| Seeking a better solution, Harris recently used a newly approved corrosion coating to enhance workplace safety and return an approximatley 35,00 sq. ft. floating roof tank to service. |
Many industrial facilities such as petrochemical plants must remain safely, efficiently operational with virtually no downtime, unplanned maintenance, or replacement for decades. To protect equipment from corrosion, traditionally three separate coatings are used, often in a zinc, epoxy, urethane combination. While this is common, it is far from optimal.
From a safety standpoint, urethane topcoats can be slick walking surfaces, prone to slip and fall hazard, particularly if walking surfaces are wet, moist, or humid. Typical exterior coatings such as epoxy and urethane can emit hazardous VOCs, HAPs, and odors during application, and may have flash points that require extra distance or caution when used around hot or flammable processes.
Applying traditional coatings can stop production for days, since they usually require substantial metal surface preparation, a prime coat and two topcoats with at least eight hours of drying time, also known as minimum recoat time, between each. Bad weather or environmental conditions can further delay production, and even require re-blasting the surface if an environmental delay exceeds the coating’s maximum recoat time.
“Traditional coatings in some cases have significant drawbacks,” says Jay Harris, a project manager for Mobley Industrial Services, a multi-service specialty contractor serving the chemical, petrochemical, and refining industries. “They need extensive surface prep and must meet specific conditions, including minimum and maximum recoat times, before they can be applied. Due to this, it can take a few days or longer to apply three coats, depending on the size of the job and environmental conditions. To avoid overspray issues, hand rolled application is often required.”
Seeking a better solution at a petrochemical facility on the Gulf Coast, Harris recently used a newly approved corrosion coating called EonCoat, by a Wilson, N.C.-based company of the same name, to enhance workplace safety and return an approximately 35,000 sq. ft. floating roof tank to service in about half the time required by typical coatings.