Design of impressed current cathodic

protection of offshore platform in East

Borneo Sea
Cite as: AIP Conference Proceedings 2338, 040015 (2021); https://doi.org/10.1063/5.0068078
Published Online: 11 November 2021

Andi Wiryawan and Priyo Tri Iswanto

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© 2021 Author(s).
 Design Rf Impressed Current Cathodic Protection Rf
Offshore Platform Ln East Borneo Sea
Andi Wiryawan and Priyo Tri Iswantoa)

Departemen Teknik Mesin dan Industri, Fakultas Teknik, Universitas Gadjah Mada, Jl. Grafika No. 2, Kompleks
UGM, Yogyakarta 55281, Indonesia
a)
Corresponding author: priyotri@ugm.ac.id

Abstract. Cathodic protection is one of the corrosion prevention methods commonly used to protect submerged steel
structures in the marine environment. This method is done by connecting the steel structure to be protected with other
metals that have lower electronegativity or by flowing electric current through an external anode. Generally cathodic
protection designs in modern times are based on recommended practices or international standards, empirical approaches,
and guidance from previous practical experience. The objective of this study is to design impressed current cathodic
protection ICCP system for offshore platforms. The study begins by gathering information or parameters that will be used
as input variables in calculations, such as environmental data, structure and anode dimensions, cable resistance, electrical
equipment data, and others. In this study, offshore platform in East Kalimantan was used as an object of the research.
Structural design of the "V" offshore platform at PT. XYZ is use as research object. The results of this research include DC
current requirements, the number of anodes, DC voltages & currents, and power capacity of transformers / rectifiers. It was
found that at the service life of 20 years, 4 anodes were needed, while from attenuation it was found that the number of
anodes was sufficient to cover all parts of the structure.

INTRODUCTION
Cathodic protection is one of the corrosion prevention methods commonly used to protect submerged steel
structures in the marine environment. This method is done by connecting the steel structure to be protected with other
metals that have lower electronegativity or by flowing electric current through an external anode. With these methods,
the potential value of the structure will fall below the potential value of the protection criteria of - 800 mV vs Ag /
AgCl [1]. Generally cathodic protection designs in modern times are based on recommended practices or international
standards, empirical approaches, and guidance from previous practical experience [2]. Other parameters such as the
number and the placement of anodes which have many uncertainty still depend on the knowledge and experience of
the design experts of the cathodic protection system [3].
Cathodic protection system design may have been widely developed, but most of these designs are used for
commercial and not published. There are several researchers who publish their research on the design of cathodic
protection system, among them are Dewald et al [4], Veronelli [2], and Mahmudi [5}. Dewald et al. [4] made an
application (framework) for the impressed current cathodic protection system for storage tank and underground
pipeline application. For the anode current output capacity, he refers to manufacturing recommendations according to
the service life. For circuit resistance, he refers to Dwight’s formula [6]. Veronelli [2] made an application based on
Visual Basic for Application (VBA) using Excel to create a sacrificial anode cathodic protection design application.
He made a number of modules to create a cathodic protection design of underground pipelines and offshore platforms.
The application uses the Dwight formula to determine the anode resistance, as well as calculating the maximum anode
requirement in the initial to final phase. From this application, optimization of the dimensions and number of sacrificial
anodes is carried out. The important thing to consider in placing the anode is that the anode splash zone is placed at
the lower boundary of the tides, while for the anode buried zone is placed near the submarine to ensure the current
distribution reaches the entire structure. Mahmudi [5] made an application based on Microsoft Excel and Matlab
regarding the design of the cathodic protection system on dock piles with reference to the NACE SP0176 standard
[7]. He also performed attenuation calculations that refer to the attenuation theory presented by Peabody [8].

Proceedings of the 13th AUN/SEED-NET Regional Conference on Materials (RCM 2020)

and the 1st International Conference on Materials Engineering and Manufacturing (ICMEM 2020)
AIP Conf. Proc. 2338, 040015-1–040015-7; https://doi.org/10.1063/5.0068078
Published by AIP Publishing. 978-0-7354-4144-6/$30.00

040015-1
 This study aims to make a design parameter of impressed current cathodic protection systems. Structural design
and condition of environmental parameters at "V" offshore platforms at PT. XYZ will be used as a research object.
With the existence this standard application, it is expected that the design process can be run more efficiently.
In this study the output will be the protection current required, voltage, and the capacity of the transformer/rectifier.
The attenuation value or current distribution is also calculated to determine the current distribution and confirm the
adequacy of the number of anodes.

