Abstract

Cathodic protection (CP), an electrochemical method for managing corrosion, is widely used in many industries in both marine and buried environments. However, literature surrounding cathodic protection and its ability to prevent microbially influenced corrosion (MIC) is mixed. This review describes the mechanics of CP, how CP may influence MIC, and collates and summarises tests on CP and MIC reported in literature. The aim of the review is to identify any trends and knowledge gaps requiring further study. While the outcomes of CP testing are generally mixed, some trends can be seen and, overall, MIC is detrimental to the protective effects of CP, with CP being less effective when used according to current international standards. Tests conducted in the field or with mix communities of microbes showed that CP could be effective at preventing MIC, while tests with sulfate-reducing bacteria generally proved CP to be highly ineffective. It was commonly seen that the effectiveness of CP can be improved by increasing polarization, to potentials as low as −1000 mV (Ag/AgCl). However, a balance does need to be met via careful monitoring to ensure negative side effects of over protection do not become a major problem.

摘要

阴极保护 (CP) 是一种用于管理腐蚀的电化学方法，广泛用于海洋和地下环境中的许多行业。然而，关于阴极保护及其防止微生物腐蚀 (MIC) 的能力的文献是混合的。这篇综述描述了 CP 的机制，CP 如何影响 MIC，并整理和总结了文献中报道的 CP 和 MIC 测试。审查的目的是确定需要进一步研究的任何趋势和知识差距。虽然 CP 测试的结果通常喜忧参半，但可以看到一些趋势，总体而言，MIC 不利于 CP 的保护效果，根据当前国际标准使用 CP 时效果较差。在现场或混合微生物群落中进行的测试表明，CP 可有效预防 MIC，而用硫酸盐还原菌进行的测试通常证明 CP 是非常无效的。通常可以看到，CP 的有效性可以通过增加极化来提高，电位低至 -1000 mV (Ag/AgCl)。但是，确实需要达到一个平衡点通过仔细监控确保过度保护的负面影响不会成为主要问题。