The influence of DC stray current on pipeline corrosion

DC stray current can cause severe corrosion on buried pipelines. In this study, firstly, we deduced the equation of DC stray current interference on pipelines. Next, the cathode boundary condition was discretized with pipe elements, and corresponding experiments were designed to validate the mathematical model. Finally, the numerical simulation program BEASY was used to study the corrosion effect of DC stray current that an auxiliary anode bed generated in an impressed current cathodic protection system. The effects of crossing angle, crossing distance, distance of the two pipelines, anode output current, depth, and soil resistivity were investigated. Our results indicate that pipeline crossing substantially affects the corrosion potential of both protected and unprotected pipelines. Pipeline crossing angles, crossing distances, and anode depths, our results suggest, have no significant influence. Decreasing anode output current or soil resistivity reduces pipeline corrosion gradually. A reduction of corrosion also occurs when the distance between two parallel pipelines increases.