Effect of RuCl3Concentration on the Lifespan of Insoluble Anode for Cathodic Protection on PCCP

Abstract

Prestressed Concrete steel Cylinder Pipe (PCCP) is extensively used as seawater pipes for cooling in nuclear power plants. The internal surface of PCCP is exposed to seawater, while the external surface is in direct contact with underground soil. Therefore, materials and strategies that would reduce the corrosion of its cylindrical steel body and external steel wiring need to be employed. To prevent against the failure of PCCP, operators provided a cathodic protection to the pre-stressing wires. The efficiency of cathodic protection is governed by the anodic performance of the system. A mixed metal oxide (MMO) electrode was developed to meet criteria of low over potential and high corrosion resistance. Increasing coating cycles improved the performance of the anode, but cycling should be minimized due to high materials cost. In this work, the effects of RuCl3 concentration on the electrochemical properties and lifespan of MMO anode were evaluated. With increasing concentration of RuCl3, the oxygen evolution potential lowered and polarization resistance were also reduced but demonstrated an increase in passive current density and oxygen evolution current density. To improve the electrochemical properties of the MMO anode, RuCl3 concentration was increased. As a result, the number of required coating cycles were reduced substantially and the MMO anode achieved an excellent lifespan of over 80 years. Thus, we concluded that the relationship between RuCl3 concentration and coating cycles can be summarized as follows: No. of coating cycle = 0.48*[RuCl3 concentration, M] -0.97 .