Information on corrosion control and prevention

Inorganic Coating System Halts Corrosion

Under Insulation in Oil, Gas Assets
O il and gas major Chevron (San
Ramon, California, USA) recently
revised its engineering standards to
detail their trial
runs with the sys-
tem in a recent tech-
include a novel water-borne spray coating nical paper and
system to protect against both atmo- accompanying pre-
spheric corrosion and corrosion under sentation, delivered
insulation (CUI) at many of its worldwide at the EUROCORR
facilities. 2018 conference in
Made by EonCoat (Raleigh, North Car- September 2018 in
olina, USA), the developer says the inor- Kraków, Poland.1 Panels with intentional damage after 335 h of ASTM B117 exposure.
ganic system offers distinct benefits rela- Part A of the Photo courtesy of EUROCORR 2018.

tive to traditional anticorrosion coatings two-component

for the high temperatures and corrosive coating is based on potassium monophos- you have an active surface,” explains Alp-
conditions often found in oil and gas envi- phate (KH 2PO 4), and Part B contains mag- ert, referring to the technology of his
ronments. When the coating chemically nesium hydroxide [Mg (OH)2]. After company’s system and not to any specific
reacts with carbon steel (CS), a protective spraying, the coating sets in minutes case study. “Electrons are going to leave
passivated layer is produced. This protec- through an acid-base reaction, forming a that surface, and if you use a traditional
tive layer is both insoluble and chemically solid material with an appearance and paint, all you’re doing is laying a tarp on
bonded to the substrate. mechanical properties resembling those it. With this, you’re passivating the sur-
“When we talk to oil and gas compa- of traditional ceramics. face and sealing off from moisture and
nies, they want to know that you can use As the coating is sprayed onto CS, the oxygen.”
the system both onshore and offshore, for acid converts the top layer of steel into To better understand the system’s
both atmospheric [corrosion] and CUI,” iron phosphate (FePO 4) and/or iron mag- expected performance, the operating
says EonCoat President Merrick Alpert. nesium phosphate so that the steel can no company tested the product both in the
“They’ll tell you that while atmospheric longer corrode. The second mechanism field and at a third-party laboratory over
corrosion is important to them, CUI is for corrosion protection is a cementitious a three-year period. Using large 5- by 7-ft
urgent for them. It’s what they call the layer, which forms based on the reaction (1.5- by 2.1-m) panels, the system was eval-
silent killer. So the ability to use this between the acid or acidic salt and the uated for use in potential atmospheric
material in a CUI environment—and to metal oxide. This layer works as a phos- corrosion conditions at <100 °C, as well as
know they don’t have corrosion under the phate reservoir by proving phosphate CUI both at low temperatures (<100 °C)
insulation blanket—is a huge driver.” ions to the steel surface for the entire life- and at higher temperatures (up to 350 °C).
While Alpert would not comment on time of the coating. Corrosion tests included salt fog test-
his company’s work with Chevron, offi- “In essence, [the system] works by ing via ASTM B117, 2 cyclic corrosion test-
cials with the operating company did passivating the surface of the substrate so ing under ASTM D5894, 3 and CUI testing.
it can no longer Testing protocols also included various
react with corro- surface preparations, with the NACE No.
sive substances 3/SSPC-SP 6 “Commercial Blast Cleaning”
such as oxygen and standard4 found to be most suitable. The
moisture,” the testing also confirmed that the system
operating com- can be applied to flash rusted or rusted
pany writes in its surfaces, which the operator says simpli-
paper. “Unlike fies the surface preparation requirements
paint, it chemi- and lowers the overall cost of application
cally bonds to the when compared to a standard three-coat
surface of the steel. system.
And unlike paint, To test the system’s mechanical integ-
it is not a barrier rity, panels were intentionally damaged.
coating.” Damage was inflicted in ways such as
Sample panels with intentional mechanical damage. Photo courtesy of
EUROCORR 2018. “Corrosion dropping a ball on the panel; dropping
occurs because Continued on page 18

MATERIALS PERFORMANCE: VOL. 58, NO. 1 JANUARY 2019 17

MATERIAL MATTERS
Continued from page 17

Panels with intentional damage after 1,870 h of ASTM B117 exposure. A cross-cut adhesion into the coating was examined four months after
Photo courtesy of EUROCORR 2018. the pipe had been placed back into service. Photo courtesy of
EUROCORR 2018.

