Cathodic Protection
Pushing the science of corrosion control forward

An introduction

Deepwater designs and manufactures cathodic protection systems for offshore and marine assets, specializing in the development of innovative retrofit technology for aging assets in need of life extension.

Over the last 20 years, our cathodic protection systems have been designed to provide a more efficient and affordable alternative to traditionally installed anode systems. While traditional sacrificial anode systems are still the most efficient solution for certain new projects, aging infrastructure and new types of offshore assets (FPSO's, deep water fields) require the cathodic protection designer to be open to new ideas and methodologies in order to streamline installation and reduce overall project costs.

We have a large staff of NACE certified corrosion engineers, experienced in all aspects of cathodic protection science. By encouraging them over the years to put their efforts into innovative new methods and products, our team has brought the science of cathodic protection up to speed with developments in today's cutting edge energy market. The result is a suite of proven, reliable cathodic protection system designs that have served to protect new and aging infrastructure assets all over the world.

Life extension for aging assets

Looking forward. As a result of the aging infrastructure in the older oil fields of the world, our cathodic protection designers have spent the last 20 years developing smart, affordable methods to retrofit cathodic protection on mature assets. Now that the majority of the world's infrastructure is in jeopardy of exceeding original life requirements, our efforts are being rewarded. With our system designs well proven to be safe and reliable, we have found ourselves way ahead of the competition. Whether retrofitting sacrificial anode systems or replacing spent anodes with new impressed current cathodic protection (ICCP), we have solutions for any situation.

In 2009, Deepwater retrofitted sacrificial and impressed current cathodic protection on 124 structures in the Gulf of Mexico alone.

As the rest of the world's subsea pipelines, FPSO's, wind turbines and traditional jacket structures (platforms) become mature, operators must consider the smartest and safest way to keep them protected. Recognizing installation as the most significant cost in an anode replacement project, our products and methods reduce the time required to retrofit CP to an existing asset significantly, while providing a lengthy new life of up to 25 additional years.

Monitoring

In addition to cathodic protection, Deepwater has designed and manufactured an entire line of monitoring equipment, which can be installed concurrently with a CP retrofit. We encourage clients to take advantage of this capability, which increases the cost of most projects by only a few percentage points. Reliable information about cathodic protection potentials and other vital aspects of the CP system allow operators to effectively manage their assets far into the future.

Related Technical Information

Cathodic Protection 101 (Paper)

A refresher tutorial on the science of cathodic protection, as it pertains to the offshore oil and gas industry, including diagrams and chemical equations explaining galvanic and impressed current systems.

Improvements in Offshore Pipeline Cathodic Protection (Paper)

Abstract: Newly developed survey methods combined with innovative design software and low cost, easy-to-install hardware are helping to redefine cathodic protection & life extensions for offshore pipelines.

Cathodic Protection Design Services

Traditional sacrificial anodes, both onshore and offshore still rely on intelligent initial CP design.

 

 

 

Cathodic Protection by asset