EP1092051B1 - Cathodic protected installations - Google Patents

Cathodic protected installations Download PDF

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Publication number
EP1092051B1
EP1092051B1 EP99955304A EP99955304A EP1092051B1 EP 1092051 B1 EP1092051 B1 EP 1092051B1 EP 99955304 A EP99955304 A EP 99955304A EP 99955304 A EP99955304 A EP 99955304A EP 1092051 B1 EP1092051 B1 EP 1092051B1
Authority
EP
European Patent Office
Prior art keywords
reference electrode
column
anode
electrode
anodes
Prior art date
Legal status (The legal status is an assumption and is not a legal conclusion. Google has not performed a legal analysis and makes no representation as to the accuracy of the status listed.)
Expired - Lifetime
Application number
EP99955304A
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German (de)
French (fr)
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EP1092051A1 (en
Inventor
Andrew Hill
Current Assignee (The listed assignees may be inaccurate. Google has not performed a legal analysis and makes no representation or warranty as to the accuracy of the list.)
Atraverda Ltd
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Atraverda Ltd
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Filing date
Publication date
Priority claimed from GBGB9812052.0A external-priority patent/GB9812052D0/en
Priority claimed from GBGB9818122.5A external-priority patent/GB9818122D0/en
Application filed by Atraverda Ltd filed Critical Atraverda Ltd
Publication of EP1092051A1 publication Critical patent/EP1092051A1/en
Application granted granted Critical
Publication of EP1092051B1 publication Critical patent/EP1092051B1/en
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    • C—CHEMISTRY; METALLURGY
    • C23—COATING METALLIC MATERIAL; COATING MATERIAL WITH METALLIC MATERIAL; CHEMICAL SURFACE TREATMENT; DIFFUSION TREATMENT OF METALLIC MATERIAL; COATING BY VACUUM EVAPORATION, BY SPUTTERING, BY ION IMPLANTATION OR BY CHEMICAL VAPOUR DEPOSITION, IN GENERAL; INHIBITING CORROSION OF METALLIC MATERIAL OR INCRUSTATION IN GENERAL
    • C23F—NON-MECHANICAL REMOVAL OF METALLIC MATERIAL FROM SURFACE; INHIBITING CORROSION OF METALLIC MATERIAL OR INCRUSTATION IN GENERAL; MULTI-STEP PROCESSES FOR SURFACE TREATMENT OF METALLIC MATERIAL INVOLVING AT LEAST ONE PROCESS PROVIDED FOR IN CLASS C23 AND AT LEAST ONE PROCESS COVERED BY SUBCLASS C21D OR C22F OR CLASS C25
    • C23F13/00—Inhibiting corrosion of metals by anodic or cathodic protection
    • C23F13/02—Inhibiting corrosion of metals by anodic or cathodic protection cathodic; Selection of conditions, parameters or procedures for cathodic protection, e.g. of electrical conditions
    • C23F13/06—Constructional parts, or assemblies of cathodic-protection apparatus
    • C—CHEMISTRY; METALLURGY
    • C23—COATING METALLIC MATERIAL; COATING MATERIAL WITH METALLIC MATERIAL; CHEMICAL SURFACE TREATMENT; DIFFUSION TREATMENT OF METALLIC MATERIAL; COATING BY VACUUM EVAPORATION, BY SPUTTERING, BY ION IMPLANTATION OR BY CHEMICAL VAPOUR DEPOSITION, IN GENERAL; INHIBITING CORROSION OF METALLIC MATERIAL OR INCRUSTATION IN GENERAL
    • C23F—NON-MECHANICAL REMOVAL OF METALLIC MATERIAL FROM SURFACE; INHIBITING CORROSION OF METALLIC MATERIAL OR INCRUSTATION IN GENERAL; MULTI-STEP PROCESSES FOR SURFACE TREATMENT OF METALLIC MATERIAL INVOLVING AT LEAST ONE PROCESS PROVIDED FOR IN CLASS C23 AND AT LEAST ONE PROCESS COVERED BY SUBCLASS C21D OR C22F OR CLASS C25
    • C23F13/00—Inhibiting corrosion of metals by anodic or cathodic protection
    • C23F13/02—Inhibiting corrosion of metals by anodic or cathodic protection cathodic; Selection of conditions, parameters or procedures for cathodic protection, e.g. of electrical conditions
    • C23F13/06—Constructional parts, or assemblies of cathodic-protection apparatus
    • C23F13/08—Electrodes specially adapted for inhibiting corrosion by cathodic protection; Manufacture thereof; Conducting electric current thereto
    • C23F13/18—Means for supporting electrodes
    • C—CHEMISTRY; METALLURGY
    • C23—COATING METALLIC MATERIAL; COATING MATERIAL WITH METALLIC MATERIAL; CHEMICAL SURFACE TREATMENT; DIFFUSION TREATMENT OF METALLIC MATERIAL; COATING BY VACUUM EVAPORATION, BY SPUTTERING, BY ION IMPLANTATION OR BY CHEMICAL VAPOUR DEPOSITION, IN GENERAL; INHIBITING CORROSION OF METALLIC MATERIAL OR INCRUSTATION IN GENERAL
    • C23F—NON-MECHANICAL REMOVAL OF METALLIC MATERIAL FROM SURFACE; INHIBITING CORROSION OF METALLIC MATERIAL OR INCRUSTATION IN GENERAL; MULTI-STEP PROCESSES FOR SURFACE TREATMENT OF METALLIC MATERIAL INVOLVING AT LEAST ONE PROCESS PROVIDED FOR IN CLASS C23 AND AT LEAST ONE PROCESS COVERED BY SUBCLASS C21D OR C22F OR CLASS C25
    • C23F2201/00—Type of materials to be protected by cathodic protection

