PERC Safety

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PERC Safety Training Webinar

• Cathodic Protection Program

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Cathodic Protection Webinar Presenters

• Stuart Flatow
• PERC Vice President, Safety Training.
• Email stuart.flatow_at_propanecouncil.org.
• Hans Schmoldt
• NACE certified Cathodic Protection Specialist.
• Over 30 years of experience.
• Subject matter expert for PERC Cathodic
  Protection training video.
• Email hans_at_anodesystems.com.
• Bruce Swiecicki, P.E.
• Senior Technical Advisor of NPGA.
• Sits on the NFPA Technical Committee that writes
  NFPA 58.
• Email bswiecicki_at_npga.org.

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Basics of Corrosion

• Corrosion is an aggressive form of rusting.
• Bad environment.
• wet ground containing natural or man-made
  chemicals accelerates the rusting process.
• Corrosion causes structural problems, such as
  pits or holes in the steel.
• These holes can cause propane to leak, which in
  turn may migrate to a crawl space or basement,
  causing a very dangerous situation.

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15 Causes of Underground Propane Tank Corrosion

• Water snow, rain, irrigation, groundwater.
• Fertilizer ammonia, sulfur, nitrates.
• Salt road sidewalk, water softener.
• Magnesium Chloride for road dust ice.
• Oxygen forms iron oxide.
• Copper gas services lines to homes.
• Soil clay, shale, mud, large rocks.
• Backfill pyrite in sand gravel.

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15 Causes of Underground Propane Tank Corrosion

• Mine Tailings corrosive chemicals acids.
• Drain Fields bleach, detergent, salt, wastes.
• Electric Currents a.c d.c from poorly
  grounded homes.
• Bacteria Anaerobic bacteria in oxygen poor
  mud creates sulfuric acid. Aerobic bacteria feed
  on petroleum based coatings.
• Lightning goes to a tank via a copper pipe.
• Corrosive Minerals pyrite graphite.
• Urine salt/ammonia from pets livestock.

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Examples of Corrosion
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Examples of Corrosion
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Examples of Corrosion
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Principles of Cathodic Protection

• Cathodic Protection will make a steel propane
  tank and piping immune to corrosion.
• This is done by turning the tank into a cathode.
• A cathode is an electrical engineering term given
  to any metal protected by an anode. The metal
  receives electrons from an anode in a corrosion
  cell reaction to ward off oxidization.

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Methods to Achieve Cathodic Protection

• Two methods used.
• Magnesium anodes (Sacrificial Anodes).
• Impressed current using power from the local
  electric utility company.
• An Anode is oxidized and consumed as it corrodes,
  while giving up its elections to a cathode.
• A bar, rod, or ingot of magnesium or zinc
  connected to a steel tank or pipe to provide
  protection. Anodes produce electrical current
  and gradually waste away.
• Impressed current systems work by using current
  from the electric utility and use silicon iron
  anodes.

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Tank-to-Soil Potential Tests

• First, if the ground is dry where youre going
  to take readings, moisten it with water.
• Set voltmeter on the 2 volt DC or the 20 volt DC
  scale.
• Connect the voltmeter to the tank, with the
  positive lead connected to the multivalve and the
  negative lead to the copper electrode.
• Do this at the multivalve, rather than the dome.

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Tank-to-Soil Potential Tests

• Stick the tip of the electrode into the ground
  where it has been moistened.
• Take your reading and record your data,
  according to your company policy.
• Repeat the process on the opposite side of the
  dome, and then at both ends of the tank.
• It is important to take FOUR tank-to-soil
  potential readings around a tank, in order to get
  a complete picture of the cathodic protection
  level.
• Areas of the tank that have readings above -0.85
  volts are protected, while a reading below -0.85
  is not protected.

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Troubleshooting and Retrofitting
When a reading at an existing installation is
zero, youll have to do some troubleshooting.
The following is a laundry list of things to
check when troubleshooting

• Start with the voltmeter. Is it on?
• Is the battery good?
• Have you taken off the rubber boot on the copper
  sulfate electrode?
• Have you set the voltmeter switch to the d.c.
  volt scale?
• Have you connected one lead wire to the copper
  sulfate electrode?
• Have you connected the other lead wire to the
  multivalve securely?
• Does your copper sulfate electrode have a blue
  liquid in it?
• Have you set the electrode firmly on the ground?
• Have you poured a glass of water on the ground if
  the ground is dry?
• Are your lead wires and their connections good?

