Preventing corrosion of pipelines in the field

Large bore pipelines used for oil, natural gas and other utility distribution purposes are commonly buried underground or run beneath the sea, where they are expected to remain for up to 50 years. The environment is potentially very corrosive, so that protection against corrosion attack is commonly provided jointly by a fusion bonded epoxy powder coating applied externally and by an impressed cathodic electric potential. For many years, pipe coaters have been plagued by a phenomenon known as cathodic disbondment, i.e. adhesion failure of the coating, induced by the electric potential spreading from areas where the coating has been mechanically damaged. Pyrene has now solved this problem, to the particular delight of British Pipe Coaters Ltd.