scope:

Foreword

This NACE technical committee report was prepared to provide an overview of the galvanic probe as it may be used in corrosion detection and monitoring in the petroleum production industry. The report presents the background and theory of operation of galvanic probes, typical probe configurations, probe placement, and maintenance requirements. Typical applications for corrosion monitoring and inhibitor evaluation, including examples of data, are discussed.

Galvanic probe corrosion monitors are simple, rugged instruments constructed of two dissimilar metals that are submerged in the electrolyte to be studied. The direct current generated by the dissimilar metals is a function of the corrosiveness of the electrolyte in which the probe is submerged.

This technical committee report was originally prepared in 1987 by NACE Task Group T-1C-16, a component of former Unit Committee T-1C on Corrosion Monitoring in Petroleum Production. Unit Committees T-1C and T-1D were combined, and the report was reviewed and reaffirmed by Unit Committee T-1D on Corrosion Monitoring and Control of Corrosion Environments in Petroleum Production Operations in 1995. It was reaffirmed in 2005 by Specific Technology Group (STG) 31 on Oil and Gas Production- Corrosion and Scale Inhibition. This technical committee report is issued by NACE International under the auspices of STG 31.