As part of your total solution for pipeline integrity, our firm can be your partner with extensive cathodic protection knowledge and proven industry experience. While the most common methods are detailed below, our representative will assess your situation and provide appropriate ground bed design and installation services for your specific project.

At Point Integrity, we have experience working with both galvanic and impressed current cathodic protection systems. Most operators are faced with ground bed design issues due to environmental permitting and land acquisition/leasing difficulties. We can provide unique and innovative design and installation techniques to aid in the development and permitting phases of your project.

Galvanic Cathodic Protection Ground Beds typically consist of metals (less noble than steel) attached to the pipeline by a wire where the natural voltage potential between the two metals makes for current flow from the anode through the ground to the pipeline. This causes the polarized potential of the pipeline towards negative direction and slows the pipeline's corrosion rate. Galvanic Cathodic Protection Ground Beds are commonly used for protection of valve sites, shorted casings, and newer piping in low to moderate resistivity soils, and are commonly installed as close-coupled anodes to the protected structure.

Anode on Reel

Anode on Reel

Impressed Current Cathodic Protection Ground Beds typically consist of an external DC power supply that is powered by AC current. This DC power supply allows for more current to be available for protecting larger sections of pipeline. Without impressed current systems, the operator needs to install hundreds of galvanic anodes in just one area to afford the same protection of a typical ICCP ground bed. The output capacity of the ICCP ground bed ranges from a few amps to as much as hundreds of amps, depending on the amount of current needed. Impressed ground beds are commonly used to protect large areas of pipeline, in lines with degraded coating, and in all soil resistivity types.

Four types of impressed ground beds are typical in our industry:

1. Remote from the protected structure by hundreds of feet
2. Deep wells from one to several hundred feet below the pipeline
3. Close-coupled in station yards or very difficult to protect sections of pipeline
4. Linear running parallel and in long stretches to a pipeline

We have utilized the Hi-Low Groundbed—High CP Impact with low land disturbance. For areas where land disturbance is unacceptable, we can offer a unique directional boring system that minimizes disturbance, yet offers high CP current effectiveness.

Whatever your ground bed situation, Point Integrity can help.