Cathodic protection (CP) is often used to protect steel well casings from external corrosion. However, it is difficult to measure the CP potential distribution along the well casing, which brings about difficulties on CP design and effectiveness evaluation. In this paper, the polarization characteristics of casing steel in different soil layers were obtained by polarization testing at different soil depths in the field. Based on measured polarization characteristics, geometry of well casing and soil resistivities of different soil layers, a numerical simulation model for CP of well casing was established. CP current requirement and CP potential distribution of well casings were estimated by calculating and field testing. Additionally, the effects of soil resistivity and casing polarization characteristics on CP potential distribution of well casing were studied by numerical simulation.

Subject
Electric current, Anode potential, Modeling, Cathodic protection, Reference electrodes, Soil resistivity, Boundary conditions, Oxygen, Well casings, Polarization, Protection potential, Soil, Anodes
© 2022 Association for Materials Protection and Performance (AMPP). All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means (electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise) without the prior written permission of AMPP. Positions and opinions advanced in this work are those of the author(s) and not necessarily those of AMPP. Responsibility for the content of the work lies solely with the author(s).
2022
Association for Materials Protection and Performance (AMPP)
You do not currently have access to this content.