An Australian Prime Minister once said that life wasn’t meant to be easy. When it comes to providing protection for complex equipment in offshore and other challenging environments, it’s hard not to agree.

Manufacturers may protect their equipment and fastenings with the best available coatings but, once you get them offshore, galvanic corrosion and damage during transit or assembly makes bolts and components vulnerable to corrosion that is evident wherever you look. Flanges on valves and pipework are particularly vulnerable, with bolts becoming sacrificial anodes in a cycle of cathodic destruction.

[Pic 1 – Bolts are the first to corrode]

Once corrosion has taken hold, what is an operator to do? Sometimes the problem is ignored, and exfoliating balloons of corrosion become a poisonous legacy for the next generation of maintenance engineers. More responsible operators use a variety of means, including painting, flange protectors, bolt caps, wax injection and tape wraps, with only tape-wrapping providing the potential for any kind of comprehensive solution. However, tape wrap is laborious to apply, and can have problems with removal and disposal of hazardous components as well difficulties in assessing the substrate condition under ageing applications.

With other solutions failing more often than they succeed, an engineer’s only realistic option has often been bolt replacement and, while this can usually be accomplished on an active system, it takes a long time, is extremely expensive and may not be possible without a shut-down.

NEW SOLUTIONS

[Pic 2 – An Enviropeel application in the North Sea]

In recent years, an innovative new solution has been developed. Rather than dealing with a series of individual problems, it approaches each joint or system as a whole, with protection that can be successfully applied - even where corrosion is already present. The Enviropeel system, as it is known, uses a sprayable thermoplastic to apply a resilient encapsulating barrier, but the secret of its success lies in the built-in corrosion inhibitors that are released everywhere within the encapsulation and which continue to be released for the lifetime of the coating. In this way the coating not only provides a reactive solution that immediately protects the substrate from corrosion but it also provides a long-term, proactive and cost-effective solution, making it impossible for any further corrosion to take place.

The Enviropeel material is a solid at normal ambient temperatures, only becoming a liquid when heated in the specially-designed application unit to be sprayed on to the substrate. On the substrate the material flows into every contour, filling every cavity and cooling immediately to form a perfectly-fitting second skin. The material is simple to remove - even after several years it can be cut and peeled away - but a real bonus for Enviropeel users is that all waste and removed material can be used again, with no contamination or residue to clean from the substrate.

[Pic 3 – This carbon-steel gear shaft was coated with Enviropeel and left outside for more than three years in a north-western Australian coastal environment. The perfect fit of the material to the splines, the visible gleam from the inhibitor and the condition of the substrate tells its own story]

RANGE OF APPLICATIONS

Such a comprehensive system of protection has advantages in a wide variety of applications. Offshore, in the North Sea, its ability to protect against the effects of severe exposure to salt and water on complex steel substrates has proved its worth over a number of years, but Enviropeel’s flexibility of approach also makes it invaluable in other areas.

MOTHBALLING

Machinery can be idle from intermittent use, standby, storage for spare parts or for temporary decommissioning. Making sure it remains fit for use is an essential part of the planning procedure. Depending on the complexity of the equipment, this can involve a number of individual procedures. In many cases, however, Enviropeel can provide a complete solution by partially or totally encapsulating vulnerable areas, preventing any deterioration.

STANDBY EQUIPMENT

A ‘criticality index’ is often applied to key equipment in any process. This can define monitoring standards and the need for replacement equipment in case of breakdown.

Failure to provide standby pumps, for example, has been the subject of large fines when pollution has been caused by pump maintenance or breakdown. And costs from stalled production, because of the failure of critical components, may be substantial.

Its ability to provide cost-effective long-term protection for standby assets is an important part of Enviropeel’s role in the provision of high quality active asset protection.

PROTECTIVE STORAGE

In Australia, failure rates for equipment stored for installation on mining conveyors was over 40% prior to the use of Enviropeel. After the use of Enviropeel began, the failure rate dropped to zero! On the same equipment, once installed, replacement rates were as high as every nine months. Following the introduction of Enviropeel, more than four years have passed without a single failure.

[Pic 4 – The main roller in the background and the bearing housing in the foreground were refurbished at the same time. The roller is showing the effects of its environment but within the Enviropeel, the bearing housing is in perfect condition]

Enviropeel works in two ways. First, because it is a sprayable thermoplastic coating, it provides a perfectly fitting, one-piece, encapsulating barrier coating on any shape or size of substrate, preventing ingress of moisture or contaminating agents. Secondly, built-in inhibiting oils that are constantly released on to the inner surfaces of the encapsulation provide constant corrosion protection.

Easy to strip off, non-toxic, reusable and recyclable, Enviropeel is the ultimate environmentally-friendly way to ensure the protection of all your vulnerable assets.

[Pic 5 is for use as the heading background]