AC corrosion of steel pipeline under cathodic protection: A state-of-the-art review

By the advancement of the oil, electricity, and transportation industries, an increasing number of oil and gas pipelines were buried alongside high-voltage alternating current (AC) transmission lines and electrified railways. This resulted in a growing issue of AC interference in buried pipelines. Previous studies have shown that the presence of AC interference can result in severe corrosion damage to metallic structures, even when cathodic protection (CP) is available. This paper provides a state-of-the-art review on AC corrosion of cathodically protected pipeline steel. Specifically, attention is paid to research areas including influencing factors in AC corrosion for pipelines under CP, existing AC protection criteria, corrosion risk assessment based on probability of failure, numerical simulation in AC corrosion, and mitigation of AC corrosion. Each area of research is reviewed in detail and the corresponding technical gaps and future research opportunities are identified and discussed.