sizes of holiday and
disbondment gap.
4. Tunnel-shaped coating disbondment was subject to hydrogen accumulation inside the
disbondment. The trapped hydrogen gas could effectively block the CP current from penetrating
into the disbondment. The critical parameters required for the occurrence of near neutral pH SCC,
i.e., near neutral pHs and potentials close to Ecorr, could be achieved inside the tunnel-shaped
HPPC coating disbondment under elevated CP levels of -926 mV and -1126 mV due to the
presence of trapped hydrogen gas.

ACKNOWLEDGEMENT

This project was partially funded by the Canadian Federal Interdepartmental Program of Energy R&D.

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©2018 by NACE International.

Requests for permission to publish this manuscript in any form, in part or in whole, must be in writing to
NACE International, Publications Division, 15835 Park Ten Place, Houston, Texas 77084.
The material presented and the views expressed in this paper are solely those of the author(s) and are not necessarily endorsed by the Association.
14