Paper No.

02018
CORROSION 2002
Offshore Pipeline CP Retrofit Strategies

Jim Britton
Deepwater Corrosion Services Inc.
Houston, TX
www.stoprust.com

ABSTRACT

Many miles of offshore pipelines worldwide are reaching, or have exceeded, the original
design life of their cathodic protection systems. Many of these pipelines will be required
to function for another 10, 15 or even 20 years. This paper will describe some rational
strategies for achieving the desired life extension of the external corrosion control
systems at the minimum installed cost. Preliminary surveys, retrofit design methods,
installation procedures and hardware, verification and routine post installation inspection
methods will be discussed.

Key Words: Offshore Pipelines, CP Retrofits, Field Gradient Surveys, Attenuation

Modeling,

Copyright
2002 by NACE International. Requests for permission to publish this manuscript in any form, in part or in whole must be in writing to NACE International,
Publications Division, 1440 South Creek Drive, Houston, Texas 77084-4906. The material presented and the views expressed in this paper are solely those of the
author(s) and not necessarily endorsed by the Association. Printed in U.S.A.

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Introduction

Information obtained during routine offshore pipeline CP inspections has shown that the
CP design criteria used have historically been quite conservative. This is particularly true
of pipelines with concrete weight coatings over corrosion coatings. The main reason for
this conservatism appears to be in the assumed degradation of the pipeline coating system
both initially and over time. The coatings have generally outperformed the design criteria
meaning that the anodes have been able to maintain adequate CP levels for much longer
than the original design life. A secondary factor appears to be a general overestimation
of the current density required to achieve protection. This often results in effective life
cycles of CP systems designed for 20 or 25 years reaching 35 or 40 years.

This is the rule, there are however exceptions. Problems have been found on pipelines
that become electrically shorted to platforms, pipelines without weight coatings that have
had anodes detached during the pipe lay process and pipelines fitted with aluminum
anodes of poor quality that have failed to activate. So it could be dangerous to assume
the condition of an ageing pipeline if no survey data exist.

Basic Retrofit Strategies

There are three basic strategies that a pipeline owner may adopt, there are a number of
theme variations, but in general they are:

The Conventional Approach Conduct a detailed survey, analyze the data, plan and
schedule the retrofit as needed, execute the retrofit, conduct periodic surveys to verify
continued operation of the retrofitted system.

The Practical Approach With this approach the owner would reason that the pipeline is
already beyond it’s original design life, the pipeline needs to remain in service for an
extended period of time way beyond even the most conservative estimates of the original
CP system’s life expectancy. In this case a retrofit will most probably be required at
some point within the next 5 years. So he would adopt the approach of planning a
minimal retrofit and at the same time gathering data to assess the

Retrofit of Opportunity It will become apparent that the majority of the cost of an
offshore pipeline retrofit is installation, i.e. the cost of the diving vessel and Subsea
services, it makes sense to consider planning retrofits in conjunction with other Subsea
activity on the pipeline. These opportunities present themselves when, for example, a
Subsea tie-in to an existing pipeline is made. Other similar opportunities exist during
routine route inspection, subsea repairs or reburials, or even when a suitable spread is
mobilized to the general area to complete other subsea projects. It is a simple matter to
ensure that the necessary equipment is available to complete a spot retrofit.
Adopting this strategy, and following an installation procedure that includes monitoring
of the anode sled output current as well as “as found” and “as left” pipeline potentials
will provide invaluable information on the overall condition of the pipeline CP system in
the general area of the retrofit location. These data can be used to eliminate the need for

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an expensive, detailed pipeline survey while still allowing a safe retrofit system to be
engineered for the rest of the pipeline.

Types of Retrofit

As with any CP system, three basic options are available, Impressed Current (ICCP),
Sacrificial Anodes or Hybrid Systems. The choice between these systems will be
determined largely based on the following broad criteria.

Isolation status of the pipeline – If the pipeline is electrically isolated at one or both ends,
the application of ICCP will generally be more practical.

Practicality of applying ICCP – There are several sub-criteria that will determine the
viability of using impressed current as a possible fix, they are:

• Availability of suitable power (a.c.) supply.

• Cost of access and maintenance.
• Potential for stray current interference.

The length of the pipeline – ICCP can only be deployed at the ends of an offshore
pipeline if it starts or terminates at platform or on dry land. The distance that can be
protected from an end current source will be limited by the linear resistance of the
pipeline and the current required to protect it (coating condition). Generally speaking,
ICCP offers no real advantage over sacrificial anodes when considering attenuation.

