The goal of this work is the evaluation of the cathodic protection in API X-52 and API X-65 steel
specimens buried in natural soil, using two distinct cathodic protection potentials (-850 mV and -1100
mV vs. CSE). The first protection potential is recommended by the NACE SP0169 standard and the
second potential was chosen because it is considered that a pipe is overprotected if the protection
potential is more negative than -1100 mV vs. CSE. Soil samples from two villages localized in
Veracruz, Mexico, along a pipeline right of way, were used during the experiments in the laboratory to
simulate the in-situ corrosion behavior of pipelines buried in soil. The experimental results show that the
cathodic protection was less efficient in acidic soils than in neutral soils. Results further show that the
least corroded steel specimens were those overprotected. An inverse relationship between corrosion
potential and corrosion rate is demonstrated using a linear regression model. A mechanism involving
moisture content, soil resistivity and oxygen content is proposed to explain this inverse relationship.
Similarly, this mechanism can explain why the cathodic overprotection produced more positive
corrosion potentials.
Key words: soil corrosion, soil moisture, soil resistivity, cathodic protection, cathodic overprotection,
corrosion potential, corrosion rate, Tafel extrapolation, polarization resistance, cathodic protection
standard, oxygen content, soil acidity.