IRON PROBE DESERT: Potential probe for arid and sandy environments

Below is a brief excerpt from the article published in issue 12 of the Corrosion Protection magazine, which examines the features of our Iron Probe Desert. The full article in PDF format can be downloaded via the link at the bottom of the page.

What it is

IRON PROBE DESERT is the patented evolution of the IRON PROBE® family, designed to ensure reliable potential measurements in high-resistivity soils (deserts, sandy and granular soils with low moisture). The highly conductive porous diaphragm can exploit even minimal nighttime humidity, ensuring ionic exchange and measurement stability.

Why it’s different

• Reduced deviation: E_on measurements typically within 20–30 mV of true ON/OFF values, even in very resistive soils.
• Immunity to interference: minimizes the effects of stray currents, often making traditional ON–OFF surveys unnecessary.

Key features

• Patented ceramic diaphragm, highly conductive and hygroscopic, optimized for resistive soils.
• Patented copper sulfate gel with anti-wicking behavior.
• Compact design for rapid installation; can also be installed at a distance from the monitored structure.
• Integrated coupons: DC 10 cm² and AC 5 cm², with a minimum distance of 7 mm from the diaphragm.
• IP protection: registered trademark and European patent no. 202022000002267; aligned with ISO 15589-1.

Use cases and benefits

Ideal for pipelines, tanks, and infrastructures in desert areas or granular/sandy high-resistivity soils. Provides readings that better represent electrochemical behavior, reduces uncertainty, and simplifies monitoring and maintenance activities.

Field adoption

Already deployed over one hundred probes (Texas, Libya, Brazil). Ongoing tests in the UAE with a potential supply of up to ~15,000 units, and trials in France on non-desert resistive soils.

For all technical and operational details, the article’s full PDF is available.