Corrpro Companies, Inc.

William P Carlson

James B Bushman

Richard E Say

James E Delahoyde

A preassembled cathodic protection system is provided for protecting buried structures such as guy anchors, which includes a reference cell, test station and anode, all prewired together and tested before delivery and field installation. The package includes a convenient connection for the structure which has one lead to an exposed stud or contact point on the test station, and another lead from the connection to the anode or anodes through a shunt in the form of a calibrated resistance wire. The shunt is connected to two spaced studs or contact points on the test station by which the shunt is read. The reference cell is also connected to a stud or contact point on the test station. The reference cell-test station lead extends through a flexible tube. The studs or contact points are on the dome or cap of a rigid tube designed to project out of the ground or an electrolyte a short distance. With a guy anchor the tube may include an elow and angled portion. The interior of the dome or cap is totally encapsulated in epoxy or other potting or sealing compound, which encapsulation includes all of the test station connections as well as the shunt.

Cathodic protection system

An integrated cell and the test station is disclosed in a unitary package which includes internally encapsulated wiring connections at both the cell and test station. The cell and test station are tethered together by a flexible bungee tube which can be coiled and which can elongate or contract. The flexible tube provides a variable length and wide lateral flexibility. The tube also provides a convenient means to encapsulate the connections at both the cell and test station. The cell has a unique core formed by a double junction ceramic capsule. A pure copper coil element is positioned in the capsule in a super saturated solution of copper sulphate, for example. The capsule is sealed and the coil or element is electrically connected to a lead extending through the tube, and the end of the tube is encapsulated sealing the connection. The capsule is joined to one end of the bungee tube and the entire end is embedded in a stabilized hygroscopic gel which contains additional salt crystals. The entire cell end of the tube is contained in a microporous filter bag, which is in turn secured to the lower end of the tube. The test station comprises a section of rigid plastic tube with a slightly domed cap. Brass rivets are recessed in the top of the dome and connected to appropriate wiring inside the dome. The interior of the test station is then encapsulated fully sealing the wiring connections, and connecting the rigid tube to the bungee tube.

Reference cell

An electrode is disclosed which is particularly useful as a reference electrode in cathodic protection systems. In any reference electrode or half cell, its continued stability is predominantly dependent on the metal ion concentration around it. In time such ions tend to leach away reducing the stability, effectiveness and life of the electrode. With the present invention such ions in the electrolyte may be replenished by the addition of a concentrated solution of metal salt to a ceramic canister which may include a glaze coating which may have one or more diffusion ports permitting the metal salt solution to leach at a controlled slow rate to the area surrounding the electrode ensuring continued stability and longer effective life for the electrode. The one or more diffusion ports also provide a low resistance current path to or from the lead within to the canister and the surrounding electrolyte.

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Hoffman Estates, IL, United States of America

William P Carlson