Paper No.

CAP14

“Above Ground Storage Tank – Case Study of a Linear anode

based cathodic protection system design and installation aspects
on a new construction tank and existing tank.”

Mr. Shailesh Javia

MATCOR Inc., 101 Liberty Lane, Chalfont, PA, USA

sjavia@matcor.com

ABSTRACT

External corrosion of tank bottoms is a significant problem for tank owners for
both economic and environmental reasons. Corrosion Protection of Above Ground
Storage Tanks is typically provided by an impressed current cathodic protection (CP)
with or without coatings. Two primary Impressed current CP configurations are used
worldwide in tanks. The field-erected mixed metal oxide (MMO) anode grid
configuration was an early application of MMO anodes for tank bottoms and has a
large global installed base. A newer design to protect tank bottoms is a system of
parallel or concentric ring MMO linear anodes with factory connected tail cables.

This paper will review the design of “grid” type and “parallel/concentric” linear
anode type tank CP designs, provide an economic assessment and discuss the
implementation impact based on a Project. Where the owner/engineers elected to
use linear anodes. In this paper we will also discuss a Case Study of providing
Linear anodes on existing aging tank.

Key words: Cathodic Protection (CP), Direct Current (DC), Mixed Metal Oxide (MMO) Linear anode,
Impressed current cathodic protection (ICCP).

NIGIS * CORCON 2018 * 30 September- 3 October * Jaipur, India

All the rights belong to the author(s). The material presented and the views expressed are solely those of the author(s).
NIGIS does not own the copyright of any information presented in this paper and is not responsible for any action arising out of this publication.
1 INTRODUCTION

As Asset Owners implement integrity management programs, the

effectiveness of existing cathodic protection system come’s under great scrutiny.
Asset Owners battle aging systems with deteriorating coating systems that can
have a significant negative impact on the effectiveness of the cathodic protection
systems. On aging structures like above ground storage tanks, the mandate to
maintain effective cathodic protection sends owners and operators on a search
for corrosion prevention solutions.

Oil & gas industries have a potential risk of catastrophic explosions, fire and
release of toxic gases due to corrosion failures while production, storage &
transportation. This may lead to loss of lives and properties but repairs of such a
complex system can be very expensive and troublesome. Therefore, control of
corrosion is a subject of paramount interest in oil / gas production and
transportation industries. In oil/gas production storage facilities primary means of
protection against corrosion is coating supplemented by cathodic protection (CP)
system. Cathodic protection has been saving the oil/gas industry from billions of
dollars by preventing leak and failures.

However, cathodic protection applied to above ground storage tank bottom

plate and particularly older assets have mixed success. This may be due to false
evaluation of potential, improper design, inferior quality materials, insufficient
planning and operation related issues. Hence, effective cathodic protection for
above ground storage tank bottom plate is a great challenge for Corrosion
Engineers.

2 CORROSION & CATHODIC PROTECTION

The primary corrosion protection for the external side of tank bottom plate
involves passive barrier methods of protection systems such as Coating. This
primary method alone is not sufficient to prevent corrosion over entire design life.

Soil side corrosion on existing tanks is a major cause of failures. Soil side
corrosion is typically caused by the ingress of external contaminants and
moisture through gaps and spaces around the structure. Filling and emptying of
the stored product cause the structures to flex drawing in more moisture and
external contaminants.

Leakage due to corrosion poses significant threat for the safety of the plant
equipment and personnel due to possibility of occurrence of the fire hazards.

NIGIS * CORCON 2018 * 30 September- 3 October * Jaipur, India

All the rights belong to the author(s). The material presented and the views expressed are solely those of the author(s).
NIGIS does not own the copyright of any information presented in this paper and is not responsible for any action arising out of this publication.
3 OVERVIEW:
For large diameter above ground storage tanks with sand/soil base,
impressed current cathodic protection system is effective means of corrosion
control. For most petroleum tank applications, a secondary containment system is
used to minimize the potential environmental impact of any tank bottom failure.
When the secondary containment system is a non-conductive material (typically a
high-density polyethylene (HDPE) sheet liner) then the CP system must be
placed between the tank bottom and the secondary containment sheet liner The
two most common anode system configurations in use today are the Grid system
and the parallel or concentric ring linear anodes with factory connected tail cables.
Both systems are impressed current systems utilizing Mixed Metal Oxide/Ti
anodes to provide current to the tank bottom. This paper details each of these
systems and discusses the key advantages and disadvantages of each system.

