Ministry of education

Tikrit University

College of Engineering

Chemical engineering

THE SUBJECT OF THE REPORT

THE ANODIC PROTECTION

PREPARED BY:
W ALEED KAREEM & YASSER NAWFAL

SECOND STAGE
SUPERVISED BY: DR. S AAD R. AHMED

2019\2020
Introduction

Definition of corrosion, Corrosion is defined as the decomposition of a

substance by contacting it with the external environment. Corrosion may
occur for non-metallic materials such as concrete and plastic, and factors
that depend on corrosion are: temperature, environmental concentration, in
addition to the pressure and erosion that increase From the rate of wear,
corrosion also causes material losses in addition to affecting safety, and
may cause human losses.

Types of wear Corrosion mobster: leads to corrosion mobster crash layer

bonding between the two parts in the structure, allowing water to enter the
inside, The cells of oxygen Vtad necessary corrosion cracks in a damp
atmosphere.

Stress corrosion: Also called pressure corrosion, it occurs in a suitable

environment in sequential steps, where the effect of pressure on the metal
begins and causes a local weakness of the protective oxide coating that
allows contact between the metal and electrolytes, which leads to curvature
in the metal, and then the formation of the hole increases with Over time,
stress corrosion occurs at the sharp base of the hole, corrosion is promoted
in the growth of the fissure, and the increased fissure causes the material
to break down.

Galvanic corrosion: This type occurs when two different metals are
attached to the electrolyte, and one of the metals is corroded to protect the
other metal.

Intergranular corrosion: This type of corrosion occurs in stainless steel in

addition to other metals, where it occurs when the grain boundaries in the
metal are formed from the anode, and the internal grains of the cathode,
and it occurs when the metal is heated to a temperature between 425 and
870 ° C. The chromium in stainless steel interacts with carbon, so the
chromium carbide particles are formed at the boundaries of the grains, and
thus the chromium concentration in them decreases, which leads to their
corrosion.
Metal protection methods There are many methods that protect metals
from corrosion, including the following:

Coating: The outer layer surrounding the surface of the metal helps to
protect the metal from corrosion, and the effectiveness of the coating in
protecting the metal depends on the environment it is exposed to. The
purpose of the coating process is to keep the metal dry and avoid exposure
to moisture. Galvanization: by coating the metal surface with another metal,
where the latter is oxidized in place of the metal, and the steel alloys are
often painted with zinc, which is considered one of the most active
elements, where zinc corrodes, which makes the iron cathode and prevents
corrosion.

Cathodic protection: It is by providing a continuous negative electrical

charge on the metal, and the external charge source is a direct external
energy source, and this type of protection is used in fuel tanks and
underground pipelines.

Anodic protection: an anode made of metal that is more active than the
metal to be used is used; This is to prevent corrosion in submerged or
buried metal structures, and the anode is corroded so it must be replaced
to prevent corrosion of the metal to be protected.
Anodic protection
In contrast to cathodic protection, anodic protection is relatively new.
Edeleanu first demonstrated the feasibility of anodic protection in 1954 and
tested it on small-scale stainless steel boilers used for sulfuric acid solutions.
This was probably the first industrial application, although other experimental
work had been carried out elsewhere.

Anodic protection possesses unique advantages. For example, the applied

current is usually equal to the corrosion rate of the protection system. Thus,
anodic protection not only protects but also offers a direct means for
monitoring the corrosion rate of a system.

More than 50 years after the first rational experiments to use anodic
polarization for the deceleration of corrosion rate of passivable metals, due to
the change in corrosion potential, the use of AP in industrial applications was
established for corrosion systems such as carbon steel in sulfuric acid and
alkaline environment, and stainless steel in sulfuric acid. This means that in
cases where AP stood up to the competition of other corrosion protection
methods despite its relative operation complexity and a certain degree of risk.
Considering the perspective of an industrial user, AP possesses, besides
indisputable advantages, a general disadvantage of the necessity to
continuously monitor a due operation of the system, since any failure of the
regulating circuits can lead to an extremely fast damage of the protected
equipment. It is because the corrosion rate of many corrosion systems, for
which the AP is very effective in laboratory or semioperating conditions, is
absolutely unacceptable outside the passive range, even for a short while.
Such corrosion systems failed in long-term practical applications.

Anodic protection (AP) is a technique to control the corrosion of a metal

surface by making it the anode of an electrochemical cell and controlling the
electrode potential in an zone where the metal is passive . Anodic protection
is used to protect metals that exhibit passivation in environments whereby the
current density in the freely corroding state is significantly higher than the
current density in the passive state over a wide range of potentials.
 Anodic protection is used for carbon steel storage tanks containing extreme
pH environments including concentrated sulfuric acid and 50 percent caustic
soda where cathodic protection is not suitable due to very high current
requirements. An anodic protection system includes an external power supply
connected to auxiliary cathodes and controlled by a feedback signal from one
or more reference electrodes.[3] Careful design and control is required when
using anodic protection for several reasons, including excessive current when
passivation is lost or unstable, leading to possible accelerated corrosion.

“Anodic protection is electrochemical protection (corrosion protection

achieved by electrical control of corrosion potential) by increasing the
potential to a value corresponding to the stable passive state” – and deal
generally with the use of passivation to protect metals or, for
example, sacrificial anodes, and recently, also conductive polymers, the
function of which is assumed to be similar to that of cathodic alloying
elements or AP by protectors.

The importance of anodic protection

The main purpose of AP use is to ensure sufficient resistance of

passivable metal against uniform and localized corrosion. The effectiveness
of AP cannot be simply expressed by comparing corrosion rates of protected
and unprotected materials, since the particular material cannot be used
without AP under given conditions. The effectiveness must be assessed in
light of the comparison of various corrosion protection alternatives that ensure
technically acceptable resistance in the required construction arrangement.
The requirement for high purity of a manufactured or stored product. The
necessity of a pure environment is the reason why AP is applied to storage
tanks for sulfuric acid.

