| Abstract: | Corrosion and cathodic protection of unalloyed steel in sand soil Cathodic protection takes place if the potential criterion is satisfied. That means that the pipe-to-soil potential is less than the protection potential. This is to be controlled in the case of pipelines which are required to be inspected regularly by law. Protection potentials are described in technical standards (e.g. DIN 30676), and must be determined experimentally in doubtful cases. In general the protection potential is referred to as U = ?0.85 V for soils. In practical applications of this protection potential difficulties arise in the case of sand soils with a minute amount of salt and a high resistivity resulting from a very low humidity. These difficulties are related to a high protection current demand due to good aeration and a poor current distribution due to the high resistivity. On the other hand, sand soils are known to be less corrosive. Thus, one can think of using special protection potentials for sand soils which are more positive than ?0.85 V. The results of laboratory and field tests show that protection potentials in the range of ?0.75 V to ?0.65 V can be applied depending on soil resistivity. In these cases even micro cell action can be prevented. |
