N°:

TECHNICAL SPECIFICATION I-ET-0000.00-0000-940-P9U-001

CLIENT: SHEET:
PETROBRAS 1 of 6
JOB: CC:
RIGID OFFSHORE PIPELINES
AREA: PROJECT:

TITLE:

DP&T CATHODIC PROTECTION DESIGN

EISE / EDR

INDEX OF REVISIONS

REV. DESCRIPTION AND/OR REVISED SHEETS

0 ORIGINAL

A MODIFICATION ON SECTION 3 AS HIGHLIGHTED

REV. 0 REV. A REV. B REV. C REV. D REV. E REV. F REV. G REV. H

DATE 23/11/2017 28/06/2018
PROJECT EISE/EDR EISE/EDR
EXECUTION UP65 UP65
CHECK RHEL RHEL
APPROVAL CLZ2 CLZ2
THE INFORMATION CONTAINED IN THIS DOCUMENT IS PETROBRAS’ PROPERTY AND MAY NOT BE USED FOR PURPOSES OTHER THAN THOSE SPECIFICALLY INDICATED HEREIN.

THIS FORM IS PART OF PETROBRAS’ N-381 REV, L.

 N°: REV.
TECHNICAL SPECIFICATION I-ET-0000.00-0000-940-P9U-001 A
JOB: SHEET:
2 of 6
TITLE:

CATHODIC PROTECTION DESIGN

EISE / EDR

TABLE OF CONTENTS

1 INTRODUCTION ........................................................................................................... 3

1.1 SCOPE ....................................................................................................................................................... 3

1.2 GENERAL .................................................................................................................................................. 3

1.3 DEFINITIONS ............................................................................................................................................. 3

2 DESIGN CODES........................................................................................................... 3

3 DESIGN METHODOLOGY ........................................................................................... 3

4 DESIGN REQUIREMENTS........................................................................................... 4

4.1 GENERAL PARAMETERS ........................................................................................................................ 4

4.2 COATING BREAKDOWN FACTOR .......................................................................................................... 4

5 PIPELINES WITH INCREASED ANODE SPACING .................................................... 4

6 ANODE MANUFACTURING AND INSTALLATION .................................................... 5

7 PRE-PRODUCTION TESTS (PPT)............................................................................... 5

8 INITIAL SURVEY .......................................................................................................... 6

9 REFERENCES.............................................................................................................. 6
 N°: REV.
TECHNICAL SPECIFICATION I-ET-0000.00-0000-940-P9U-001 A
JOB: SHEET:
3 of 6
TITLE:

CATHODIC PROTECTION DESIGN

EISE / EDR

1 INTRODUCTION
1.1 SCOPE
This Technical Specification presents the minimum requirements to the Cathodic Protection
(CP) design of rigid subsea pipelines’ external surface and it is only applicable to the CP
design of CMn-steel pipelines using galvanic anodes.
The CP design of other pipeline materials (e.g. stainless steel, CRA), pipeline internal surface
and subsea structures are not included within the scope of this Technical Specification.

1.2 GENERAL
The review and approval by Petrobras of any document related to Cathodic Protection Design
shall only indicate a general requirement and shall not relief Contractor of his obligations to
comply with the requirements of the contract. Any errors or omissions noted by Contractor shall
be immediately brought to Petrobras’ attention.
All deviations to this Technical Specification and other referred specifications or attachments
listed in the Contract shall be made in writing and shall require written approval by Petrobras
prior to executing the work.
All documents shall be issued in accordance with the latest revision of Petrobras Standards: N-
381 [1], N-1710 [2] and N-2064 [3].

1.3 DEFINITIONS
The following definitions are adopted in this Technical Specification:
CONTRACTOR The company responsible for the cathodic protection design of
subsea pipelines
CP Cathodic Protection
CRA Corrosion Resistance Alloy
FSHR Free Standing Hybrid Riser
HDD Horizontal Directional Drilling
HISC Hydrogen Induced Stress Cracking
ISO International Standard Organization
OD Outside Diameter
SCR Steel Catenary Riser
SLWR Steel Lazy Wave Riser

2 DESIGN CODES
The latest revision of DNVGL-RP-F103 [4] and ISO 15589-2 [5] shall be considered on the CP
design of subsea pipelines. The N-1935 [6] standard presents some specific data related to
Brazilian coast and, therefore, shall also be fulfilled.

