Cathodic Protection Training Course

Module 2
Financial and operational benefits of CP.

We must examine the finances of cathodic protection as a number of facts

Pipelines are a method of transportation and storage in competition with trucks, trains and tank farms.

They are therefore a threat to the livelihoods of those who sell their skills in these competitive industries.

Pipelines themselves require little maintenance and are only replaced on a contingency basis.

Good maintenance is not in the interest of the pipeline construction industry. The pipeline construction industry has a vested interest in pipelines needing replacement.

Corrosion is a major contingency issue in the maintenance of pipelines and is prevented by coatings to separate the metal from the environment.

The coating industry has a vested interest in pipelines failing so that they can sell more advanced coating systems that they can claim will reduce the cost of pipeline replacement.

Cathodic protection enhances the purpose of coatings and is therefore in competition with the transport industry, the pipeline construction industry and the pipeline coating industry. These three industries have a financial hold on the energy industry.

They also have a significant presence at the top financial levels in world energy based societies. Cathodic Protection is so cost effective that it directly threatens the livelihood of a small section of the very rich.

Insurance

As the energy industry gains importance in any social structure, contingencies become an issue of high finance and political power.

When energy is dominant there is enough money to insure against corrosion leaks and insurance companies simply put their premiums at a level where they can make a healthy profit. During these periods they are not interested in Cathodic Protection as the frequency of leaks is not an issue in their balance books.

However, when the financial clout of energy is low the industry looks at financial efficiency and it is found better to cut out the insurance companies and take on the contingency risks in house.

All of the above affect decisions at the top level of finance and government policy in relation to Cathodic Protection.

Action groups and political activists seize on danger to life and environmental hazard of every pipeline failure that hits the headlines. Every successful method of corrosion control weakens their case against energy producing companies by depriving them of the events that lead to publicity for their cause.

Cathodic protection is therefore a powerful tool against local unrest and terrorism. It removes a substantial amount of agravation from local communities and if organised correctly can actually involve them in simple low cost activities that benefit industry.

CPN technology is based on simple procedures that can be learned at local level for the locally based activities. This is not only the most cost effective way to organise Cathodic Protection but has immense local social benefits.

This would seem to be a benefit to all but in fact it is not. If local workers hold the technical ability to save millions of dollars then they hold the power over that money and demand a disproportionate reward for their services.

If the local Chiefs sieze this amount of power then they elevate themselves to the realms of those who control the energy rescources of the world. They then become interested in money and world power so that they can live to the standard the see their contemperaries enjoying.

This is not wrong, but it leads to a situation where scientific and technical facts are ignored and financial considerations are dominant.

Unfortunately finance cannot stop corrosion and science can. Scientists have developed a system of working together to enhance the understanding of science and broaden their knowledge.

Professional Bodies

Specialists have grouped together in Universities and professional bodies for the purpose of exchanging knowledge.

As each speciality develops into practical value, these groups take advantage of that to enrich themselves privately.

With the introduction of 'healthy competition' it becomes advantageous to restrict the knowledge to within the group.

In an ideal world this would not be necessary but in the real world, the intellectual property of each group has a value that is now traded as a commodity.

The mass of knowledge that is possessed by each group represents each individual's 'equity' in that group and so each must pay to enter the group to buy that 'equity'.

It is now possible to obtain the consent of a group by simply paying without aquiring the necessary expertise. Degrees and memberships can be bought and their ownership does not necessarily mean that the person is competent.

However, membership of a particular group gives the right to contribute to the group judgements that influence the commercial value of the group 'product'.

It is this process of power that has restricted the control of corrosion for at least 30 years.

Patents laws and all that stuff

Protection of the individual's equity is a problem that has resulted in the Patents system.

In order to launch CPN technology into the world of cathodic protection it is necessary to make it financially attractive.
On the invention of the Alexander Cell I was told that the only way that it would be accepted would be if I had the 'patent' which would give me the monopoly on commercial exploitation supported by the law of the UK.

If anyone was to copy the device and sell it I could then sue them for financial damages.

I found that the cost of a patents agent was not within my ability to pay so I spent three weeks learning the requirements and filed my own patent application that would give me the monopoly for a period of 18 months. This cost a relatively small fee to the UK patents office.

In the process of doing this I found that a friend had tried to patent the Alexander Cell in our joint names using the services of a patents agent.

I succeeded in having this patent application annulled by the patents office and then tried to market the device.

I then found that the Alexander Cell simplified cathodic protection monitoring to a extent that it undermined the complications that had been introduced by the 'professional bodies and universities.

It is these complications that support the need for their expertise in advising the industry and charging very high consultancy fees.

I recently attended a meeting at a university where the leading professor asked me why my technology was not successful and then went on to explain to the meeting that the only way to monitor the effects of cathodic protection is by the use of an electrode system identical to the Alexander cell ... which he drew on the flip chart. I suggested that he had just drawn the Alexander Cell and he agreed.

He had on the table copies of many of my published papers yet the business professionals representing my interests at that meeting refused to arrange any payment to me for the transfer of my knowledge to the professor.

Without any financial support I have been unable to progress CPN technology further through that route.

This is a statement of fact not a comment on the system used by the UK

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