A Review on Corrosion Behaviors and Protection Technologies of Carbon Steel Pipelines in Freshwater Environments

HU Shengzhong; MA Jie; DENG Peichang

doi:10.7643/ issn.1672-9242.2026.05.016

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Equipment Environmental Engineering ›› 2026, Vol. 23 ›› Issue (5) : 139-147. DOI: 10.7643/ issn.1672-9242.2026.05.016

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A Review on Corrosion Behaviors and Protection Technologies of Carbon Steel Pipelines in Freshwater Environments

HU Shengzhong¹, MA Jie², DENG Peichang^3,*

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Abstract

The work aims to review the corrosion mechanisms, affecting factors, and protection technologies of carbon steel pipelines in freshwater environments, with a focused analysis on the application of impressed current cathodic protection (ICCP) technology to the inner walls of freshwater pipelines. Corrosion of carbon steel pipelines in freshwater environments results from the coupling of chemical, electrochemical, and microbial corrosion processes. The corrosion behavior is affected by multiple factors, including flow velocity, water quality parameters (e.g., pH, dissolved oxygen, aggressive ions), and microbial activity. Compared with seawater, freshwater has lower carbonate content and lower electrical conductivity. The low conductivity of freshwater makes the uniform control of potential distribution a key technical difficulty in cathodic protection. Meanwhile, its low carbonate content hinders the formation of carbonate deposits, thus requiring a higher current density for cathodic protection. For corrosion protection of freshwater pipelines, the combined application of cathodic protection and coating protection delivers a far better performance.

Key words

freshwater environment / pipeline / corrosion / impressed current cathodic protection / low-conductivity environment / potential distribution control

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HU Shengzhong, MA Jie, DENG Peichang. A Review on Corrosion Behaviors and Protection Technologies of Carbon Steel Pipelines in Freshwater Environments[J]. Equipment Environmental Engineering. 2026, 23(5): 139-147 https://doi.org/10.7643/ issn.1672-9242.2026.05.016

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