RESEARCH METHODOLOGY
The study begins by gathering information or parameters that will be used as input variables in calculations, such
as environmental data, structure and anode dimensions, cable resistance, electrical equipment data, and others. Based
on the parameter data obtained it is necessary to determine the protection criteria of the cathodic protection system.
In this study, offshore platform in East Kalimantan was used as an object of research. Illustration of the platform and
geographical position is shown in Figure 1.

FIGURE 1. Illustration of the platform and geographical position

TABLE 1. Design input parameter

Design Parameter Anode Parameter
Design life 20 years Anode shape Cylinder
Environmental Data Anode diameter 15.875 mm
Water depth 42.67 m (below MSL) Anode length 1219 mm
Temperature 20 oC Distance between anode 1000 mm
Seawater resistance 0.19 ȍP Anode current density output (max) 600 mA/m2
Structure Parameter Electrical Equipment Parameter
Structure material ASTM A-36 Cable resistance #1 0.001075 ohm/m
Structure area 6050.4 m2 Cable resistance #2 0.00033456 ohm/m
splash zone 746.7 m2 AC power source 415 Volt/ 3 Phase/50Hz
submerged zone 3452.8 m2 Transformer/Rectifier DC output 150 Volt - 200 Ampere
Submerged-buried zone 1850.8 m2
Structure resistance 18 x 10-8 ȍP

Tabel 1 shows the input parameter of platform that used in this study. From the data obtained, the protection criteria
used were -800 mV (vs. Ag/ AgCl reference electrode). The protection value is in accordance with the values
suggested in literature [1] [2] [4] and international standards [7] [9]. The international standard used in this study
refers to DNV [9], which has been widely referred by other researchers and validated using experiments and modeling
as conducted by Baete et al [17], Stutzmann [18] and Meillier [19]. The calculation of the design specifications of the

040015-2
impressed current cathodic protection system will be compared with the calculation of the anode current distribution
or attenuation to confirm the number of anodes required with the current distribution capacity.

ICCP System Calculation Design

The empirical design of the impressed current cathodic protection system will be explained in this chapter. The
procedure for the design involved several sequence derived from international standard guidelines and other literature.
The first sequence is to collect data and determine the protection criteria such as the required current density and
coating breakdown factors. In this study those parameters refer to DNV standard [9], current requirements depend on
climate, temperature, and sea depth. While the coating breakdown factor depends on the service life, type of paint,
and the depth of the sea on the painted structure. The current requirement value is formulated by equation (1) as
follows:

௜ .௙
‫ܫ‬௧ = ቂቀ‫ܣ‬. ೎ ಴ ቁ × ൫1 + ܵ௙ ൯ቃ (1)
ଵ଴଴଴
Where, It = current requirement (A), A = structure surface area (m2), ic = current density refers to DNV [9]
(mA/m2), fc = coating breakdown factor refers to DNV [9] (%), Sf = safety factor (%). After required current are
determined, the number of anodes required can be calculated. Because the anode used in this study is the Ti-MMO
anode, the maximum output current value generated from the anode is affected by its service life [10]. Only then can
the current output capacity of each anode be calculated using the following equation:

‫ܫ‬௔௡ = ‫ܫ‬ௗ × ‫ܣ‬௔௡ (2)

Where Ian = the anode current output capacity of the anode (A), Id = the anode individual current capacity (A /
m2), and Aan= the anode surface area (m2). Then the number of anode required can be calculated from the total
current requirements divided by the individual anode output capacity.
The next step is to find the DC current and voltage required to determine the transformer / rectifier capacity. First
of all it is necessary to know the circuit resistance of the cathodic protection system. The resistance in the circuit can
be illustrated as shown in Figure 2 below.

FIGURE 2. Circuit resistance diagram of ICCP system

The total resistance in a circuit can be formulated as follows:

்ܴ௢௧௔௟ = ܴ௖,௔ + ܴ௖,௦ + ܴ௔,௘ (3)

Where, Rtotal = total circuit resistance, Rc,a = cable resistance at the anode, Rc,s = cable resistance at the structure,
Ra,e = anode resistance to the electrolyte, and Rs,e = structure resistance to the electrolyte. The value of Rs,e can be
ignored because the value is very small compared to other resistance parameters [13].
After the circuit resistance is obtained, the amount of DC current and voltage required can be calculated using the
following formula:
DC voltage:
‫ = ்ܧ‬൛‫ܫ‬௧ × ்ܴ × ൫1 + ܵ௙ ൯ൟ + ‫ܤ‬௘௠௙ (4)
DC current:
ா೅. ூ೟
‫ܫ‬஺஼ = (5)
ாಲ಴ .ఎξଷ.௖௢௦‫׎‬
Transformer/rectifier power:

040015-3
 ܲ஺஼ = ξ3 × ‫ܫ‬஺஼ × ‫ܧ‬஺஼ (6)
Where EAC= input AC voltage (415 Volts), ET = required DC voltage output (Volts), Bemf = Back Electromotive
)RUFH9ROWV܏ 7UDQVIRUPHU5HFWLILHU(IILFLHQF\&RV‘ $&SRZHUSKDVHDQJOH,$& ,QSXW$&
Current (A).

