Development of carbon anode for cathodic protection of mild steel in chloride environment

Abstract

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to develop technically efficient and economically effective sacrificial anodes that can be used for cathodic protection (CP) of pipelines in marine environment and fill the knowledge gap in the use of carbon anodes for CP. Design/methodology/approach A sacrificial anode was produced via sand casting by adding varying weight-percent of coal and ferrosilicon to a constant weight-percent of grey cast iron. The hardness of the produced anodes was evaluated using a Rockwell hardness tester. The microstructure of the anodes was observed with scanning electron microscope/energy-dispersive spectroscopy (SEM/EDS). X-ray diffraction (XRD) was used to study the phases present. A potentiostat was used to assess the corrosion behaviour of the produced anodes and mild steel in 3.5 Wt.% NaCl solution. Findings The SEM results showed that some anodes had interdendritic graphite formation, while others had pronounced graphite flakes. The EDS analysis showed carbon and iron to be the prominent elements in the anode. Anodes Bc, B2 and B5 with a corrosion rate of two order of magnitudes were observed to have similar dendritic structures. Anode B4 is the most electronegative with an Ecorr of −670.274 mV Ag/AgCl and a corrosion rate of 0.052475 mmpy. The produced anodes can be used to protect mild steel in the same environment owing to their lower Ecorr values compared to that of mild steel −540.907 mV Ag/AgCl. Originality/value Alloying has been majorly used to improve the efficiency of sacrificial anodes and to alleviate its setbacks. However, development of more technically efficient and economically effective sacrificial anodes via production of composite has not been exhaustively considered. Hence, this research focuses on the development of a carbon based anode by adding natural occurring coal and ferrosilicon to grey cast iron. The corrosion behaviour of the produced anode was evaluated and compared to that of mild steel in marine environment.