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Cathodic Protection Challenges in a Saudi Aramco Remote Pipelines Corridor

External corrosion of underground pipelines is being controlled by the use of latest technologies in protective coatings and by maintaining adequate levels of cathodic protection (CP). The role of the coating is to act as a physical and dielectric (non-conductive) barrier to isolate from the surrounding electrolyte and to limit the CP current requirement. The protective coating acts as the primary or first line of defense against corrosion; however no coating system is perfect and will subject to degradation with time, in addition to some voids/holidays during application, transport, and operations.

Product Number: MECC23-19915-SG
Author: Ahmad A. Almalki; Naim M. Dakwar
Publication Date: 2023
$20.00
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Corrosion Specialists are facing challenges in maintaining the cathodic protection systems’ performance of hydrocarbon cross-country pipelines that run in complex pipeline corridors of different ages, different coating types and conditions and wide variety of soil and terrain. This paper discusses challenges in selecting, monitoring, and maintaining the cathodic protection for three pipelines running parallel in the same corridor in remote areas. These pipelines transport crude and gas from Southern Area to Central Area through 600km corridor in the desert of Saudi Arabia. They cross different types of soil including very dry sand dunes and very corrosive subkha soils. This paper focuses on four major CP challenges at a remote area. The first challenge is the selection of a reliable power supply at remote sites where there are no AC power supplies available. The second challenge is to ensure that these CP systems are operating continuously without any interruption. The third challenge is to monitor and maintain the CP potential levels along the three pipelines. The fourth challenge is the CP current distribution along the pipeline corridor in different soil resistivities and different coating conditions. The pipelines corridor was protected by four CP solar systems distributed along the corridor and two transformer rectifiers (TRs) located at the start and end of the corridor. At a later stage, additional seven CP solar systems were added at key locations to resolve the low CP potential areas and enhance the current distribution. Furthermore, the external corrosion control for remote pipelines are analyzed and enhanced considering all factors including coating condition, CP system performance, soil corrosivity, and Inline Inspection (ILI) results.

Corrosion Specialists are facing challenges in maintaining the cathodic protection systems’ performance of hydrocarbon cross-country pipelines that run in complex pipeline corridors of different ages, different coating types and conditions and wide variety of soil and terrain. This paper discusses challenges in selecting, monitoring, and maintaining the cathodic protection for three pipelines running parallel in the same corridor in remote areas. These pipelines transport crude and gas from Southern Area to Central Area through 600km corridor in the desert of Saudi Arabia. They cross different types of soil including very dry sand dunes and very corrosive subkha soils. This paper focuses on four major CP challenges at a remote area. The first challenge is the selection of a reliable power supply at remote sites where there are no AC power supplies available. The second challenge is to ensure that these CP systems are operating continuously without any interruption. The third challenge is to monitor and maintain the CP potential levels along the three pipelines. The fourth challenge is the CP current distribution along the pipeline corridor in different soil resistivities and different coating conditions. The pipelines corridor was protected by four CP solar systems distributed along the corridor and two transformer rectifiers (TRs) located at the start and end of the corridor. At a later stage, additional seven CP solar systems were added at key locations to resolve the low CP potential areas and enhance the current distribution. Furthermore, the external corrosion control for remote pipelines are analyzed and enhanced considering all factors including coating condition, CP system performance, soil corrosivity, and Inline Inspection (ILI) results.