System Identification Modelling and IMC based PID Control of Impressed Current Cathodic Protection Systems

Impressed Current Cathodic Protection (ICCP) system is the most practical method of cathodic protection systems. This system is widely used to prevent the external corrosion of carbon steel structures; especially those are used in underground oil and gas pipelines. In this paper, the theoretical background, principles and concepts of ICCP systems have been discussed. An effective laboratory scale for ICCP systems was built according to specific concepts has been clarified. Consequently,the parametric model of this system was obtained using System Identification (SI) approach.Furthermore,an Internal Model Control based Proportional Integral Derivative (IMC-PID) controller has been designed for enhancingthe performance of ICCP systems.Additionally, simulation and onlineimplementation works have been carried out to control ICCP systems at different operating conditions. Nevertheless, the IMC-PID controller leads todecrease both the Integral of the Absolute Error (IAE) and the Steady State Error (SSE) which are lower values compared to the open loop system.