College
Buchtel College of Arts and Sciences
Date of Last Revision
2025-04-26 12:10:50
Major
Chemical Engineering
Honors Course
CHEE 497
Number of Credits
3
Degree Name
Bachelor of Science
Date of Expected Graduation
Spring 2025
Abstract
Cathodic protection (CP) is a widely used technique to mitigate corrosion in buried steel pipelines. This study uses COMSOL Multiphysics to model and analyze the performance of both sacrificial anode and impressed current systems in a simulated 3D environment. The model solves for pipeline potential, current density, and corrosion rate within a surrounding soil domain to assess protection coverage across the pipeline. Simulations were conducted to evaluate the influence of electrode and electrolyte properties on CP effectiveness. The study demonstrates that COMSOL Multiphysics is an effective tool for modeling CP systems, offering insights that align with established industry practices. While simplifications such as uniform soil properties and time-independence limit the model's scope, the results provide a strong foundation for future work involving more complex scenarios like with heterogeneous soil composition, coatings, or temperature variation.
Research Sponsor
Qixin Zhou
First Reader
Yuhan Su
Second Reader
Jennifer Lillard
Honors Faculty Advisor
Bi-min Newby
Proprietary and/or Confidential Information
No
Recommended Citation
Scalzo, Ethan, "COMSOL Simulation of Pipeline Corrosion with Cathodic Protection" (2025). Williams Honors College, Honors Research Projects. 1969.
https://ideaexchange.uakron.edu/honors_research_projects/1969