Page 177 - CW E-Magazine (20-5-2025)

Special Report

table 5: comparative characteristics of 5 common types of insulation materials
Insulation Price / R-Value Environmentally Flammable? Notes
Material sq. ft. / in friendly?
Polyurethane $$$ R-6.3 No Yes Makes a great sound
Foam insulator
Mineral Wool $$ R-3.1 Yes No Does not melt
or support
combustion
Cellulose $$ R-3.7 Yes Yes Contains the highest Fig. 9: A major down stream pipeline of an oil &
amount of recycled gas operation coated with alkylated amine epoxy
content coating for achieving trouble free long life
Fiberglass $ R-3.1 Yes No Does not absorb amine epoxy coating can be found with
water a major downstream oil and gas opera-
Polystyrene $ R-4 No Yes Difficult to use tor. The company found that coatings
(EPS) around imperfections that were designed for protecting a vessel
operating at ambient temperatures started
2x7 mils, 2x8 mils, and 2x12 mils DFT shows examples of pipe spools coated to fail after they experienced steam-out
o
o
o
at 120 C, 150 C, and 200 C. It was with alkylated amine epoxy technology. conditions. As a result, the site engineer
observed that no visible defects were was looking for a coating solution that
found in any panel in this case. Another real-world example high- not only performed very well at ambient
lighting the benefits of an alkylated temperatures, but could also withstand
Alkylated amine epoxy coating also the much higher temperatures – up to
reduces the amount of operator skill needed, nearly 204°C – encountered during
potentially cutting down on training times annual maintenance steam-out programs.
and expenses. Another quality improve-
ment outside of resistance to cracking An alkylated amine epoxy was
that alkylated amine epoxy coatings boast selected as it has both excellent ambient
over phenolic epoxy coatings is superior anti-corrosion performance and high
performance at preventing CUI. temperature resistance. A two-coat
scheme of 2 x 4 mils DFT was applied
Case histories highlighting the benefits to carbon steel prepared to an SSPC
of amine-cured epoxy coatings SP10 “Near White Blast Cleaning”
One case history that highlights the standard using an airless spray pump
benefits of using an alkylated amine during a maintenance shut-down. The
epoxy coating involved an offshore struc- Fig. 8: Pipe spools coated with alkylated ability to cure down to -5°C also meant
ture manufacturer. By adopting an alky- amine epoxy technology that the coating dried to a hard film,
lated amine epoxy coating system, they
were able to vastly reduce the complexity
of the coating specifications they were
following for both uninsulated and insu-
lated carbon steel and stainless substrates.

The gains secured by the company
included reduced temperature monitor-
ing requirements that also led to reduced
heating costs, reduced stock-keeping, and
tracking of various coating base materials
and curing agents. The use of an alkylated
amine epoxy coating system also stream-
lined repair procedures when repairs Fig. 10: carbon steel boiler plant coated with alkylated epoxy coating for thermal insulation &
were required. Figure-8 and Figure-9 prevention of cuI

Chemical Weekly May 20, 2025 177

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