For short lines (generally less than 5 miles (8 Km.) in length), that run between two
platforms or otherwise provide access to a cathodic protection source at either end, the
answer may be simply to electrically connect (short) the pipeline to those CP sources at
either end. Using attenuation models verified with one time mid point contact potential
measurement will usually be sufficient to provide adequate retrofit capacity, at a very
attractive price.

Long lines (greater than 10 miles (16 Km.) in length) will invariably require multiple
anode sled installations along the pipeline route, the criteria governing the location and
frequency of these sleds are discussed later.

KEY RETROFIT PROJECT ELEMENTS

Survey

There are several different survey options that vary from high [1] to low resolution and
the selection of the most appropriate method will be determined by the type and accuracy
of the data required.

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Table 1. Compares the merits of the various pre-retrofit survey method options.
Obviously the more that is known of the pipeline condition, the more optimization can be
put into the retrofit design, this will generally result in a much lower cost installation.

The cost of a typical pipeline retrofit in the Gulf of Mexico will be broken down as
follows:

Design: 2-5%
Materials: 20-25%
Installation 75-80%

Thus it follows that optimization of the installation should receive the most attention.
This can be achieved by knowing the following things about the pipeline:

CP System & Coating Condition – This determines the number of sled sites required
Depth of Cover – On a buried line this is critical to minimize or eliminate excavations.
Pipeline Location (XY) – Time wasted locating the pipeline is expensive.

The key is to safely protect the pipeline with the minimum number of locations. Top
level survey intelligence can be an enormous help in this endeavor, but the economics
should be closely evaluated before reaching a decision to survey.

Design

When setting about designing a retrofit for an offshore pipeline, there are a number of
key elements that drive the design approach. I am not going to go into great length about
design criteria such as current density requirements etc. these are well appreciated by
corrosion engineers in the field. But the following points of knowledge control the
design:

• Coating Condition
• Pipe Wall Thickness
• Existing Anode Condition
• General Potential Levels on Pipeline
• Isolated or Shorted at End Points
• Extent of Burial
• Operating Temperature
• Water Depth
• Location of Other Pipelines / Tie-Ins Etc.

These and a number of other pieces of useful information are given in Table 2. This is a
questionnaire provided by the writers company to owners/operators of candidate
pipelines. The document is somewhat detailed but has been included in full to provide a
useful tool to readers of this paper.

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In our field experience it is possible to space anode retrofit sleds as far as 10-12000 feet
and achieve adequate cathodic protection overlap Table 3. Shows data obtained while
retrofitting an offshore pipeline in the Gulf of Mexico, the installation sites 1 – 14 are
approximately 12000 feet apart and were installed in number order over a seven day time
period. The numbers clearly show overlap to each successive site. This on a pipeline
reaching the end of its original CP design life but still maintaining cathodic protection
levels in the potential range of (-) 0.880 V vs. Ag/AgCl sw. or more negative.

Installation Planning

Several key factors come into play when planning the installation of an offshore pipeline
CP retrofit:

Installation Spread Requirement – This is the offshore support equipment required to

complete the job. The equipment required will generally be determined by pipeline
location, length, water depth and depth of burial. A pipeline that runs from on offshore
facility to an onshore destination may require two completely different equipment
spreads to complete the project. The locally available equipment will also drive the
decision in many areas of the world.

In the Gulf of Mexico, North Sea and other major offshore areas there is a usually a wide
range of equipment for hire. So if we decide to use a Remotely Operated Vehicle (ROV)
spread only, do we need a Dynamically Positioned (DP) support vessel or a Four Point
Anchor Vessel (FPV). DP can command a day rate double that of an equivalently sized
and otherwise similarly equipped FPV. With an average anchor deploy / recover time of
around 6-8 hours per location the DP can complete well over twice as many installations
as the FPV under certain conditions, but the bottom time required at each location has to
be relatively short with respect to anchor handling time .. these among several other
considerations make for a complex analysis. The wrong call could cost somebody
hundreds of thousands of dollars on even a modest sized retrofit program.

