NACE Article on Status-Indicating Reference Electrodes

The M. C. Miller Company has made a significant breakthrough in the design of reference electrodes for in-soil permanent burial applications (permanent reference electrodes).  The new concept, which involves the integration of an internal electrode into the buried reference electrode design, is reported in an article published in the March 2009 issue of NACE's Materials Performance journal, pages 36-39 (http://www.mcmiller.com/pdfs/MP%20Article%202.pdf).  The incorporation of an internal electrode means that the status of a buried reference electrode can be checked by a technician operating locally above-ground or can be examined remotely as part of a remote monitoring system in order to confirm the accuracy of a structure-to-soil reading taken with respect to the buried reference electrode.  MCM currently offers the IonXDE (dual electrode) reference electrode as part of the company's IonX Series of permanent reference electrodes (http://www.mcmiller.com/IonX%20Permanent%20Electrodes%20(new).aspx).  The IonXDE is a copper/copper sulfate reference electrode with an integrated Ag/AgCl (3.5M KCl) internal electrode (http://www.mcmiller.com/pdfs/IonXDE.pdf).  The calibration of the buried copper sulfate reference electrode can be checked in-situ prior to every structure-to-soil reading.