Definitions

  • Metallic lighting columns and lamp standards and like devices suffer corrosion generally at or about ground level due to the presence of salts (from road de-icing, from sea-spray and from animal urine) and also due to differential aeration between the metal near the surface and the metal lower down, thus setting up galvanic cells.
  • the area just at or below ground level becomes anodic with respect to the rest of the column and the metal therefore corrodes and ultimately causes the structural failure of the column. It is an object of this invention to reduce or eliminate this problem.
  • a system for the cathodic protection of lighting columns and other electrically powered devices which are partly buried in the ground, which comprises at least one anode, a reference or pseudo-reference electrode mounted on a common carrier and an electrical power control system which is connected to the power supply for the lighting column or other device.
  • the electrically powered devices may be highway lamp posts, traffic bollards, traffic lights, sea defence installations; and the like.
  • the cathodic protection is particularly conveniently carried out in the case of lighting columns using the source of electric power in every column so that the cost of an impressed current system for each column is reasonable.
  • the installation costs are low as all the relevant parts of a system (anodes, reference electrode, rectifier and power control system) can be supplied and installed as one unit
  • the unit can be attached to the column to be protected, in a shallow hole dug adjacent to the column with a single power feed wire introduced into the column interior and connected to the electrical power supply. The hole is then backfilled burying the device, and any appropriate surface (asphalt, Flagstone, concrete) reinstated.
  • the system includes a carrier or frame adapted to hold the anode(s) and electrode. While the carrier may take a variety of shapes, in one embodiment the carrier is shaped roughly like a coat-hanger, for the anode and reference electrode, preferably with two impressed current anodes one mounted at each of the extremities. It is an advantage of the invention that one can locate the reference electrode at the line of equipotential between two (or more) anodes.
  • the barrier means may take the shape of a simple cross member, typically like a baffle, made of a non-electrically conductive material, typically a plastics.
  • the shape and location of the baffle will determine the number of virtual electrodes.
  • the location of the reference electrode is preferably determined by the lines of equal potential formed by the real and virtual anodes, and should be as close as possible to the lighting column itself.
  • the reference electrode is preferably not on the same side of the barrier means as the "real" anode otherwise its output would be affected by the anode voltage.
  • the anode material can be a conductive ceramic or an electrocatalytic coated titanium metal, lead metal, or any of the materials which are commonly used in the industry for long lived, corrosion resistant anodes. For small columns, a single working anode would be sufficient and for larger columns it may be necessary to have more than 2, say up to 4.
  • the barrier means will be dimensioned so that it diverts the current flow appropriately. Typically it may be 500mm long so that the virtual anodes appear to be spaced about 250mm on each side of the column to give a substantially uniform current density to the entire column surface.
  • the height of the barrier means is selected to ensure that minimal current leakage occurs above and below the barrier instead of at the ends.
  • the height of the barrier preferably approaches twice the width (in this example 500mm) so that the distance from the anode to the column around the top and the bottom is at least similar to the distance around the end.
  • the reference electrode may be mounted in the carrier in any convenient place to measure the potential in the region of the column in the centre of the frame and thus close to the column.
