Some cathodic protected pipelines installed along high voltage transmission lines have
been presenting corrosion problems. The causes of this corrosion have been attributed to
alternating current (AC) interferences coming from high voltage transmission lines and/or
from electric supplying systems. There are several criteria adopted by literature to evaluate
the probability of AC corrosion. However, these criteria are contradictory and inefficient,
since failures due to AC corrosion have occurred in pipelines which presented electric and
electrochemical parameters within the acceptable limits of those criteria. Moreover, there is
no consensus regarding the mechanisms of AC corrosion. The present work has an
objective to understand the mechanisms of AC corrosion and to suggest field measurement
methodologies for evaluating the levels of AC interferences in pipelines, as well as to
establish a thermodynamic criterion for assessment of the probability of AC corrosion
occurrence in pipelines.
Keywords: AC corrosion, AC current, cathodic protection