Seafloor Power for Corrosion Prevention

The aim of the present paper is to introduce the recently proposed method for cathodic protection based on the use of energy stored at the marine sediment/seawater interface as a power source. It is shown here that graphite electrodes buried in the seafloor can be used as anodes for the cathodic protection of immersed structures. The participation of reduced sulfur compounds and / or electrogenic bacteria in the energy generation is introduced. Experimental results demonstrate the applicability of this method for the protection of stainless steel against microbial corrosion. Once installed, the proposed method should need minimal requirements for maintenance with a very low cost and, most importantly, it would have significant environmental benefits since it is based on an immense and renewable energy source that do not produce aggressive emissions to the environment.