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Shore Crossing
Pipeline Cathodic
Protection Design
(/gatekeeper/gat2004gkp-2013-11)
2 0 1 3 G AT E K E E P E R ( / G AT E K E E P E R / ? C AT E G O R Y = 2 0 1 3 + G AT E K E E P E R ) ,
M AT E R I A L S & C O R R O S I O N ( / G AT E K E E P E R / ?
C AT E G O R Y = M AT E R I A L S + % 2 6 + C O R R O S I O N )

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Figure1:PipelineShoreCrossing

Theregioninwhichapipelinetransitionsfromoffshoretoonshoreiscalled
ashorecrossing.Often,thisshorecrossingzoneisnotverywell-definedand
thereismuchuncertaintyintermsofscopeandresponsibilitiesbetween
onshoreandoffshoredesignteams.Thisinconsistencycanleadtoissues
whendesigningcathodicprotection(CP)systemsfornearshoreandshore
crossingareas.

Figure1providesanexampleofagenericshorecrossingdesignandis
dividedintothreesections:shallowwater,shore-waterinterfaceandonland.ThisGATEKEEPERpresentsanoverviewofcommonchallengesand
solutionsthatareassociatedwitheachofthesesectionsintermsofshore
crossingCPdesign.

Section1:ShallowWater

SimilartooffshoreanddeepwaterCP,itiscommontoutilizesacrificial
anodestoprotectthepipelinefromcorrosion.Thoughtheprotection
methodissimilar,thedesignparameterswillgreatlychangefromthatofan
offshoredesign.Figure2providesanexampleoftherangeofsoilresistivity
commonlyusedinCPdesign.Eachoftheseresistivityvaluesplayan
importantroleinanodemassrequirements,anodespacingandanodetype
selection.

Inadditiontosoilresistivityvariance,installationmethodswillhaveadirect
impactondesignparameters.Forexample,ahighlyabrasiveinstallation,
suchaspipelinedraggingfromoffshoretoonshoreortheuseofdirectional
drilling,willneedastrongercoating,amethodofprotectinganodesfrom
damageduringinstallationorpossibleredundancyinthedesigntoaccount
forpotentialanodelossduringpull-inoperations.
Figure2:Soil
WhileFigure3providesanexampleoftypicalpipelinecoatingtypes,there
ResistivityRanges
areadditionaloptionsthatservetoprotecttheCPsystemfromanydamage
duringinstallationoroperation.Thisincludestheapplicationofaconcrete
weightcoating(CWC)ortheuseoftapercones.

Figure4depictsthesetwooptionstomitigatedamageduringinstallation.
CWCnotonlyreducesanodemassrequirements,butisalsorelativelycheap
andreadilyavailablefromarangeofsuppliers,providesadditionalonbottomstabilityforgaspipelines,andcanbeappliedtolargethicknesses.
ThisallowsforCWCtobeappliedflushwithanodethicknessesandso
reducesthechanceofsnaggingordamageduringpull-in.

Anotheroptionistoutilizetaperconestoprotectanodes.Whilethese
conesdoprotectanodesduringdragging,theyarealsocommonlyused
whenS-layingorJ-layingpipelinestoreducehang-upsthroughthestinger
duringinstallation.

Section2:Shore-WaterInterface

Section2representsthemostcrucialsectionoftheshorecrossingCP
design.Inthecaseconsidered,acasingpipeisusedastheconduitforthe
pipelinetotraversefromoffshoretoonshore.Whileboththeoffshoreand
(http://static1.squarespace.com/static/53556018e4b0fe1121e112e6/54b683d0e4b09b2abd348a7b/54b683e2e4b09b2abd348e39/1421247458906/gkponshoresectionsoftheshorecrossingaredesignedtoprotecttheir
2013-11-fig3.png?
respectivesections,Section2caneitherutilizeoneoftheCPsystemsfrom
format=original)
eitherend,haveitsowndesignor,asinmostcases,utilizecurrentfromboth

Figure3:Typical

oftheSection1andSection3CPsystems.

