RetroPod™
Cathodic protection anode replacement for platforms

RetroPod is designed to reduce installation time for anode retrofit projects, cutting costs significantly.

The RetroPod system has saved many operators significant costs when replacing anodes on aging structures. The traditional cathodic protection retrofit method of clamping dual anode arrays onto remaining jacket members is much more time-consuming, and therefore expensive. The RetroPod is an optimized array of sacrificial anode material (capable of delivering up to 20 Amperes), installed in less than a quarter of the time it would take to install the equivalent cathodic protection anodes using the traditional clamp-on anode arrays (read more).

An installed RetroPod is located on the sea bed, just inside or outside the base of the jacket. This semi-remote location (rather than being directly attached to the structure) greatly improves current distribution. RetroPod installation can be accomplished with divers or ROV's by using the unique RetroClamp™ tie-back system.

Small, shallow 4-pile jacket structures can often be retrofitted with only one or two anode pods, and many structures of this size can be retrofitted in a single offshore day.

Four small booster anodes (image gallery) can be added to the RetroPod when a structure has lost all cathodic protection. These additional anodes provides a 15% current boost for the first 2-3 years to quickly re-establish cathodic polarization.

Applications

Traditional Offshore Structures

The RetroPod system is extremely cost effective for replacing or supplementing the cathodic protection (CP) on aging offshore structures that sit in between 85 ft and 300 ft of seawater. The system has been performing well in some installations for over 12 years, which is about half of the designed life of a standard retrofit. Since the pods can be installed with ROV, there is actually no depth limit to the structures to which it can be retrofitted. However some deeper structures may require some additional CP near the surface.

Deep Water Production Equipment

With the RetroClamp system, and reduced currents in deep water, many operators have begun to use the RetroPod system to retrofit cathodic protection on deep water production equipment. The large amount of anode material on one RetroPod combined with the relatively small amount of exposed steel involved in a deep water field allows one pod to adequately protect multiple wellheads, manifolds, trees etc. (see sample project data for examples)

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Key design points

Designed with cost in mind

By placing the RetroPod on bottom, the design reduces retrofit installed cost to approximately 1/3 of a conventional clamp-on fix. The arrangement of the anodes in the pod also maximizes the current output of the aluminum, requiring less of what is becoming a very expensive metal.

Safe for divers

With the RetroPod, there is no direct diver intervention with the heavy aluminum anodes. A crane lowers the Pod onto the bottom, and then the diver simply installs the RetroClamp Tie-Back (Clamp may also be installed via ROV).

Structural integrity awareness

The traditional bolted clamp-on anodes used to retrofit offshore platforms add a lot of weight and drag to the structure (generally and AGING structure). A RetroPod sits on the sea floor, requiring minimal contact with the structure, only at the RetroClamp connection point.

Easy to inspect

With a retrofitted RetroPod anode system, cathodic protection levels are easy to inspect during routine subsea inspections. Current output from each pod can be displayed if required on a subsea monitor (called a SmartPod), or if no monitoring systems are implemented, Pod location makes them much easier to inspect around the rim of the structure.

Modular construction

RetroPod's modular construction allows simple re-configuration for 10 – 25 year life extension in 5-year increments. We do this by selecting either 325 lb or 725 lb anodes for each of the four available slots on the pod.

Quality Control

Deepwater draws anodes from two local affiliate foundry locations, allowing us to strictly regulate QA/QC for all the aluminum and zinc anodes we use in our systems.

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