4 THE MMO GRID SYSTEM

MMO Grid anode, Conductor bars and power feed system involves laying out
parallel titanium conductor bars and then running mixed metal oxide
(MMO)ribbon anode perpendicular to the conductor bars. The MMO ribbon anode
is field spot welded to the titanium conductor bar to provide both mechanical and
electrical connections. Wherever the titanium conductor bars cross, they too must
be field welded together. Power feeds (pre-assembled cables with a flat plate to
connect to the conductor bar) are secured to the titanium bar in multiple locations
and routed to the ring wall penetration.
This system is a labor and QA/QC intensive installation process requiring
significant field welding and on-site testing to assure electrical continuity. The
attachment of the power feeds to the titanium grid is critical to the system
reliability. From a design perspective, the spacing of the anodes and conductor
bars must be sufficient to assure even current distribution.

5 LINEAR ANODE PARALLEL OR CONCENTRIC RING ANODE SYSTEM.

Linear anode system for AST tanks can be factory assembled to eliminate
the need for any field fabrication. This greatly simplifies installation and reduces
QA/QC issues, eliminating field welds and power feed connections that are relied
upon with the Grid system to assure electrical continuity and system integrity.

The principal advantage of the linear anode system is that everything under
the tank is factory assembled and tested prior to installation. The only installation
effort is to lay the anode assemblies in accordance with the design drawings and
installation instructions. This provides for an exceptionally simple installation
while assuring the highest system reliability; installation costs are minimal.

There are two primary configurations for linear anodes under tank bottoms
as shown in Figure 1. The parallel linear anode arrangement has multiple parallel
anode segments, which are fed from each end of the anode. The anode
connections are field spliced to loop cables, which terminate at two anode
junction boxes.

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 Figure 1: Linear Anode Configurations

The use of concentric rings offers two key advantages over parallel anode
segments. The first advantage is that this configuration does require junction
boxes on both sides of the tank, thus eliminating one of the anode junction boxes
and reducing the cabling required. The second key advantage to this
configuration is that it eliminates the need for two field splices for each anode
segment. Each ring can be manufactured with the appropriate length of header
cable to run each end directly to the single anode junction box. These field
splices are weak links subject to premature failure over the life of the anode
system.

The use of a coke backfill does more than simply assure that there is good
intimate contact between the anode and the soil (although this is quite important.)
The carbon greatly reduces the oxygen generation of the anode system. This is
very important in that oxygen is a strong depolarizer. With bare MMO ribbon
anodes operating at high current discharge the dominant reactant is oxygen gas
which in high concentrations acts to counter effect the influence of protective
currents. This phenomenon has resulted in many tank bottom system failures
where the current output appears to be sufficient to properly polarize the tank
bottom and yet the testing results show that the desired results are not being
achieved. With the coke backfill present at the anode interface, the dominant
reaction is no longer oxygen but harmless carbon dioxide which does not
adversely impact the system performance.

5.1 Provisions for Testing

With any CP system for tank bottoms, it is critical that provisions for testing
be installed with the anode system. Once the tank is erected, making accurate
potential measurements at various locations along the tank can only be
accomplished if reference electrodes have been installed below the tank.

NIGIS * CORCON 2018 * 30 September- 3 October * Jaipur, India

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NIGIS does not own the copyright of any information presented in this paper and is not responsible for any action arising out of this publication.
 Typically, copper-copper sulfate (Cu-CuSO4) reference electrodes are installed in
strategic locations underneath the tank. These reference electrodes are often
mistakenly called “permanent” reference electrodes. Reference electrodes are
not permanent as over time the copper- copper sulfate solution becomes
contaminated and ceases to provide accurate information. Once a baseline for
performance is established over a sufficient operating period, maintaining the
appropriate current output to achieve NACE criteria is all that is required.

Figure 2: Dual Reference Electrode Install with

Copper-Copper Sulfate Shown to The Left and Zinc to the Right.

In some cases, clients may also specify dual reference electrodes such as
both zinc and copper-copper sulfate. While the zinc reference electrodes are not
as consistent, they provide a much longer operating life and can be calibrated
against the copper-copper sulfate electrodes.

In addition to the fixed reference electrodes, it is also common to provide a

reference electrode tube/conduit underneath the tank bottom to allow sliding of a
calibrated reference electrode through the monitoring tube to take potential
readings. These can also function as leak detection tubes.

Some of the key benefits of providing Linear anodes with factory connected
tail cables are Fast, easy installation. Factory-assembled anode system is ready
to install, Systems Can be used for new and retrofit tanks, Superior current
distribution.