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11 Objections to Installing Anodes

• The ground is not corrosive.
• I dont like being forced to buy anodes.
• Ive never had a problem in the past.
• How do I know they work?
• Why bother? Im retiring soon.
• My U/Gs look like new when dug up.
• The tanks come with a coating.
• NFPA 58 doesnt mandate anodes.
• My margins are too small to add anodes.
• The competition doesnt install anodes.
• The state doesnt require anodes or they dont
  test for them.

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8 Reasons Cathodic Protection is Good Business

• It can save lives.
• It is cheap insurance should a corrosion cell
  exist. It could prevent an incident that would
  cost many hours and dollars to resolve.
• It provides peace of mind and eliminates worrying
  about whether or not corrosion will cause a
  corrosion leak.
• State by state, regulators are beginning to
  require cathodic protection on ugs as a
  requirement for liability insurance coverage for
  the marketer.
• It reduces the risk of a leak and potential
  property damage to an expensive investment in
  property.
• It increases the resale value of the property.
• It protects the tank if the coating breaks down,
  where the coating is damaged, where weld spatter
  and embedded steel shot protrudes through the
  coating.
• Its a selling point when the marketer sells the
  business or passes it down to younger family
  members.

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Cathodic Protection Manual

• Contains training materials for propane techs who
  install residential and small commercial
  underground ASME tanks and piping.
• Provides basic knowledge and requirements to
  properly and efficiently provide cathodic
  protection for underground steel ASME tanks and
  piping from corrosion.
• Includes a quiz, with answer key and a skills
  evaluation form.
• Available in a CD DVD kit, as well as a Manual
  DVD kit.
• To order the PERC Cathodic Protection materials,
  please go to www.propanecatalog.com, or call
  866-905-1075.

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www.propanesafety.com

• Visit www.propanesafety.com.
• Website includes a PDF of the complete Cathodic
  Protection Manual.

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NFPA Updates

• New text appears in Annex K of NFPA 58-2008
• Burial and Corrosion Protection for Underground
  and Mounded Containers
• Inspection of Container prior to burial
• Dielectric couplings should be used to isolate
  the container from piping when using metallic
  piping
• Avoid using backfill material that can damage the
  container

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NFPA Updates

• NPGA Proposing New Text for NFPA 58-2010 (will
  apply to underground and mounded containers)
• 5.2.1.10 ASME containers either mounded,
  installed underground or partially underground,
  shall be coated with a material recommended for
  the service and applied in accordance with the
  coating manufacturers instructions.
• 6.6.6.1 (H) Cathodic protection shall be
  installed on metal underground containers.

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NFPA Updates

• NPGA Proposing New Text for NFPA 58-2010 (will
  apply to underground and mounded containers)
• (I) Prior to burial, the container shall be
  visually examined for damage to the coating.
  Damaged areas shall be repaired with a coating
  recommended for underground service and
  compatible with the existing coating.

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STAC Cathodic Protection Taskforce

• Chairman Lyndon Rickards, Eastern Propane Gas
• Philip Conty, Amerigas
• Eric Leskinen, Griffith Energy
• Jerry Lucas, Heritage Propane Partners
• Sam McTier, Propane Technologies LLC
• Ken Mueller, Nationwide Agribusiness
• Carlton Revere, Revere Gas Appliance
• Russ Rupp, Shaffers Bottled Gas Corp
• Thomas Petru, Railroad Commission of Texas
  (AFRED)
• Ross Warnell, Ferrellgas

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Industry Volunteers

• STAC Chairman,
• Mike Walters , AmeriGas
• Phil Applegate, Targa Resources Inc
• Doug Auxier, Auxier Gas, Inc
• Gary Bourne, CHS Inc.
• Philip Conty, AmeriGas
• Walter Cressman, Cress Gas Company
• Don Crowder, Corken Inc/Liquid Controls Keith
  Hanchett, PERS
• Mike Konanz, Kamps Propane
• Eric Kuster, Fairmont Speciality Group
• Roger Leider, Minnesota PGA
• Eric Leskinen, Griffith Energy
• Paul Lindsey, All Star Gas Corporation

• Jerry Lucas , Heritage Propane Partners
• Bruce Montroy, Bergquist, Inc.
• Ken Mueller , Nationwide Agribusiness
• Thomas Petru, Railroad TX Commission
• Jay Hilliard, Revere Gas Appliance
• Lyndon Rickards, Eastern Propane Gas
• Joseph Rose, PGANE
• Russ Rupp, Suburban Propane Partners
• Jeff Shaffer, Shaffers Bottled Gas
• Gary Smigaj, Heritage Propane
• Matthew Stevens Sr., Inergy
• Jim Taranovich, Proctor Gas Inc
• Matt Terry, Mission Gas Inc

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Questions?