Corrosion is the tendency of metals to revert to their original state upon exposure to the atmosphere. This is an electrochemical process which can be mitigated by providing an opposing current more powerful than the corrosion cell, thereby forcibly reversing the galvanic action. This method is called Cathodic Protection. The simplest form of Cathodic Protection is by using sacrificial anodes.

Purity of the anode material is vital to its performance. Contamination of the anode material causes it to passivate and become useless. It is extremely important that anodes are acquired from a reputable supplier whose manufacturing techniques avoid any possibility of contamination and whose production methods include routine metallurgical analysis.

MCPS Ltd have over 15 years' experience in providing a comprehensive Cathodic Protection service to the Marine and Offshore industry. This high level of experience ensures that MCPS fully understands and are able to supply corrosion protection equipment in accordance with the most stringent requirements of the Marine and Offshore industry.

Stand-off anodes are designed so that they have a minimum distance of 300 mm from the steel structure that they are protecting, to ensure uniform current distribution to the surface. The life of the system is at least 5 years and the anode core is designed to maintain the anode's shape during the later stages of the anode's life.

The ID of these anodes are usually manufactured to coincide with the OD of the pipe onto which they are to be fitted. If this is not possible, they are manufactured with a taper to allow for their movement.

Coatings are the first barriers to protect vessel hulls against corrosion. Due to microscopic pinhole defects in the coating and damage to it whilst in service, localised pitting will occur. Flush mounted hull anodes are used to complement the coating at areas of exposed steel prolonging the life of the coating. Hull anodes are also employed to reduce corrosion rates on areas of the hull that are local to propellers and the propellers themselves.

Alloys of Zinc, Aluminium and Magnesium with the necessary trace elements to provide correct performance are used to manufacture sacrificial hull anodes. All types of Hull anodes ranging from weld-on to bolt-on types are available upon request.

Tank anodes are used to complement the coating at areas of exposed steel prolonging the life of the coating and structure. Zinc Tank Anodes, Aluminium Tank Anodes and Magnesium Tank anodes are available with various methods of fixing arrangements.

Water ballast tanks are prone to a build-up of scale. MCPS LTD can offer a solution to the high cost of descaling ship's ballast tanks by mechanical labour. Magnesium Ribbon is a method of descaling and avoids the need for mechanical labour.

These can be easily distributed around a tank. When properly secured in a fully pressed up tank it will take approximately two weeks for the electrolytic process of the ribbon to effectively work on the scale to give an incredibly clean surface by an electrolytic process.