Hardware Requirements

When designing pipeline retrofit hardware, there are some key requirements over and
above providing the correct design from a CP standpoint (which goes somewhat without
saying). The equipment must provide the following, and will not look the same for
every project:

1. Ease of safe handling offshore, correct lift points, know weight limits of
installation equipment on site, etc.
2. Provide quick installation for Diver/ROV, minimize time on bottom.
3. Allow positive verification of performance upon installation, preferably by
current output rather than potential measurement alone.
4. Be environmentally friendly, no net snag points, toxic materials of
construction etc.

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The hardware consists generally of three main elements:

Anode Sled(s)

Anode sleds may be galvanic or impressed current Fig. 1 shows a typical galvanic mud
sled designed to operate below the seabed. This sled has an anode weight of 1250 Net lb
(568 Kg). of AlZnIn anodes. These sleds are generally deployed at a short distance from
the pipeline (10 – 15 feet 3 to 4.5 M). Impressed current sleds will take several forms
depending on location, but will generally have to be located a little further away from the
pipeline to be fully effective.

Sacrificial anode sleds are usually equipped with a cable-shunt type current measuring
facility Fig. 2 This allows surface or subsea readout of anode sled current output.

It is a good idea to provide some magnetic or sonar reflectors that will enable ease of
relocation with low cost towed survey apparatus, they can also be useful for calibration of
smart pigs.

Note that discreet anode sleds have a finite resistance, this can be seen in the typical
attenuation predictive output shown Fig. 3. The large voltage drop at the sled location is
caused by this resistance. This is not present when zero resistance end current sources or
potentially controlled impressed current sources are used. Shorting a pipeline to a
platform would represent a zero resistance current source.

Interconnect Cables

These are the cables that connect the anode to the pipeline, so they have to be designed to
perform long term. Fortunately they are generally very corrosion resistant and being on
the cathodic half of the circuit receive the benefit of full time cathodic protection. It is
sound practice to include a wire rope strain relief to eliminate the possibility of excess
strain at the connection terminals. Dual redundant cables should always be provided as a
minimum, cross sectional area will typically need to be in the 2/0 to 4/0 AWG range.
Multi-strand locomotive style cable is preferred over stranded conductor constructions.

Remember that the equipment is only 20% of the project cost, don’t cut corners that
could compromise performance.

Attachment to Pipeline

The pipeline attachment is possibly the most critical element, mechanical connections are
the most cost effective, and also the speediest to install. A new design of attachment
clamp that has been successfully used on a number of projects is shown in Fig. 4. The
clamp has the benefit of installing over weight coatings, and without the need to fully
excavate the pipeline, its “breakaway system” eliminates potential damage from
snagging. These features alone can save several hours of bottom time per location, more

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if the pipeline is deeply covered. The clamp has been successfully installed both by
divers and ROV. The constant torque features and material selections ensure the long
term integrity of the electro-mechanical connection.

Other attachment methods to be considered include friction welding, hyperbaeric or wet

welding, but the circumstances would have to be unusual to justify the significant cost
penalties associated with these methods.

Installation

The installation should proceed well if properly planned, a key element is to have a
corrosion specialist available to make and interpret the various measurements taken at
each location. In this way critical field adjustments can be made if the recorded data are
not meeting or exceeding predicted levels.

It is also key to have a qualified survey company on board to accurately spot the position
of each retrofit site. This will be critical to long-term re-survey strategy.

Verification & Monitoring

There are two phases of verification and monitoring; Short term and long term, in the
short term it is important to verify the retrofitted system performance. This stage of
monitoring comprises of the following basic measurement types:

• Pre and post-installation pipeline potentials.

• Early polarization curves (sled current plotted against change in pipeline
potential over a short period after grounding of the anode sled).

These data, when evaluated on the pipeline as a whole, provide a wealth of “real” CP
performance information that can be used to optimize asset life cycle inspection and
mechanical integrity management costs. It is these life cycle inspection requirements that
make up the long term monitoring. The data obtained during installation can now be put
to use to plan periodic system operational verification. The large evenly distributed CP
current sources are now the virtual “offshore test stations” that need simply be scanned
with a low cost towed apparatus [2], to verify proper system function.

This level of CP system performance verification, is higher than that available on

probably 90% plus of offshore pipelines. Deepwater pipelines are increasingly being
protected by a few isolated sled current sources, this will eventually change the way in
which offshore pipelines are monitored.

It seems more than reasonable to suggest that certain aspects of this technology approach
may be applicable to new pipelines in even moderate water depths. Pipeline monitoring
is much harder to do on buried offshore pipelines, the larger signal strengths from the
distributed sleds can be more easily detected and verified on buried pipelines, than those
from small bracelets with low level field gradients.

