PLATTLINE Zinc Ribbon Anodes

Cathodic Protection

Plattline™ Zinc Anodes for Cathodic Protection

Features

• High current output to volume ratio.
• Plattline™ easily conforms to any cathode length or configuration.
• There is no special equipment needed for installation.
• Will not cause nor magnify stray currents.
• Generally used in soils of 2000 ohm-cm or less with prepared gypsum-clay backfill.
• However, Plattline™ can be used in soils with higher resistivity on well coated pipelines with low current requirements.
• Because Plattline™ is in a continuous ribbon form, there is an even distribution of current density to the cathode.

Applications

• External areas of steel pipe, especially in difficult environments such as below grade in rocky and mountainous terrain, thawed zones in permafrost, etc.
• Interior bottom areas of oil storage tanks where salt water settles out.
• Exterior bottoms of oil storage tanks.
• Interstitial spaces between old, corroded and new storage tank bottoms.
• In the limited space between inner and outer casings of wells of various kinds.
• For grounding steel tower footings of overhead power systems.
• To provide cathodic protection as well as to dissipate induced A.C. current on coated steel pipe.
• For personal safety, as well as corrosion protection. To ground valves and test stations of pipe lines which are subject to induced A.C. current and fault currents.

Zinc ribbon anodes provide a very simple, cost effective, maintenance-free method of corrosion control for buried or immersed metals such as iron, steel. aluminum, copper, etc. It is especially useful for unattended applications; those where other cathodic protection systems requiring monitoring and/or frequent maintenance cannot be possible.

Plattline™ is an ideal primary or supplemental cathodic protection system. It can also be used as a temporary system prior to the installation of an impressed current system.

Electrochemical Properties of Zinc Ribbon Anodes:

Platt Zinc Products That Protect

The cathodic protection of a pipeline in soil is dependent upon the pH of that soil, the soil's electrical resistivity, the surface area of unprotected pipe in that soil, and the type of cathodic protection system installed.

In the case that a cathodic protection system is employed utilizing a Zinc galvanic anode, it is generally accepted that the soil resistivity should be less than 2,000 Ohms-cm and that the Zinc anode should meet the chemical requirements as listed in ASTM B418-88. It is also accepted that a Zinc galvanic anode placed continuously and parallel to the pipeline will cathodically protect the pipe with a more uniform voltage, while requiring less total voltage for the structure. Plattline Zinc ribbon meets all of these requirements due to its unique form and packaging up to 1,098 meters per reel.

Usually all pipeline installations include a coating prior to installation that limits the amount of unprotected surface area of the pipe. Industry estimates expect that about 2% of the total surface area will be unprotected and the coating will have small holes that exist as "holidays" along the surface. These holidays are extremely vulnerable as corrosion will occur here first, developing as pinhole pit-like attacks on the wall of the pipe.

Plattline™ Zinc Ribbon is alloyed and manufactured in our Waterbury, Connecticut facility. There are four standard industry accepted sizes in several easy-to-install packages.

Platt Brothers & Company has been incorporated since 1876, although the original parent firm, A. Platt and Company began as a grist and sawmill in 1797. Today, Platt Brothers is a major international source for Zinc and Zinc based alloy products, proud of its tradition and reputation for unsurpassed quality and service.