Limitations of production technology caused by low corrosion resistance of

the production equipment can be mitigated by AP application. Intensification
of the sulfuric acid production by increasing the operating temperature could
serve as a good example.

Very slow corrosion rate under AP enables better and long-term use of
metallic materials, and sometimes it is possible to ensure sufficient service
life of less costly materials, which limits the use of precious metallic and
nonmetallic structure materials.

Thanks to AP, it is possible to construct devices with better parameters

representing new ways of technological solutions, such as an effective
consumption of heat energy, which, without AP, is wasted in the cooling
process during the sulfuric acid production.14,33 Coolers of concentrated
sulfuric acid are nowadays the most effective application.

Secure and reliable operation of anodically protected equipment consists not

only in minimum corrosion, but also in, for example, the prevention of
undesirable evolution of hydrogen during the acid storage.

AP can be also used in nonaqueous environments, when their

electrolytic conductivity is high, for example, in glass melts where
heating electrodes can be thus protected from corrosion.

AP can also be applied in areas that are not related to corrosion, for example,
in the prevention of undesirable deposition of nickel on the device walls
during the electroless nickel plating process. In addition to the enhancement
of work productivity, this application increases material savings
 Anodic protection is preferred for mild steel storage vessels containing
concentrated acidic or alkaline fluids such as concentrated sulfuric acid. In
order to keep the metal surface in a passive state, this protection system
includes a direct current low-voltage power supply with feedback control.

For certain metals such as steel alloys and stainless steels, anodic protection
is preferred over cathodic protection. This technique is effective only as long
as the direct current power supply is closely monitored. The passive film
formed on a metallic surface, due anodic polarization as a result of direct
current potential applied to it, is responsible for the protection of the metal
from corrosion damage.

Study of anodic protection is significant because this method of protection is

adopted in aerospace and other critical applications, and in situations where
cathodic protection is not cost effective.

Maintenance of aged land-based structures

In reinforced concrete structures, anodic protection is a terminology used for

the description of cathodic protection using a sacrificial anode. Anodic
protection involves the installation of a metal which is more anodic than the
embedded reinforcement, thereby reversing the corrosion process and
protecting the reinforcement. This is more commonly used for marine
applications. Commercial systems are now available involving anodes which
are embedded into repair patches to halt the corrosion of reinforcement.
However, the longevity is yet to be established. Systems such as these need
to be designed and not installed ‘off the shelf as there are many variables to
consider, including protective radius, electrical conductivity of the repair
mortar and base concrete, reinforcement density and condition, chloride
concentration and exposure conditions, amongst others.
 Method Application/advantages Suitability/disadvantages

Anodic protection •Protects embedded reinforcement •Unknown lifespan

against present and potential
corrosion by means of anodes •Need to be designed to include the many
which are embedded in repair variable conditions and as-built details
patches

•No need for wiring or external •Monitoring is difficult and impractical

equipment

Cathodic protection •Chloride contaminated structures •As for realkalisation with reference to
– impressed current where the reinforcement is alkali aggregate reaction and post-
corroding or at risk of corrosion tensioned, prestressed structures

•Long-term protection •External wiring/equipment

•Remote monitoring and adjustment •Need for ongoing monitoring

to changes to exposure conditions
or corrosion rates

•In some cases also applicable for •Limited life of the anodes
corroding reinforcement in
carbonated concrete

•Many anode systems including •Not suitable where it is not possible to

surface mesh, embedded ribbons, achieve electrical continuity of
embedded rods, conductive surface reinforcement and link in all isolated
coatings embedded steel elements

Cathodic protection •To protect structures affected by •Needs anodes to be embedded into walls
– salts from soils
electro-osmosis •Reverses salt ingress and reduces •Life expectancy not yet known
salt concentrations

•Can protect embedded

reinforcement against corrosion
The Difference Between Anodic and Cathodic Protection
Anodic and cathodic protection are two electrochemical processes we use to
prevent surfaces from corrosion or rusting. In an electrochemical process, we
use an electrochemical cell with two electrodes as anode and cathode. In
anodic and cathodic protection processes, we use the surface to be protected
(substrate) as either anode or cathode, which leads to name those processes
as such. Sacrificial protection is a type of cathodic protection in which we use
`while avoiding the corrosion of the cathode.

The key difference between anodic and cathodic protection is that the Anodic
protection is a type of electrochemical process in which we can protect a
metal surface by making it the anode in the electrochemical cell, while
cathodic protection is a type of electrochemical process in which we can
protect a metal surface by making it the cathode in the electrochemical
cell. So, the key difference between anodic and cathodic protection is that, in
anodic protection, the surface to be protected acts as the anode whereas, in
cathodic protection, it is the cathode.

Furthermore, anodic protection involves the suppression of reactivity of a

metal by adjusting the potential of the more reactive metal; however, cathodic
protection involves the reversing of the flow of current between two dissimilar
electrodes. Therefore, we can consider this too as a difference between
anodic and cathodic protection.
References
1. ^ Néstor Pérez " Electrochemistry and corrosion science", Kluwer
Academic Publishers, 2004 (google books).

2. ^ Anodic protection : theory and practice in the prevention of corrosion,

by Olen L. Riggs, Jr. and Carl E. Locke, Plenum Press, New York, 1981

3. ^ CORRWIKI Archived 5 December 2010 at the Wayback Machine,

retrieved 8 September 2010

4. ^ What is a Sacrificial Protection? – Definition from

Corrosionpedia.(https://www.corrosionpedia.com/definition/1574/sacrificial-protection)