  • This electrode can be of a high accuracy type of thermodynamic equilibrium, such as Ag/AgCl 2 , or calomel, or Cu/CuSO 4 or any of those electrodes well known to the electrochemical industry. It is not necessary in all cases to have such a highly accurate and thereby expensive electrode and in order to reduce costs, a "pseudo-" reference electrode made out of a short length of platinum wire, or of titanium metal coated with a suitable electrocatalyst (such as Ta/lr oxides or others well known in the electrochemical industry).
  • the reference electrode may also be made of zinc.
  • the application provides a method of installing a cathodic protection system for a lighting column or other electrically powered device which is partly buried in the ground, the method comprising burying at least one anode and a reference or pseudo reference electrode mounted on a common carrier in a hole adjacent the column, connecting the electrodes in circuit with the power control supply of the column, and then covering the buried anode(s) and electrode.
  • the method preferably includes the step of locating a barrier means between the reference electrode and a real electrode to divert electric current and create a virtual anode. It is preferred that the barrier means is shaped so as to create a plurality of virtual electrodes.
  • the carrier 1 comprises a coat hanger shaped plastics moulding generally triangular as seen in elevation.
  • the moulding is hollow and each corner has a socket 2 to receive an electrode E.
  • Two anodes Ea are present at the lower comers; a reference electrode Er is present at the apex.
  • a wire 3 extends between the electrodes and exits from an outlet 4 at the top to pass via a hole in the wall 5 of the light column 6 to a PLC7 in the interior.
  • the lamp column is mounted in the ground, or other substrate such as concrete, with the lower portion buried therein. The usual power supply for the lamp is located within the column). In use, a shallow hole is dug near the light column.
  • the device is installed and the single power feed wire 3 introduced into the column interior and connected to the electrical power supply.
  • the hole is then backfilled burying the device, and any appropriate surface material (asphalt, Flagstone, concrete) is reinstated.
  • the wire 3 is connected directly or in the PLC7 to the lamp electrical supply.
  • the PLC is arranged to periodically or continually assess the potential as registered by the reference electrode and adjust the current to the working anodes in order to control the potential with respect to the reference electrode at/near a preferred value. This value would be chosen to ensure that the column is cathodically polarised, but not to too high a voltage to induce significant amounts of hydrogen to be generated on the buried metal of the column. Because the anodes and reference electrode are mounted in a common frame not only are these parts properly spaced apart but the installation procedure is quick and efficient.
  • a baffle 10A is present between the reference electrode Er adjacent to column 6 and the single real anode Ea. (Note that two alternative positions for the reference electrode are shown).
  • the baffle is a planar sheet of plastics material measuring about 500 mm wide and about 500 mm deep which diverts the electrical current flow to go round the edges and in the process creates two virtual electrodes Ev. The benefit of doing this is to increase the number of effective anodes without aggravating the costs of specialised components or installation charges.
  • the baffle 10B is of V section and is present on one side of the reference electrode Er, between that electrode and two anodes Ea. This has the effect of creating four virtual anodes Ev.
  • Figures 3A, 3B and 3C works in the same way as that of Figures 1 and 2 with the added advantages of providing all round cathodic protection to the light column.
  • the invention is not limited to the embodiment shown.

