California Designated Operator Practice Exam

What type of cathodic protection system must be designed and certified by a corrosion specialist?

1. Field installed system

2. Fiberglass coating

3. Coal tar enamel

4. Plastic sheathing

The correct answer is: Field installed system

A field-installed cathodic protection system requires specialized knowledge and expertise because it needs to be tailored to the specific environmental conditions and characteristics of the structure being protected. Corrosion specialists have the training to assess these factors and design an effective cathodic protection system that can mitigate corrosion effectively. This includes understanding soil resistivity, the presence of stray currents, and the types of coatings used on the pipelines, which all play a critical role in the effectiveness of the system. In contrast, options like fiberglass coating, coal tar enamel, and plastic sheathing refer to protective coatings or materials rather than cathodic protection systems themselves. While these coatings can help prevent corrosion by providing a barrier, they are not systems designed to provide ongoing protection through electrical means, which is the purpose of cathodic protection. Thus, the certification and design of these coatings do not require the same level of specialized corrosion knowledge as a field-installed cathodic protection system does.