About Our Sacrifical Anodes
There are three fundamental metals utilized as galvanic anodes, magnesium, aluminum and zinc. They are largely accessible as plates, rods, collars or extruded. Every material has it's advantages and disadvantages . Hence, the importance of choosing the right material for your specific environment.
Here is some information regarding the most common anode material that we supply:
- Magnesium has the most negative electropotential of the three and is reasonable for zones where the electrolyte (soil or water) resistivity is higher. This is normally on-shore pipelines and other covered structures, despite the fact that it is also utilized on vessels in freshwater and in waterheaters. At times, the negative capability of magnesium can be a weakness: if the potential of the metal turns out to be excessively negative, hydrogen particles might be developed on the cathode surface resulting in hydrogen embrittlement or disbonding of the coating.
- Zinc is regarded as a solid material, yet isn't reasonable for use at higher temperatures, as it tends to passivate (becomes more positive); if this occurs, the anode stops working. Zinc has a generally low driving voltage, which implies in higher-resistivity soils or freshwater, it will most likely be unable to give adequate protection . Anyhow, in some cases — where there is a hazard of hydrogen embrittlement, for instance — this lower voltage is worthwhile, as overprotection is avoided.
- Aluminum anodes has a few advantages, for example, it's lighter in weight, and have lot higher capacity than zinc. In any case, their electrochemical properties isn't considered as stable as zinc, and more consideration must be taken in which way they are utilized. Aluminum anodes will passivate where chloride fixation is underneath 1,446 parts per million.