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  • Chemical & Material Sciences (AREA)
  • Engineering & Computer Science (AREA)
  • Materials Engineering (AREA)
  • Mechanical Engineering (AREA)
  • Metallurgy (AREA)
  • Organic Chemistry (AREA)
  • Prevention Of Electric Corrosion (AREA)
  • Glass Compositions (AREA)
  • Transition And Organic Metals Composition Catalysts For Addition Polymerization (AREA)
  • Physical Vapour Deposition (AREA)
  • Crystals, And After-Treatments Of Crystals (AREA)

Abstract

A metal item in the ground, such as a lamp post, is cathodically protected from corrosion by a system comprising at least one anode, a reference electrode and an electrically powered control system connected to the power supply of the lamp post.

Description

Metallic lighting columns and lamp standards and like devices suffer corrosion generally at or about ground level due to the presence of salts (from road de-icing, from sea-spray and from animal urine) and also due to differential aeration between the metal near the surface and the metal lower down, thus setting up galvanic cells. The area just at or below ground level becomes anodic with respect to the rest of the column and the metal therefore corrodes and ultimately causes the structural failure of the column. It is an object of this invention to reduce or eliminate this problem.
According to the invention there is provided a system for the cathodic protection of lighting columns and other electrically powered devices which are partly buried in the ground, which comprises at least one anode, a reference or pseudo-reference electrode mounted on a common carrier and an electrical power control system which is connected to the power supply for the lighting column or other device.
The electrically powered devices may be highway lamp posts, traffic bollards, traffic lights, sea defence installations; and the like.
The cathodic protection is particularly conveniently carried out in the case of lighting columns using the source of electric power in every column so that the cost of an impressed current system for each column is reasonable. The installation costs are low as all the relevant parts of a system (anodes, reference electrode, rectifier and power control system) can be supplied and installed as one unit The unit can be attached to the column to be protected, in a shallow hole dug adjacent to the column with a single power feed wire introduced into the column interior and connected to the electrical power supply. The hole is then backfilled burying the device, and any appropriate surface (asphalt, Flagstone, concrete) reinstated.
In one embodiment the system includes a carrier or frame adapted to hold the anode(s) and electrode. While the carrier may take a variety of shapes, in one embodiment the carrier is shaped roughly like a coat-hanger, for the anode and reference electrode, preferably with two impressed current anodes one mounted at each of the extremities. It is an advantage of the invention that one can locate the reference electrode at the line of equipotential between two (or more) anodes.
It can be advantageous to interpose barrier means between the anode and the reference electrode means for splitting the electrical current passing in between, thereby to create one or more virtual anodes. The barrier means may take the shape of a simple cross member, typically like a baffle, made of a non-electrically conductive material, typically a plastics. The shape and location of the baffle will determine the number of virtual electrodes. The location of the reference electrode is preferably determined by the lines of equal potential formed by the real and virtual anodes, and should be as close as possible to the lighting column itself. The reference electrode is preferably not on the same side of the barrier means as the "real" anode otherwise its output would be affected by the anode voltage.
The anode material can be a conductive ceramic or an electrocatalytic coated titanium metal, lead metal, or any of the materials which are commonly used in the industry for long lived, corrosion resistant anodes. For small columns, a single working anode would be sufficient and for larger columns it may be necessary to have more than 2, say up to 4.
The barrier means will be dimensioned so that it diverts the current flow appropriately. Typically it may be 500mm long so that the virtual anodes appear to be spaced about 250mm on each side of the column to give a substantially uniform current density to the entire column surface. The height of the barrier means is selected to ensure that minimal current leakage occurs above and below the barrier instead of at the ends. The height of the barrier preferably approaches twice the width (in this example 500mm) so that the distance from the anode to the column around the top and the bottom is at least similar to the distance around the end.
