Re-usable corrosion barrier coating
Re-usable corrosion barrier coating
Keywords Bimetallic corrosion, Coating, Flange joints, Pipes, Spraying
A new system of corrosion control that is predicted to substantially reduce the UK's estimated £30 billion annual corrosion bill has been launched by corrosion protection specialist Alocit Group of Dereham, Norfolk, UK.
Known as Enviropeel (Plate 1), the new system is reportedly designed to offer industry particularly the oil, gas and chemical industries an entirely new method of preventing corrosion, especially bimetallic corrosion, often associated with flange joints on metal pipework.
According to Alocit, not only will the new system halt bimetallic corrosion, but it is re-usable,cost-effective, easy to apply and able to penetrate deep into the most minute crevices with a strong corrosion inhibitor. Until now corrosion on flange joints has proved almost impossible to control economically and never in such an environmentally friendly fashion as with non-hazardous Enviropeel.
The system is also thought to be ideally suited to the long-term protection of "mothballed" machinery and components. Its ability to completely seal any size or shaped object away from corrosion hazards is matched by the speed with which such components can be re-commissioned when needed.
Enviropeel is applied by a specially designed spray system that heats the product before it is sprayed onto the joints and their associated components (Plate 2). The product covers and seals the surface area before"setting" in seconds. It also penetrates deep within the crevices to form a solid barrier that will prevent the spread of existing corrosion and protect the steel from further attack.
A major aspect of Enviropeel is said to be the ease with which it can be peeled away when access to a component is required and, being thermo-plastic, returned to the spray unit for re-use when work is complete. Protection of the newly exposed surface is maintained by a film of the powerful corrosion inhibitor which Enviropeel applies to all surfaces and which gives protection before re-coating and for the life of the joint (Plate 3).
Plate 1 Enviropeel coating on a flange joint after independently testing in a hot salt fog corrosion test to simulate 30 years' exposure to typical conditions in the North Sea
Plate 2 A flange joint sprayed with Enviropeel is opened after an independently conducted hot salt fog corrosion test (equivalent to 30 years' exposure in the North Sea). The whole joint is perfectly preserved, and the Enviropeel has reached deep into the inner flange surfaces. The Enviropeel "skin" removed from the joint is ready for melting and re-applying via the spray-on applicator
Plate 3 The perfect flange joint, after removing the Enviropeel is still coated with the corrosion inhibitor contained within the Enviropeel
Alocit managing director Arthur Haycox said Enviropeel was remarkable for several reasons. "First, it is the world's first totally re-usable corrosion barrier coating. It can be applied anywhere and to equipment of any size or shape. As such it is an accountant's dream a coating you could keep on the stock list forever. Enviropeel can be applied on almost any surface including steel, concrete and wood it is totally safe to the environment since it contains no volatile organic compounds(VOCs). Engineers now have a solution to one of their biggest and costliest corrosion headaches as Enviropeel provides a short-term, reactive answer to corrosion problems but with long-term pro-active benefits."
Alocit predicts a major role for Enviropeel in the oil and gas production industry, where the cost of corrosion on pipe flange joints on a platform could be reduced by some 85 per cent a saving approaching $1million on an average platform over a 20-year life. (There are some 6,000 offshore structures around the world.)
Mothballing or transport of essential and expensive equipment as well as protection of back-up stock held in store often in harsh offshore salt water environments with extremes of temperature and high-humidity is another vast potential area for its use in the oil industry. Enviropeel provides a solution here for cocooning standby machinery and components until needed, be it for a month or 20 years, when they can be quickly "stripped" for action.
The properties of Enviropeel have been used and proven in metal protection for some 30 years, but until now it has not been able to be applied in the field as a spray. It is claimed that this ability now enables application to be safely performed with portable equipment in previously inaccessible areas on absolutely any type of component.
Application is not limited to any individual industry. Alocit believes that such is the nature of the product and its application that it is expected to be used right across the engineering spectrum worldwide from chemical plants to ships, indeed almost anywhere where corrosion occurs.
Details from Alocit Group. Tel: +44 (0)1362 694915; fax: +44 (0)1362 695350; e-mail: hq@alocit.co.uk ; Website: http://www.alocit.co.uk