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SUMMARY & CONCLUSIONS

When considering an offshore pipeline retrofit remember the following key points to
ensure the best result.
1) There are no two offshore pipelines that are the same in every aspect. Evaluate
the options carefully before finalizing a retrofit strategy, understand where things
can go wrong.
2) Don’t base a decision on bad or uncertain survey information.
3) Work with subsea experts to determine most appropriate installation scenario for
the pipeline.
4) Plan the retrofit to allow simple, low cost life cycle monitoring.
5) Work with other groups within the company to make best use of all pipeline
access opportunities, have anode sleds available to send offshore at short notice,
always carry a tip contact type CP probe to get potential readings.
6) Never go offshore without a corrosion expert.

I hope that this short paper has given the reader some food for thought.

REFERENCES

1. NACE Corrosion 92 Paper No. 422 Britton J. N.

“Continuous Surveys of Offshore Cathodic Protection System Performance
on Buried Pipelines in The Gulf of Mexico”
2. “Offshore Pipeline Cathodic Protection Surveys – A Technology Update”
Presented at New Orleans Section Meeting – October 2001. Copy available
from writer.

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Table 1.

Survey Cost Data Types Data Generally

Method Accuracy Applicability
3 Electrode ROV Generally High Close Interval Potential Excellent Use this for
Deployed (3-5K$ / Mile) & Current Density (EFG) Very Good pipelines that are
(Typical (1.8 – 3K$ / Depth of Burial Very Good high profile, where
Equipment Spread) Km) Temp. / Resistivity Excellent long life extension
GPS (As Built) Excellent is required and
Visual / Sonar Imaging Excellent generally on long
ageing buried
pipelines.
2 Electrode ROV Fairly High Close Interval Potential Excellent Usually used on
Deployed 75% - 80% of 3 GPS (As Built) Excellent exposed pipelines
(Typical Electrode Cost Visual / Sonar Imaging Excellent or for post
Equipment Spread) installation
baseline surveys.
N.R. for buried
lines.
Lateral Towed Moderate Point Potential Good / V Good Accuracy Improves
Multi-Electrode 35% - 45% of 3 Point Field Gradient Good on un-buried lines.
Survey (Fig. 5 & Electrode Cost GPS (As Built) Good / Fair Good for shallow
6) water and beach
approaches, also
for infield lines.
Tow Fish Trailing Moderate 30% - Close Interval Potential Poor Not Recommended
Wire Surveys 40% of 3 in any application
Electrode Cost
Isolated Contact Depends on Point Potentials Excellent Data points are few
Measurements Number of Point Depth of Cover Excellent but reliable, used in
Points conjunction with
modeling or to
calibrate lateral
surveys.
End Point Riser Low – fixed End Point Riser Potential Good Gives same level of
Measurement price not length useful information
dependent as tow fish survey,
but gives no real
indication of
pipeline condition.

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Table 2.0 Pipeline Retrofit Questionnaire

Offshore Facility Retrofit Design Sheet

The information requested herein is required to allow an optimized retrofit solution. The more
information that is provided then the more accurately the retrofit can be designed, where
information is not available, assumptions can be made but a survey may be necessary to gather
certain critical data.

General Information

Pipeline Location (Body of Water): ________________________________

Pipeline Diameter: _______

Pipeline Origin (From): ___________________________________________

Pipeline Destination (To): ___________________________________________

Pipeline Service: ___________________________________________

Pipeline Type: _____________________________________

(Conventional; Pipe-In-Pipe; Flexible; Flare Line; Thermally Insulated; Bundled;)

Year Installed: ________ Year to be Retired: __________

Additional Notes:

Physical Information
(If Alignment Sheets are Available Please Send a Copy)

Water Depth (Origin): ________ (Destination): __________

Burial Data: ___________________________________________

(Indicate whether pipeline was bottom laid or intentionally buried with depth of cover if known)

Pipe Wall Thickness: ________ Pipe Material Grade: __________

Subsea Tie-Ins / Valves: ___________________________________________

(Indicate number and approximate down line distance from origin)

Operating Temperature: Min: ________ Max: ___________

Riser Type (Origin): ________ (Destination): ___________

(Conventional; J-Tube; I-Tube; SCR; No Riser;)

Corrosion Control Information

(If Original CP Design Information is Available Please Send a Copy)