3 DESIGN METHODOLOGY
The CP design of subsea pipelines shall be based on the methodology presented in [5],
considering the mandatory requirements presented in [6] and in this Technical Specification.
When the anode design is based on bracelet anodes (two semicircular sections) and the
pipeline is not intentionally buried (by trenching, rock-dumping, etc.), the CP design shall be
performed considering the following scenarios:
 N°: REV.
TECHNICAL SPECIFICATION I-ET-0000.00-0000-940-P9U-001 A
JOB: SHEET:
4 of 6
TITLE:

CATHODIC PROTECTION DESIGN

EISE / EDR

 both pipeline and anodes completely exposed to seawater if the expected (calculated)
embedment is less than 50% of pipe OD (including external coating);
 both pipeline and anodes completely buried if the expected (calculated) embedment is
higher than or equal to 50% of pipe OD (including external coating);
On the other hand, in case the anode design is based on half-shell anodes (one semicircular
section) and the pipeline is not intentionally buried (by trenching, rock-dumping, etc.), the CP
design shall be performed considering that anodes are fully buried and the pipeline completely
exposed to seawater.
The spacing between anodes shall be according to [6]. In case the mass of an individual anode
is great enough in order to cause difficulty on its installation, two anodes can be installed side
by side with a minimum distance between these anodes of 12m (or one pipe joint). Such
distance can only be reduced if it is demonstrated by calculation or numerical simulation that
interference effects can be disregarded.
All calculations shall be presented in MATHCAD format including all steps of the calculation
methodology.

4 DESIGN REQUIREMENTS
The following design requirements shall be fulfilled in addition to the ones presented in
references [5] and [6].

4.1 GENERAL PARAMETERS

Environmental resistivity shall be in compliance with the value recommended in [5]. However,
seawater resistivity adopted on the design shall not be less than 0.25 Ωm.

4.2 COATING BREAKDOWN FACTOR

Coating breakdown factors shall be calculated using the methodology and data specified in [5].
The obtained values shall be considered as minimum, but they must not be used for the
pipeline section inside an HDD, since a higher quantity of damages is expected in this case.
For an HDD section the mean and final coating breakdown factors shall be defined on a case
by case basis by PETROBRAS at the beginning of the Basic Design.
For other types of coatings not listed in tables 3 and 4 of [5], coating breakdown factors shall
be submitted for Petrobras approval and shall be based on field data.
Coating breakdown factors of accessories (flanges, bends, bolts, nuts, etc.) coated with other
types of coatings, such as painting, shall be obtained from DNVGL-RP-B401 [7].

5 PIPELINES WITH INCREASED ANODE SPACING

In cases where the anodes cannot be equally spaced throughout the pipeline and the distance
between anodes is greater than 300m, such as for risers and HDD sections, the CP design
shall fulfill the requirements of Section 6.7 of [4] and the specific ones presented in this section
of PETROBRAS Technical Specification.
When the FSHR concept is adopted, bracelet anodes are not allowed. In this case anodes
shall be installed on subsea structures such as anode sledges, riser bases, etc.
In case the CP design of SLWR and SCR adopts bracelet anodes, they shall be concentrated
on the flowline section, i.e., the section resting over the seabed and stable.
In case the CP design of HDD sections adopts bracelet anodes, they shall be concentrated on
the first pipes immediately after the end of the HDD section. In both cases, i.e. when adopting
bracelet anodes or anode sledges, in order to verify the effectiveness of the cathodic protection
over the length of the HDD section, numerical simulations using Boundary Element Method
 N°: REV.
TECHNICAL SPECIFICATION I-ET-0000.00-0000-940-P9U-001 A
JOB: SHEET:
5 of 6
TITLE:

CATHODIC PROTECTION DESIGN

EISE / EDR

shall be carried out and submitted for Petrobras approval. Sensitivity analyses regarding the
distance between adjacent anodes shall also be performed. Numerical simulations shall
consider the variation in soil resistivity along HDD route. Laboratory tests shall be performed in
order to obtain steel polarization curves on the applicable environment. Otherwise,
CONTRACTOR shall justify the polarization curves proposed based on field proven results.
Previous experience on performing such simulations shall be demonstrated.
When cable-to-pipe connections rely on mechanical contact, checks shall be performed after
installation in order to demonstrate electrical continuity (e.g. the measurement of potential on
both the anode and the pipeline immediately adjacent to the attachment point).
In all cases the cathodic protection of pipeline sections with anode spacing greater than 300m
shall be demonstrated using the attenuation calculation according to Section 6.7 of [4] or
Annex B of [5].
In case of adopting stand-off or flush mounted anodes to be installed on subsea structures
appropriate anode fabrication and design shall comply with [7].

6 ANODE MANUFACTURING AND INSTALLATION

Galvanization of aluminum anode steel core is acceptable, provided that anode manufacturer
demonstrate that it does not influence anode chemical composition.
Anode installation shall comply with DNVGL-ST-F101 [8] and [6], which provides additional
requirements to [5]. Additionally the requirements presented in this section shall also be
fulfilled.
In case of adopting long electrical copper cables, a duct tape or similar (approved by
Petrobras) shall be applied over these cables in order to prevent snagging.
The gaps between anode half-shells and between anode and concrete shall be filled with solid
polyurethane (density higher than 1100 kg/m3) and the electrical cable shall be completely
covered by the filling material.
The type of electrical connection shall be defined taking into consideration the susceptibility of
the linepipe material to HISC, as per [8].
CONTRACTOR shall include a procedure to protect (corrosion protection) the welding anode
area. This procedure shall include at least: steel surface cleaning, corrosion protection material
specification, corrosion protection material application and curing time of the corrosion
protection material.
The material used to protect the welding anode area shall be Acothane or better and shall be
submitted for Petrobras approval. Application and adhesion qualification tests shall be
performed as pre-production tests. Qualification tests shall be performed at least 90 days
before pipeline installation in case a different material is proposed.

7 PRE-PRODUCTION TESTS (PPT)

Pre-production tests shall be performed in accordance with [5] and shall also fulfill the
requirements presented in [6]. At least two half shells (one complete anode) from the same
heat shall be tested during the PPT. If all acceptance criteria described in [5] are fulfilled, then
the PPT is considered acceptable. Otherwise, the PPT shall be restarted using other two half
shells from a new anode heat.
Petrobras shall be previously informed of tests schedule in order to witness these tests.
 N°: REV.
TECHNICAL SPECIFICATION I-ET-0000.00-0000-940-P9U-001 A
JOB: SHEET:
6 of 6
TITLE:

CATHODIC PROTECTION DESIGN

EISE / EDR

8 INITIAL SURVEY
The post-lay survey shall include not only the visual inspection of coatings and anodes, but
also the determination of the potential along the pipeline and the current output of galvanic
anodes, as per reference [9]. This information will be used as a baseline for later surveys.

9 REFERENCES
[1] N-381 – Execução de Desenhos e Outros Documentos Técnicos em Geral.

[2] N-1710 – Codificação de Documentos Técnicos de Engenharia.

[3] N-2064 – Emissão e Revisão de Documentos de Projeto.

[4] DNVGL-RP-F103, Cathodic Protection of Submarine Pipelines by Galvanic Anodes.

[5] ISO 15589-2, Petroleum and Natural Gas Industries – Cathodic Protection of Pipeline
Transportation System – Part 2: Offshore Pipelines.

[6] N-1935 – Projeto de Sistema de Proteção Catódica por Corrente Galvânica – Duto
Submarino.

[7] DNVGL-RP-B401, Cathodic Protection Design.

[8] DNVGL-ST-F101 – Submarine Pipeline Systems.

[9] DNVGL-RP-F116 – Integrity Management of Submarine Pipeline Systems.