FIELD TESTS ON AN ADVANCED CATHODIC PROTECTION COUPON
AUTHORS
ABSTRACT
Paper No. 05039 presented at Corrosion 2005, April 3 - 7, 2005, Houston, Texas
Published by NACE International, Houston, TX www.nace.org © NACE, 2005
An advanced cathodic protection coupon design which eliminates almost all of the soil IR
drop during current-on potential measurements has been developed. Potential measurements
are made through a slot in the geometric center of the coupon,a design sometimes referred
to as a concentric coupon. This design greatly minimizes the electrolyte distance between
the reference electrode and the coupon, which,in turn, minimizes the IR drop error contained
in the measurements. This paper presents results from laboratory and field tests on this
advanced coupon design.
CONCLUSIONS
Frank Ansuini is Technical Director of EDI which specializes in the
development and marketing of corrosion control products. He has over 30 years
experience in research and product development in corrosion. Frank may be
contacted at
PO Box 31,
Albion, RI 02802 or
1. Concentric CP coupons are a very effective way to substantially eliminate voltage drop
error from current-on readings.
2. The effectiveness of concentric CP coupons varies with electrolyte resistivity. In high resistivity electrolytes, using these coupons will eliminate about 90% of the voltage drop error. In lower resistivity electrolytes, virtually all the voltage drop error is eliminated from current-on readings made with concentric CP coupons.
Jim Dimond is President of Dimondale Co., Inc which designs and manufactures cathodic protection products. He has over 30 years experience in cathodic protection including product design, manufacturing and field engineering. Jim may be contacted at PO Box 838, Middlefield, OH 44062 or
3. The performance of concentric CP coupons can vary depending on their orientation with respect to the structure. Best results are achieved when the coupon is positioned so that it faces the structure.
4. The distance a concentric CP coupon is placed from the structure does not appear to affect its ability to eliminate voltage drop from current-on measurements. However, if it is placed too far away from the structure, the measured potential may be more electro-positive than that on the structure. A compromise position should be sought where the coupon is placed far enough away from the structure so that it is not shielded by it, but not so far away that it is not representative of conditions at the pipe.
