By concentrating on the key features of effective corrosion protection and low alternating signature, Aish engineers have cut the cost of stealthy cathodic protection with the new Series 300 design.
For quiet ships and submarines, electric and magnetic signatures produced by corrosion-related electric currents must be kept to a minimum.These currents may be those produced when a vessel is freely corroding, or those provided by sacrificial or impressed current cathodic protection systems that are fitted to halt the corrosion process. * Free corrosion currents that exist around an unprotected vessel not only accompany rapid corrosion, but can also produce excessive static signatures. * Sacrificial cathodic protection systems have no alternating component, but static signatures may be excessive, and through life cost can be high because of the need to replace sacrificial anodes regularly. * Impressed current cathodic protection systems reduce through-life costs, but commercial systems can produce unacceptable static and alternating signatures. For over 20 years Aish have been at the forefront of minimising these signatures for military applications. The new Series 300 impressed current system produces negligible alternating signature and, when combined with a good anode and reference electrode layout, will also provide a cost-effective way of minimising static signatures. Aish has the world's highest number of Low Signature ICCP systems in naval service. The new Series 300 can reduce control equipment cost by as much as 75%, while still offering low signature performance and maintaining corrosion protection. |