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NIGIS does not own the copyright of any information presented in this paper and is not responsible for any action arising out of this publication.
6 CASE STUDY-1

6.1 ICCP system for 92m Dia Tank external bottom plate using MMO linear
anode in Ring configuration.

Design Summary :
 Tank Dia 92m :
 Coating on Tank bottom Plate :
Coal Tar Epoxy Paint of 175 Microns.
 Tank Operating Temp Ambient (25 Deg.C) :
 Type of Tank foundation Sand pad :
 Electrolyte medium Clean sand :
 Resistivity of Sand 200 Ohm-m :
 Current Density 10mA/Sq.m. :
 Total Surface area 6644.24 Sq. :
 Total Current Requirement :
83.05Amp. with additional safety margin of
25%
 Type of Anode : Factory pre-packaged MMO linear anode
 Rated current output of anode : 52mA/m.
 Length of anode Requirement : 1597m.
as per current output
 Anode to Anode spacing : 2.5m
 Length of anode requirement : 2482m. (total 17 anode Rings)
as per spacing / Ring
configuration
 Depth of anode from Tank : 0.70m.
bottom plate

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 Figure 3: Schematic Diagram for ICCP system for 92m Dia Tank using Linear
anode in Ring configuration is shown below

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NIGIS does not own the copyright of any information presented in this paper and is not responsible for any action arising out of this publication.
 Table 1: Resistance Formula used
Resistance Calculation Formulae Calculated
Values
 Anode Resistance to Earth 0.096 Ω

 Actual Anode Bed Resistance 0.192 Ω

 Anode Tail cable resistance 0.001 Ω

 Total Ground bed Resistance 0.193 Ω

 Cathode Drain Cable 0.006 Ω

Resistance
 Header Cable Resistance 0.135 Ω
 Total circuit Resistance 0.334 Ω
 CPTR Voltage Requirement 29.74 V
Calculation
 Proposed TR Rating
o Max. Rated Voltage 50 V
o Max. Rated Current 100 A

Figure 4: Site Installation of linear anodes in Ring configuration

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6.2 Commissioning Results :

Tank Natural Tank TSP (Volts) wrt Design Observation

to Soil Cu/CuSO4 Criteria wrt
Potential Cu/CuSO4
(Volts) wrt Instant (OFF) (OFF)
Cu/CuSO4 (ON) After After Tanks are
24Hrs 168 cathodically
Hrs Min (- 850mV) protected.
Crude -0.52 RC1 -1.60 -1.00 -1.17 Max (-1800mV) In operation for
Tank more than 10
years.
-0.53 RC2 -1.58 -1.04 -1.19
During Commissioning the rectifier operating at 19V/32 Amps.
Table 2: Commissioning Result

6.3 Aging Above Ground Storage Tanks

Soil side corrosion, a major cause of tank bottom failures, is typically caused
by the ingress of external contaminants and moisture through gaps and spaces
around the annular chime space. Filling and emptying of the stored product cause
the bottom plates to flex drawing in more moisture and external contaminants. Tank
leakage due to corrosion poses significant threat for the safety of the plant
equipment and personnel due to possibility of occurrence of the fire hazards, if the
tank content is hazardous material. The replacement of bottom plate due to
corrosion damage is also found to be very costly.

Determining the Extent of Corrosion on Existing Systems. Information

regarding the degree of tank-bottom corrosion is useful because considerable
bottom damage may require extensive repairs or replacement prior to the
installation of cathodic protection.

Field procedures for determining the extent of existing corrosion may include:

(a) Visual inspection (b) Tank bottom plate-thickness measurements

(ultrasonic testing, coupon analysis, etc.) (c) Estimation of general corrosion rates
through the use of electrochemical procedures (d) Determination of soil
characteristics including resistivity, pH, chloride ion concentration, sulfide ion
concentration, and moisture content.

Installing cathodic protection on existing tanks can be done in a variety of

ways depending on the application

– Is there a secondary liner?

– What is the tank diameter?
– Is there access around the tank for directional drilling?
– What other structures are in the area?
Installation of anodes Under aging Tank.

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 There is hardly anything that can be done if the existing tank bottom has CP
system underperformance and there is also insulating material liner present in the
tank foundation.

However there are several aging tanks without any secondary liner and CP
system retrofit is possible on such tanks. CP system retrofit options are as under :

 Close distributed anode system.

 Remote Deep anode system.
 Under the tank Linear anodes installed by HDD.
 Close Distributed Anode Groundbed System will be effective for smaller dia
tanks. However for large dia tanks there will be problem achiving protection at
the centre of tank bottom plate.
 The design current density of 20 mA/m2 (1) used to calculate the current
requirement and estimate the anode quantity was found to be satisfactory.
 Remote Deep well anode bed system was found to have varied success in
providing sufficient protection to the tank bottom plates. Major of the protective
current is picked up by Grounding system, underground pipelines/utilities thus
resulting in under-protection or partial protection to the intended structures.
Shielding of protective CP current due to reinforced concrete structures tends to
restrict currents from remote deep anode groundbed to protect the Tank bottom.