Atenuation/Current Distribution Calculation

When the protective current flows to the structure, the potential value and the amount of electric current will
decrease along with increasing distance from the current source or anode to structure, as illustrated in Figure 3. This
phenomenon is called attenuation, the value of the current and potential rate of loss depends on the resistivity of the
structure, the conductivity of the coating, polarization, distance, and the presence of insulation in the area around the
system [13]. Attenuation value will be use to confirm the anode coverage area of cathodic protection system.

FIGURE 3. Relation of Distance, Current and Potential Illustration in CP System

The attenuation range of the cathodic protection system can be formulated as follows:
‫ܧ‬௫ = ‫ܧ‬௔ ݁ (ିఈ௑) (7)
or
ಶ
௔௥௖ ୡ୭ୱ୦( ೌ )
ಶ
ܺ= ೣ
(8)
ఈ
Where X = attenuation current range (m), Ea = structure potential near the anode (-550mV s / d-1200mV), Ex =
structure potential at distance x (-550mV s / d -850mV). The value of the attenuDWLRQFRQVWDQWĮLVYHU\LQIOXHQWLDO
in predicting the amount of shrinkage that occurs along the distance to the anode. The smaller the resistance in the
structure including the protective paint, the greater the value of the attenuation constant. The attenuation constant
YDOXHĮFDQEHIRUPXODWHGDVIROORZV
ߙ = ඥ‫ݎ‬. ݃ (9)
Where: r = structural resistance (ohms/m), g = paint conductivity (S/m).

RESULT AND DISCUSSION

Figure 4 show the calculation scheme. In total there are 19 input parameter variables needed. Impressed current
cathodic protection current demand were calculated as initial, mean, and final. Initial, mean, and final values are made
to assume changes in current requirements that change over time, due to the phenomenon of accumulation of
calcium/scale deposits, marine life, and the polarization process. Then number of anodes will be calculated, the
number of anodes will depend on the output capacity of the anode which will be based on the anode material [20].
The results of calculations for current demand data and the number of anodes can be seen from Figure 5 and Figure
6, the results of these calculations are for "V" platforms using 3 type of coating. When viewed from the current
requirements in the initial, mean, and final periods of Figure 5, it can be seen that the current needs change in each
period [16]. In structures without protective coating, the current requirement at the beginning is greater than the mean
period, due to the scale deposits that will form during the protection period. Whereas in the final period the demand
for higher currents is due at that time it is predicted that the scale deposit and marine growth have been damaged and
need to be polarized again to restore the layer [10]. In Figure 5 and Figure 6 it can be seen that the value of current
requirements and the number of anodes increases with increasing service life. This is caused by the damage factor of
the paint, which is influenced by the function of time which illustrates that the paint will be damaged as the structure
ages. With all the parameter quantity and capacity known from the calculation output, cost estimate/simulation can be
calculated.

040015-4
 FIGURE 4. Schematic Calculation of ICCP Design for Offshore Platform Structures

FIGURE 5. Calculation Results for DC Current Required with Various Coating Type

The attenuation value is influenced by the value of the structural resistance and the resistance of the protective
paint, so in this study only the type of paint is affected. The calculation results show that the attenuation value of the
structure without paint, the current range is 74 meters which means it can reach the entire structure of the "V" platform

040015-5
[21] which shown below at figure 7. From these results it can be seen that the design and calculations carried out still
fall under the protective criteria as per DNV standard (<800 mV vs Ag/AgCl) [9].

FIGURE 6. Calculation Results for Anode Required with Various Coating Type

FIGURE 7. Attenuation chart

CONCLUSION
Cathodic protection system have been made by issuing outputs of DC current requirements, number of anodes, DC
voltages & currents, and transformer / rectifier power capacities. It was found that at the service life of 20 years, 4
anodes were needed, while from attenuation it was found that the number of anodes was sufficient to cover all parts
of the structure.

040015-6
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