Self-Powered Cathodic Protection System for Remote Pipelines Using Hydraulic Energy Harvesting

Abstract Impressed current cathodic protection is one of the most effective methods for preventing corrosion in steel pipelines and is widely implemented in water, oil, and gas industries. However, supplying the electrical energy required for impressed current cathodic protection systems becomes challenging and often economically impractical when pipelines extend into remote areas. To address this issue, this paper proposes a practical energy-harvesting approach in which the kinetic energy of flowing water inside the pipeline is converted into electrical power using a fluid-driven generator. A compact half-bridge buck converter regulates the output voltage to deliver a stable cathodic protection current while keeping the hardware structure simple, improving reliability, and enabling straightforward integration into existing pipeline infrastructure without major modifications. A detailed electrical model of a 5 km pipeline is developed to evaluate system performance, incorporating variations in flow rate, soil resistivity, and coating degradation. The generator uses a 1 kW automotive alternator (nominal ∼24–28 V, max current ≈55 A) coupled with a hydro turbine to efficiently harvest the available hydraulic energy. Simulation results show that despite the simplified hardware design, the proposed system maintains the pipeline endpoint potential ≤ –0.85 V (Cu/CuSO4 reference) under varying operational conditions. The system also demonstrates robust energy management, balancing power between generation, battery storage, and cathodic protection load. Compared with conventional impressed current cathodic protection systems relying on external grids or solar/hybrid sources, this approach provides a fully self-powered, low-cost, and easily deployable alternative. By combining simplicity, effective cathodic protection performance, and independence from external power, the proposed solution offers a highly practical strategy for corrosion protection of remote pipelines.