6.4 The Solution – SS Braiding Linear Anode.

Most linear anodes are designed mainly for trenching installations and not
specifically designed for high-stress HDD pulling.

 Specifically designed to be pulled

 Superior strength stainless steel outer jacket protects linear anode
 Easy connection to a HDD pulling device
 Proven Linear Anode technology at the core
 Manufactured as an integrated system.

After drilling hole underneath tank, the linear anode is hooked up to the drill
pipe stem and pulled back underneath the tank – standard SS Braided Linear
Anode with more robust outer jacket can be used for greater durability during
installation.

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NIGIS does not own the copyright of any information presented in this paper and is not responsible for any action arising out of this publication.
 Figure 5 : HDD Drilling below existing tank.

NOTES:
THE ANODES LEAD WIRES WILL
BE ON ONE SIDE OF THE TANK
(OPPOSITE SIDE WHERE THE
ANODE IS PULLED FROM.
CABLES WILL BE THEN BE
ROUTED TO THE NEAREST
EXISTING POSITIVE HEADER
CABLE WHERE A CONNECTION
WILL BE MADE AT A TEST

Figure 6: SS Braiding Linear Anode.

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NIGIS does not own the copyright of any information presented in this paper and is not responsible for any action arising out of this publication.
 STORAGE TANK

(+)VE CABLE

(-)VE AJB
CABLE T/R

ANODE TAIL
CABLE +

SS BRAIDING LINEAR ANODE BELOW GRADE (TYP.)

Figure 7: Typical Schematic Drawing For CP System Using SS Braiding Linear Anode
For Tank Bottom:

Figure 8: Typical SS Braiding linear anode arrangement for

Existing Tank Bottom CP

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7 CASE STUDY-2.

SS braided linear anode were used to protect the existing tank bottom plate
having the diameter of 213 ft.

Tank Dia : 213 foot.

Surface area. : 35,633 sq.ft.

Protective current density : 2mA/Sq.ft.

CP Current required : 71.2 Amps.

Designed CP current : 85 Amps.

CP Life : 30 years.

Linear anode lengths : 7 Segments. (Total anode length

1181 ft.)

Anode rating ; 100 mA/ft.

Anode depth : 10 to 15 feet.

Spacing between anodes : 30 feet.

Anode current output capacity: 118 Amps (ay 100 mA/ft)

Double insulated Kynar cabling and Venting is used.

Reference electrode monitoring tube installed.

Post testing results after the impressed current linear anode

system was installed indicated that Tank bottom plate were
cathodically protected in accordance NACE SP0193 criteria for CP.

8 BENEFITS OF FACTORY CONNECTED TAIL CABLES

1. No field anode assembly required.

2. Fast & easy installation
3. No field splicing of anodes required.
4. factory-assembled system is ready to install
5. Anodes can be installed in very short time.

NIGIS * CORCON 2018 * 30 September- 3 October * Jaipur, India

All the rights belong to the author(s). The material presented and the views expressed are solely those of the author(s).
NIGIS does not own the copyright of any information presented in this paper and is not responsible for any action arising out of this publication.
9 CONCLUSIONS

 There is only one chance to provide CP system for tank bottom plate. Provide right
system during construction of tanks.
 At any time, whether for a new ICCP system or for a retrofit ICCP system it is
advisable to provide CP currents considering bare surface current density. CP
materials going within the tank foundation have to be of the highest proven quality.
 Cathodic Protection Life should be Considered 50 years.
 The impressed current system using MMO linear anode with factory connected lead
cables provides a much longer anode life, greatly reduced the installation risk and
assures a safer installation process and protect the structure for longer life.
 For aging tanks not having any liner and with deteriorated CP or no CP can be
provided with ICCP system to reduce further corrosion.

10 REFERENCES

[1] SP0193-2016 formerly RP0193 External Cathodic Protection of On-Grade Carbon Steel
Storage Tank Bottoms (21061-SG).
[2] NACE STD SP 0285 Corrosion Control of Underground Storage Tank Systems by
CPNACE STD SP0193-2001 Ext CP on On-Grade Carbon Steel Storage Tank Bottoms.
[3] NACE RP0193-2001, “External Cathodic Protection of On-Grade Carbon Steel Storage
Tank Bottoms” (Houston, TX: NACE).
[4] NACE Cathodic Protection IV manual, Chapter 4 “Design Factors and Calculations”
(Houston, TX: NACE).
[5] MATCOR INC. Linear anode Brochures, Case study materials.

NIGIS * CORCON 2018 * 30 September- 3 October * Jaipur, India

All the rights belong to the author(s). The material presented and the views expressed are solely those of the author(s).
NIGIS does not own the copyright of any information presented in this paper and is not responsible for any action arising out of this publication.