ABSTRACT
This chapter examines the electrochemical reactions taking place in an Impressed Current Cathodic Protection (ICCP) System and their implications for the anode materials. It then considers how the anodes are powered and become part of the system. Marine ICCP systems almost always employ anodes that are highly resistant to anodic dissolution in seawater. These are conventionally termed “non-consumable” anodes, although a more apt description would be “very slightly consumable”. “Vagrant current” is now more usually referred to as “stray current”. Subsequently, instead of draining current from pipelines and returning it to the tram system power supply, it was drained via dedicated power supplies and dumped to earth. The stray current problem then arises because the pipeline acts as a conductor intersecting the electric field generated by the anode sled. Most are aware that the combination of electricity and salt water is potentially hazardous.