Pipeline Coating Type / Thickness: _______________________________

Weight Coating Y/N: ______ Thickness: ____________________

CP Details: Sacrificial / ICCP/ Both? _______________________________

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If ICCP Give Anode and Rectifier Details: __________________________
__________________________
__________________________

Bracelet Anode Details:

Alloy: ________ Net Weight: ________ Spacing: ________

Insulator Details:

Is Pipe Insulated at Origin Y/N: ________ Destination Y/N: _________

Insulator Location Origin: ________ Destination: _________

Survey / Inspection Data

(If Inspection Reports are Available Please Forward Most Recent)

Most Recent Drop Cell Survey Data:

Minimum Riser Potential: Origin: ________ Destination: _________

(Indicate least negative potential recorded)

If Insulated mV Across Insulator: Origin: ________ Destination: _________

(Indicate polarity as positive if pipe at less negative potential than pipe or negative if pipe more
negative than platform)

Has a Sub-Sea Survey Been Performed Y/N / Date? ____________________

In-Line (Smart Pig) Inspection Y/N / Date? ____________________

(If a copy report is available please submit)

If Yes Please Provide the Following Information Regarding Available Data:

(Check the data types and year that they were logged)

Contact Potentials: _____ _____ Continuous Potentials: _____ _____

Current Density: _____ _____ Field Gradient (EFG): _____ _____

Depth of Cover: _____ _____ Span Identification: _____ _____

X-Y Locations: _____ _____ Visual Survey: _____ _____

Anode Depletion: _____ _____ Wall Thk. Anomalies: _____ _____

CP Survey Contractor: ______________________________________

Survey Type: ______________________________________

(ROV; Diver; Tow-Fish, In-Line (Smart Pig))

Summary of Survey Results:

Least Negative Potential: __________ Avg. Anode Depletion %: ______

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Min / Max Depth of Cover: _____ _____ Number Spans Found: ______

Coating Damage Observed Y/N?: _____ Number of Locations: ______

Retrofit Requirements

Life Extension Required (Yr.)? _______

Warranty Required Yr. _______

(Note: Extended Warranties or Leasing Require Survey Service Contract)

Type of Service Required From DeepwaterBrandt: ________________________

(Turnkey Fixed Price; System Lease; Design Only; Design & Supply Material: Design Supply and
Supervise).

Remote Monitoring Required (Available with any System)? _______

Submitted By: Name: _____________________________________

Company: _____________________________________

Date: _____________________________________

Telephone: __________________ e-mail: _____________________

Table 3.
Loc. No. P re P o st S h ift Curre n t
1 0.880 1.016 0.136 4.050
2 0.933 1.027 0.094 N -R
3 0.941 1.011 0.070 3.340
4 0.990 1.026 0.036 2.350
5 0.937 1.006 0.069 0.420
6 0.914 0.987 0.073 3.830
7 0.931 0.995 0.064 3.050
8 0.938 1.000 0.062 2.840
9 0.931 0.999 0.068 2.410
10 0.955 0.998 0.043 1.210
11 0.990 1.026 0.036 1.980
12 0.968 0.990 0.022 0.710
13 0.968 0.990 0.022 1.000
14 0.970 0.997 0.027 1.700

Pre and Post are potentials measured on pipe before and after attachment of retrofit sled.
Shift is simply the change in potential.
Current is the sled current output in amps shortly after connection.
All potentials are (-) Volts vs. Ag/AgCl sw. Reference.

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Figure 1.
Typical Offshore Retrofit Sled – For Mud Burial

Figure 2. Wire Shunt Stab Point on Sled for Current Measurement

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Figure 3. Potential Attenuation Prediction

Potential Attenuation
Pipeline Segment Protected By Galvanic Sleds
1.10

1.05
Potential (-)V vs Ag/AgCl sw

12 3/4" Dia.
0.500" w/t Pipeline.
1.00 3% Coating Damage
2 mA/sqft Current Density
0.95

0.90

0.85

0.80

0.75

0.70
-500 500 1500 2500 3500 4500 5500 6500 7500 8500
Distance From Sled (Feet)

Figure 4. Quick-Fit Pipeline Attachment Clamp

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Figure 5. Towed Lateral Survey System (Snake)

A-Frame or Stinger
Surface Buoys Ramp

Tugger Winch

EFG Array GPS

Data

Survey
Boat

C.I.W & Remote

Pipe Survey Snake

Figure 6. Lateral EFG Survey Setup

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