Cathodic protection system

Claim 1

A METHOD FOR CATHODICALLY PROTECTING A METALLIC SURFACE IN CONTACT WITH AN ELECTROLYTE WHICH COMPRISES CONTINUOUSLY SUPPLYING ELECTRICAL POWER TO AN ANODE AND TO THE METALLIC SURFACE AS THE CATHODE, GENERATING AN ELECTROMOTIVE FORCE BETWEEN A REFERENCE HALF CELL AND THE METALLIC SURFACE, OPPOSING THE GENERATED ELECTROMOTIVE FORCE WITH A CONSTANT ELECTROMOTIVE FORCE SUCH THAT THE RESULTING ELECTROMOTIVE FORCE AMOUNTS TO ZERO WHEN THE POTENTIAL ON THE METALLIC SURFACE REACHES A PREDETERMINED OPTIMUM, REGISTERING THE DIRECTION OF THE RESULTING DIFFERENTIAL ELECTROMOTIVE FORCE AS A SIGNAL IN AN ELECTRICAL CIRCUIT, AUTOMATICALLY TRANSFORMING THE OBTAINED SIGNAL INTO MECHANICAL ENERGY AND ADJUSTING THE POWER SUPPLIED TO THE ANODE AND TO THE METALLIC SURFACE AS A FUNCTION OF THE SIGNAL, THE SIGNAL CIRCUIT BEING ENERGIZED PERIODICALLY AND INTERMITTENTLY, AND THE RESULTING DIFFERENTIAL ELECTROMOTIVE FORCE BEING PERIODICALLY RE-REGISTERED DURING THE DE-ENERGIZED INTERVALS.