the panel from a height of 3 to 4 m onto the coating system. If the coating is dam- “If you look at refineries and marine
cement; using a saw blade to make a cut- aged and insulated, then CUI becomes a terminals and where they’re located, a
like mark into the protective layer; and very costly inspection and maintenance vast majority are by salt or brackish
utilizing a mechanical polisher in some problem. When damage to the coating water,” Alpert explains. “That’s a really
areas. In the most extreme case, one system occurs, the damage is not inten- tough environment for traditional paint
panel was bent at a 90-degree angle. The tional. But it leaves behind an asset integ- to withstand, because effectively, you’ve
panels were evaluated after 335 h, and rity problem.” got salt water, humidity, wind, and signif-
then after 1,870 h. “What if the tables were turned? What icant temperature variations. With us,
“In all cases, there is not rust in the if this layer is not susceptible to mechani- rather than lay a traditional tarp over it,
areas where the panels were intentionally cal damage? If so, the solution would pro- you’re passivating the steel. Now if it’s an
damaged,” the company writes. “An vide a large number of benefits. First and environment that’s dry and indoors, can
organic coating would have failed to con- foremost, the failure mode has changed. you use traditional coatings? Sure. But
trol the corrosion in these conditions. It would no longer be the coating failure when you’re talking about the core assets
Where new steel was exposed, that sec- leading to a corrosion and inspection of the oil and gas world, like tanks and
tion of the panel rusted, as expected. But problem. This mechanical integrity of the aboveground pipelines, you need extra
notice on the portion of the panel that protective layer… changes the game for protection for those.”
was bent—at the edge of the coating, CUI.” Another significant advantage is
there is no rust along the entire line. The field testing was conducted at two reduced turnaround time for operators. 5
Meaning, when [the coating] forms a different geographic locations—one in “With a traditional coating, they
chemical bond with the surface of the Richmond, California, and another at its might spend a lot of time and money
steel, the protective layer is formed. When refinery in Pascagoula, Mississippi, on doing the blasting to get it down to near
this occurred, the mechanical integrity is the U.S. Gulf Coast. white,” Alpert says. “With this, they just
maintained.” “While these two locations differ need a basic commercial blast, and then
Field testing under CUI conditions greatly in both temperature and humid- they can apply over flash-rusted steel,
was done under a longer time period, ity, the performance results were the damp steel, and steel that has salt on it. If
including a pipe service insulated with same,” the operating company writes. a tank or pipeline section is down, it can
blankets and running at temperatures “Salt levels made no difference in perfor- cost hundreds of thousands of dollars per
ranging from 120 to 138 °C. Four months mance. Whether the steel was contami- day. The ability to turn this around
after performing a cross-cut adhesion nated with salt or the steel was clean, no quickly, to reduce the time spent on the
into the coating, the system showed no performance difference was observed.” blast and the amount of blast media used,
rust. Though Alpert could not comment on and eliminating the intermediate coat of
“Current coating products in the mar- any specific case study, the president of a three-coat system are all advantages
ketplace for CUI provide a very wide tem- the coating company says the system that allow you to get the asset back into
perature range,” the operating company offers unique advantages for the oil and service very rapidly.”
explains. “CUI occurs due to damage to gas industry. The system cures within one hour,

18 JANUARY 2019 WWW.MATERIALSPERFORMANCE.COM

 Information on corrosion control and prevention

allowing for the near immediate applica- “We’re an example of the intercon- 2 ASTM B117-18, “Standard Practice for
tion of a topcoat for aesthetics. “Because nected nature of the oil and gas industry Operating Salt Spray (Fog) Apparatus” (West
EonCoat is porous, over time it will pick worldwide,” Alpert says. “It’s fascinating Conshohocken, PA: ASTM International,
up stains,” Alpert says. “If you use a top- that when a best practice is developed, 2018).
coat, it will prevent that from occurring.” particularly when it’s driven by a new 3 ASTM D5894-16, “Standard Practice for Cy-
In CUI conditions, where surfaces are not technology, these majors so closely follow clic Salt Fog/UV Exposure of Painted Metal
visible, a topcoat is usually not applied what the others do. The moment that it’s (Alternating Exposures in a Fog/Dry Cabinet
since it does not provide functional ben- out there publicly, they’re on it. These and a UV/Condensation Cabinet)” (West
efits for the system. people communicate with one another. Conshohocken, PA: ASTM, 2016).
The system is usually applied with a It’s really fascinating to see how the world
4 NACE No. 3/SSPC-SP 6, “Commercial
two-part spray gun, though smaller nooks can be such a small place.”
Blast Cleaning” (Houston, TX: NACE Inter-
and crannies are often brush applied. “We Source: EonCoat, www.eoncoat.com.
national).
train the applicator, and we’re there with Contact Merrick Alpert, EonCoat—email:
5 K. Riggs Larsen, “Chemically Bonded Phos-
the applicator for the first job,” Alpert [email protected].
phate Ceramics Provide Corrosion Protec-
says. “From there, they go out and do it
tion for Storage Tanks.” MP 55, 6, http://
and don’t need us. Our business is to man- References
www.materialsperformance.com/articles/
ufacture the coating and to ship it, and 1 B. Chaloner-Gill, et al., “Chevron’s Use of
material-selection-design/2016/06/
we send out the technical support to train EonCoat to Prevent Corrosion on Steel,”
chemically-bonded-phosphate-ceramics-
and advise the customer’s applicator, who EUROCORR 2018, Sept. 11, 2018, https://
provide-corrosion-protection-for-storage-
applies the material.” eurocorr2018.org/upload/EuroCorr-2018/
tanks (Nov. 28, 2018).
Based on the anticorrosion properties Chevron’s-Use-of-EonCoat-To-Permanently-
and application benefits, the developer Prevent-Corrosion-On-Steel.pdf (Nov. 28, —Ben DuBose
says momentum for the system should 2018).
only continue to grow.

MIL-STD-889 is changing 1

Are You Ready?

The revised standard will replace static potential tables with
calculated corrosion currents. Corrdesa’s Corrosion Djinn
software meets this requirement easily, accurately and
quickly with data gathered using US Navy protocols.

www.corrdesa.com

1
https://bit.ly/2FS2K0C

MATERIALS PERFORMANCE: VOL. 58, NO. 1 JANUARY 2019 19