Increasing numbers of pipelines constructed in the western and northern areas of China are buried in
discontinuous permafrost, and certain challenges need to be met in the design of cathodic protection
(CP) system. In this work numerical simulation is conducted to predict the cathodic protection
potential distribution of pipeline buried in discontinuous permafrost. The simulations are in good
agreement with experiments, showing that significant differences exist under various seasons and
anode beds, such as zinc ribbon anodes, deep ground anodes and shallow horizontal anodes. The
results can provide valuable references for engineering design and operation of CP systems in
discontinuous permafrost areas.
Key words: discontinuous permafrost, cathodic protection, numerical simulation, potential
distribution, anode groundbed