The reference electrode may be mounted in the carrier in any convenient place to measure the potential in the region of the column in the centre of the frame and thus close to the column. This electrode can be of a high accuracy type of thermodynamic equilibrium, such as Ag/AgCl2, or calomel, or Cu/CuSO4 or any of those electrodes well known to the electrochemical industry. It is not necessary in all cases to have such a highly accurate and thereby expensive electrode and in order to reduce costs, a "pseudo-" reference electrode made out of a short length of platinum wire, or of titanium metal coated with a suitable electrocatalyst (such as Ta/lr oxides or others well known in the electrochemical industry). The reference electrode may also be made of zinc.
The application provides a method of installing a cathodic protection system for a lighting column or other electrically powered device which is partly buried in the ground, the method comprising burying at least one anode and a reference or pseudo reference electrode mounted on a common carrier in a hole adjacent the column, connecting the electrodes in circuit with the power control supply of the column, and then covering the buried anode(s) and electrode.
The method preferably includes the step of locating a barrier means between the reference electrode and a real electrode to divert electric current and create a virtual anode. It is preferred that the barrier means is shaped so as to create a plurality of virtual electrodes.
In order that the invention may be well understood it will now be described by way of example only with reference to the accompanying diagrammatic drawings, in which:
  • Figure 1 is a side elevation of one carrier of the invention;
  • Figure 2 is a horizontal section through an installation; and
  • Figures 3A, 3B and 3C each show a transverse sectional view of another embodiment of the invention.
    • The same reference numerals are used where convenient in describing the different embodiments.
    The carrier 1 comprises a coat hanger shaped plastics moulding generally triangular as seen in elevation. The moulding is hollow and each corner has a socket 2 to receive an electrode E. Two anodes Ea are present at the lower comers; a reference electrode Er is present at the apex. A wire 3 extends between the electrodes and exits from an outlet 4 at the top to pass via a hole in the wall 5 of the light column 6 to a PLC7 in the interior. (The lamp column is mounted in the ground, or other substrate such as concrete, with the lower portion buried therein. The usual power supply for the lamp is located within the column). In use, a shallow hole is dug near the light column. The device is installed and the single power feed wire 3 introduced into the column interior and connected to the electrical power supply. The hole is then backfilled burying the device, and any appropriate surface material (asphalt, Flagstone, concrete) is reinstated. The wire 3 is connected directly or in the PLC7 to the lamp electrical supply. The PLC is arranged to periodically or continually assess the potential as registered by the reference electrode and adjust the current to the working anodes in order to control the potential with respect to the reference electrode at/near a preferred value. This value would be chosen to ensure that the column is cathodically polarised, but not to too high a voltage to induce significant amounts of hydrogen to be generated on the buried metal of the column. Because the anodes and reference electrode are mounted in a common frame not only are these parts properly spaced apart but the installation procedure is quick and efficient.
    In the embodiment of Figure 3A a baffle 10A is present between the reference electrode Er adjacent to column 6 and the single real anode Ea. (Note that two alternative positions for the reference electrode are shown). The baffle is a planar sheet of plastics material measuring about 500 mm wide and about 500 mm deep which diverts the electrical current flow to go round the edges and in the process creates two virtual electrodes Ev. The benefit of doing this is to increase the number of effective anodes without aggravating the costs of specialised components or installation charges.
    In the embodiment of Figure 3B the baffle 10B is of V section and is present on one side of the reference electrode Er, between that electrode and two anodes Ea. This has the effect of creating four virtual anodes Ev.
    In the embodiment of Figure 3C there are generally V section baffles 10C, each between the column 6 and a real anode Ea. As a result four virtual anodes Ev are created.
    The installation of Figures 3A, 3B and 3C works in the same way as that of Figures 1 and 2 with the added advantages of providing all round cathodic protection to the light column.
    The invention is not limited to the embodiment shown.

