Advances in Cathodic Protection Modelling of Coated Deep Well Casings in Multi-Layered Media

This work is focused on the 3D simulation of cathodic protection (CP) systems for metallic Coated Deep Well casings immersed in stratified soil. The soil is considered as a multi-layered electrolyte with variable electric conductivity from layer to layer. Given a CP system, the aim of the simulation is to predict the level of protection against corrosion along the structure, as well as to identify the type of correlation between the potentials and currents measured at surface level with respect to the status of the coating. The simulation tool is aimed at simplifying the model design, especially for dealing with multi-layered electrolyte, and improving the accuracy over existing traditional techniques which entail a detailed description of the interfaces between different layers of the electrolyte. The effects of different scenarios of electrolytes on the CP system are considered, and the feasibility of detecting potential failures on the coating from ground level potential measurements is considered.