PipelineCoating
Dependingonthelengthofthecasingpipe,sacrificialanodesmaybeused
oneachendofthecasinglineorcanbespacedthroughoutthelengthofthe
line.Additionally,thecasingpipemayneedtobeelectricallyconnectedor
electricallyisolatedfromtheCPsystemsonSections1and3,dependingon
thedesignphilosophyapplied.Inmostcases,aseriesofadditionalanodes
attheendofSection1andtheimpressedcurrentusedforSection3is
enoughtoprotectthepipelinewithinthecasing.However,thecasingitself
mayneedadditionalattentiontomaintainitsintegrityiftheCPsystemisnot
initiallydesignedtodoso.

Oneofthemosttroublesomeissueswithcasingpipesisensuringthatit
remainsfilledwithaconductivefluid.Partialfloodingwithseawateror
splashzonescausedbyhighandlowtidewillnullifytheCPsystemandleave
thepipelinewithinthecasingatriskofcorrosion.Therearetwosolutionsto
thisproblem.Thesearetoeithercompletelyevacuatethecasingpipe,
eliminatingtheneedforCPwithinthecasingor,morecommonly,tousea
conductivebackfilltoentirelyfloodthecasingpipetoallowtheCPsystem

tosupplycurrentasneeded.AnimportantenablerforfacilitatingtheCPof
thelineinsidethecasingistominimizethecasinglengthasmuchasis
feasiblebasedonthenatureoftheshorecrossingandthelocalground
conditions.Protectingshortercasinglengthsistypicallymuchless
challengingthanprotectinglongcasedpiperuns.

Section3:On-Land

Inmostcases,onshorepipelineswillbeprotectedbyimpressedcurrent
protection(ICP).ICPsystemsareveryrobustandcanaccountforseasonal
andenvironmentalchangesandprotectoverextremelylargedistancesof
pipeline.Aspreviouslymentioned,additionalpowerfromtheon-shoreICP
systemcanbeusedtoprotectthepipelinearoundtheshore-waterinterface.

Itisimportanttonotethatduringcommissioningofpipelines,particularly
Figure4:Anode
Protection
Methods

onshorelines,theveryfinalstageoftheprocessincludestheenergizationof
theICPsystem.Hence,iftheCPdesignreliesontheICPsystemtoprotect
pipelinesectionsthatarenotelectricallyisolatedfromsacrificialsystems,a
strainwillbeputonthesacrificialCPsystemandthiswillgreatlyaccelerate
anodedepletionduringearlylife.Thiscanbecontrolledbyapplyingan
additionalanodeallowancetoSections1and2,orbyoutfittingthesystem
withtemporarysacrificialanodestoprotectthepipelineuntiltheICP
systemisoperational.

Conclusion

Bothimpressedcurrentsystemsandsacrificialanodesareeffectivefor
protectingshorecrossingpipelineswhenusedcorrectly.However,to
achieveadequateprotectionthewidevarietyofinstallationmethodsand
environmentalresistivitiesexperiencedoverthelengthofthesectionmust
beconsidered.Emphasisshouldalsobeplacedontheshallowwater

beconsidered.Emphasisshouldalsobeplacedontheshallowwater
sectionsofthelineandmostimportantly,thetransitionareafromoffshore
toonshore.

Whilecasingpipes,pipepull-inanddirectionaldrillingarecommonmethods
usedtosimplifythepipelineinstallationprocess,thepitfallsofusingthese
methodsshouldbeconsideredandaccountedfor.Dragginglineswith
anodesattachedtothemcanbedetrimentaltotheCPsystemandgreatly
reducecoatinglife.Casingpipescanprovideanexcellentconduitwhen
installingmultiplelinesincloseproximity,butonlypartiallyfloodingthe
casing,ornotusingacasingbackfill,cancauselong-termissueswithCP
systemefficiencyandperformanceandmayresultintherequirementof
substantialin-servicemodificationsandretrofitstothesystem.

Theseissuescanbereadilyovercome,butonlybyensuringthata
systematicapproachistakentomanagingtheinterfacesbetweenthe
traditionalremitsoftheonshoreandoffshoredesignteamstoensurethat
criticalitemsarenotoverlookedandthatbothteamsunderstandthe
engineeringprioritiesanddesignlimitationsfacedbytheother.

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