    Claims (5)

    1. A system for the cathodic protection of lighting columns (6) and other electrically powered devices which are partly buried in the ground, which comprises at least one anode (Ea), a reference or pseudo- reference electrode (Er) mounted on a common carrier (1) and an electrical power control system (7) which is connected to the power supply for the lighting column (6) or other device.
    2. A system according to Claim 1, wherein the reference electrode (Er) is a thermodynamic equilibrium electrode.
    3. A system according to Claim 1 or 2, wherein the reference electrode (Er) is made of platinum or other noble metal, or titanium metal with an electrocatalytic coating.
    4. A system according to any preceding Claim, wherein the electrical power and control system incorporates a PLC (7) arranged to adjust the electric current to the anode(s) (Ea) to control the potential as measured by the reference electrode (Er) outside the level at which significant volumes of hydrogen are generated.
    5. A system according to Claim 4, wherein the power supply and control system (7) is equipped with means for read-out of the operation of the system.
    EP99955304A 1998-06-04 1999-06-01 Cathodic protected installations Expired - Lifetime EP1092051B1 (en)

    Applications Claiming Priority (7)

    Application Number Priority Date Filing Date Title
    GBGB9812052.0A GB9812052D0 (en) 1998-06-04 1998-06-04 Cathodic protected installations
    GB9812052 1998-06-04
    GBGB9812334.2A GB9812334D0 (en) 1998-06-04 1998-06-08 Cathodic protected installations
    GB9812334 1998-06-08
    GBGB9818122.5A GB9818122D0 (en) 1998-06-04 1998-08-19 Cathodic protected installations
    GB9818122 1998-08-19
    PCT/GB1999/001736 WO1999063130A1 (en) 1998-06-04 1999-06-01 Cathodic protected installations

    Publications (2)

    Publication Number Publication Date
    EP1092051A1 EP1092051A1 (en) 2001-04-18
    EP1092051B1 true EP1092051B1 (en) 2003-03-12

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    Family Applications (1)

    Application Number Title Priority Date Filing Date
    EP99955304A Expired - Lifetime EP1092051B1 (en) 1998-06-04 1999-06-01 Cathodic protected installations

    Country Status (5)

    Country Link
    EP (1) EP1092051B1 (en)
    AT (1) ATE234373T1 (en)
    AU (1) AU4275499A (en)
    DE (1) DE69905892D1 (en)
    WO (1) WO1999063130A1 (en)

    Families Citing this family (2)

    * Cited by examiner, † Cited by third party
    Publication number Priority date Publication date Assignee Title
    DE10065246C1 (en) * 2000-12-29 2002-04-18 Ewis Ag Corrosion protection for vertical metal mast anchored in ground involves connecting protective anode directly to mast as sacrificial anode or to DC source as inert anode
    US7169288B2 (en) * 2004-11-03 2007-01-30 Adc Dsl Systems, Inc. Methods and systems of cathodic protection for metallic enclosures

    Family Cites Families (2)

    * Cited by examiner, † Cited by third party
    Publication number Priority date Publication date Assignee Title
    DE3613816A1 (en) * 1986-04-24 1987-10-29 Pipeline Engineering Ges Fuer Corrosion-protection device for metal storage vessels
    DE4038956A1 (en) * 1990-12-06 1992-07-09 Ver Energiewerke Ag Cathodic protection method for high voltage pylons - uses positive voltage from rectified voltage at transposition pylons

    Also Published As

    Publication number Publication date
    WO1999063130A1 (en) 1999-12-09
    ATE234373T1 (en) 2003-03-15
    DE69905892D1 (en) 2003-04-17
    AU4275499A (en) 1999-12-20
    EP1092051A1 (en) 2001-04-18

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