Materials Performance

OCT 2017

Materials Performance is the world's most widely circulated magazine dedicated to corrosion prevention and control. MP provides information about the latest corrosion control technologies and practical applications for every industry and environment.

Issue link: http://mp.epubxp.com/i/879896

Contents of this Issue

Navigation

Page 122 of 156

36 OCTOBER 2017 MATERIALS PERFORMANCE NACE INTERNATIONAL: VOL. 56, NO. 10 opportunity for the development of equipm ent, p ar ti cul arly a st abl e g roun din g m at eri al . Th e c o st of anode replacement is a large factor in the maintenance costs. It is believed that annual power and maintenance costs can be reduced. • The anode retrofit program contin- ued for many years after this early investigation. Figure 1, courtesy of EBMUD, illustrates the decrease in corrosion leaks due to the implemen- tation of CP over the years. This curve illustrates over 30 years of CP opera- tion and its benefit in extending the service life of the Mokelumne trans- mission line. Des Moines Water Works Anode Retrofit Program In a study presented by Klopfer and Schramuk, 7 the Des Moines (Iowa) Water Works (DMWW) distribution system con- sists of 1,380 miles (2,220 km) of pipes, of which 521 miles (838 km) have already reached their life expectancy while ~620 miles (998 km) will reach their life expec- tancy by 2020. The oldest pipes (~32 miles [51 km]) of cast iron pipes) in the system were installed between 1800 and 1899. An anode retrofit program was put into place to reduce the increasing number of pipe failures (reaching ~240 main breaks in 20 years). The anode retrofit program started in 2004 and continued to 2011, protecting ~15.6 miles (25 km) of 6- to 16-in (406-mm) diameter water mains. The total cost of the program was estimated at a little over $1 million dollars. The cost associated with fixing the main breaks over 25 years for the pipes that did not have CP systems was estimated at ~$4 million, and it was determined that the cost for replacing the broken mains was over $10 million. Considering an estimated useful life of 25 years for an anode retrofit system, the anode retrofit program com- pared to pipe replacement would result in $44,255 annual savings; and the anode ret- rofit program compared to pipe repair would result in $99,752 annual savings. An analysis was performed to compare the number of breaks for pipes with CP and without CP (No-APR). Figure 2 illustrates this difference in the cumulative total of main breaks. An average reduction of 90% in water main breaks was estimated. Summary The CP techniques, successfully applied for existing water pipelines, are hot-spot protection and anode retrofit programs. Hot-spot protection is a simple procedure that can be done during the routine break repair procedures with minimum costs and labor. It is a good starting point when launching a CP program, especially in small water departments with limited resources. Hot-spot protection can stabilize the num- ber of breaks for aging structures until either replacement or a more comprehen- sive protection program can be applied. Retrofit can ideally be applied to all pipes including smaller (6- to 12-in [305-mm]) mains that are usually installed without CP due to the high engineering cost. Documen- tation and experience of previous breaks FIGURE 1 Thirty years of CP operation and its benefit in extending the service life of the Mokelumne transmission line. Courtesy of EBMUD—Mark Lewis. FIGURE 2 DMWW main break comparison—anode retrofit program (solid-line) vs. no-anode retrofit (dash-line) program. CATHODIC PROTECTION

Articles in this issue

Archives of this issue

view archives of Materials Performance - OCT 2017