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100% SOLID POLYURETHANE

THE NEW TECHNOLOGY FOR CORROSION PROTECTION
(Paper presented by V N Varma at NACE workshop at Haldia – September 2002)

The concept of 100% solid polyurethane is nearly three decades old but in India it has been
recognised only recently. Major oil companies and reputed engineering concerns all over
the world are extensively using it to protect critical installations from corrosion, such as
external surfaces of LPG mounded bullets, rehabilitation of old pipelines, field joints of cross
country pipelines, internal linings of sea water intake systems in power plants, ductile iron
pipes, structures exposed to sea water environment and equipment employed in waste
water treatment plants etc. Today, it is increasingly preferred over other traditional coating
systems because of its outstanding life expectancy, resistance to aggressively corrosive
environment and other overwhelming advantages.

The 100% solid polyurethane is a two component, solvent free, elastomeric, thermo setting
compound, which is carefully engineered to provide a strong barrier between the external
surface of steel and the surrounding environment so as to protect and preserve the integrity
of structures over their designed life span. This is possible because the coating has
exceptional all round properties unmatched by other contemporary coating systems.

OUTSTANDING PROPERTIES PROVIDE OVERWHELMING ADVANTAGES.

• High Build & Fast Setting

PUR is a high build coating, which is applied directly on blasted steel substrate without
any primer. It is a fast setting coating, with a pot life of only 40 seconds. After
application, it becomes touch dry in 5 – 10 minutes at ambient temperatures. The fast
setting property enables deposition of a thick film– upto 2500 micron in a single coat,
without dripping or sagging, even on vertical surfaces. The thick film provides added
protection against impact and abrasion as also superior insulation against electrical
activity as well as against water permeability.

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 The quick cure property of PUR enables holiday test to be carried out within 1 – 2 hours
and mechanical handling / back filling can also start within 6 – 8 hours. This is a great
advantage in speeding up project execution.

Yet another advantage of fast setting property of PUR is the greatly reduced incidence
of holidays caused by sticking of flying objects such as dust, sand and insects. This
phenomenon is a common problem with other conventional coating systems because
they remain wet and sticky for long periods.

• Pinhole Free

On account of high build film thickness, applied to the substrate in a single coat, through
multiple passes, deposited wet on wet with a state of the art, airless hot spray equipment,
the PUR coating completely insulates the steel and makes it virtually free from pinholes.
The absence of pinholes is reflected in the nil or extremely low consumption of current in
the CP system throughout the operational service life of the PUR coated structures &
pipelines. This is really a great economic advantage in the long term when compared to
other conventional systems which consume substantial amount of current all through
their service life.

• Hard and Tough

It is often observed that the conventional protective coatings applied in the factory, are
highly susceptible to damage during transportation of coated structures to construction
sites and associated handlings due to knocking and abrasion encountered on the way.
In case of buried structures & pipelines, subsequent repairs are not only cumbersome but
become weak spots and potential holiday points and a burden on the CP system from
the very beginning.

PUR coating offers an ideal solution, as it gives a ceramic like hard and tough surface
finish with outstanding abrasion and impact resistance, which not only protects the
coated surfaces from getting damaged during transportation, handling or erection /
back filling but also provides solid protection against excessive soil stresses over their
entire service life. Consequently, in PUR protected installations, the CP current
consumption is either ‘nil’ or only in traces, which as stated earlier, is a great economic
advantage when lifetime savings are considered.

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• Flexibility

The surfaces of many steel structures, such as LPG bullets and gas pipelines, undergo
flexing movements or breathing due to thermal expansion / contraction of steel on
account of changes in temperatures and pressures. Most of the conventional coating
systems are very rigid and unable to cope with such stresses and cracks develop in
course of time to expose the bare steel.

PUR has a unique property wherein it combines its hardness and toughness with flexibility.
It can easily withstand the above mentioned phenomenon of flexing and breathing of
steel surfaces and coating does not crack. This unique combination is also very useful
during the construction phase, where structures / pipes may undergo certain amount of
bending & twisting. The PUR coating remains intact despite such stresses.

• Strong Adhesion

The ability of a coating to resist disbondment due to mechanical handling during

transportation & construction phase or resisting the soil stresses during its service life, is
largely dependent upon the strength of its adhesion to the steel substrate. PUR has
exceptionally strong adhesion property. When applied on a blasted steel surface, the
PUR coating virtually fuses with the substrate. In lab tests, it reflects highest values
amongst the contemporary coatings. The excellent adhesion property of PUR coating
therefore, has an important bearing on its longevity.

• Water Vapour Permeability

All coatings, without exception, allow the passage of some water through the film –
depending upon their thickness, natural permeability and integrity of the applied film.
PUR coating, because of its highly cross-linked and dense molecular structure and high
build characteristics, is highly resistant to water vapour permeability. This is yet another
important property which provides a strong barrier against even traces of moisture
reaching the substrate and consequent protection to structures against corrosion.

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• Resistance to Cathodic Disbondment

PUR coating has a very high electrical resistivity, which effectively insulates the steel
surface from the surrounding soil and drastically reduces the current density required for
achieving the protective potential. PUR is fully compatible with cathodic protection
system. Its excellent adhesion property provides a strong resistance to cathodic
disbondment. PUR provides such an excellent ‘holiday free’ protection to coated
surfaces that the current consumption in the CP system is reduced to almost nil or merely
in traces. Accordingly, compared to conventional coating systems, the cost of
secondary protection in case of PUR can be brought down substantially both in terms of
initial design of CP system as well as subsequent consumption of current over its entire
operational life span.

• Weather Resistant

It is often observed that conventional coatings on structures and pipelines, when

exposed to atmospheric conditions, undergo deterioration due to ultra violet radiation. It
is for this reason that most out door installations coated with traditional paints, require
recoating every 3 – 4 years. However, PUR has exceptional resistance to ultra violet
radiation, which prevents degradation due to exposure to weather, even under most
severe climatic conditions. As such, PUR Coatings have a very long life and are as
effective in above ground applications as for underground.

• Chemical Resistance

PUR has exceptional corrosion protective properties due to its resistance to a wide range
of chemicals, acids, bases and salt solutions including seawater exposure. It passes the
6000 hours salt spray test as per ASTM B 117-(73). It is strongly recommended for use in
chemical immersion services, coastal installations or splash zone environment. It is ideal
for protection of pipelines and structures exposed to other corrosive / abrasive
applications such as sewage and effluent treatment plants, apart from marine and
petroleum industries. The table below gives a general list of chemicals and PUR's
resistance to them under different concentrations.

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 Diesel Oil - Passes
Gasoline - Passes
Hydrochloric Acid 10% - 32% Passes with some discolouration
Nitric Acid 10% Passes with some discolouration
25% Limited resistance (1week)
Phosphoric Acid 25 - 70% Passes
Sea water DIN 50907 Passes
Sodium Chloride 20% Passes
Sodium Hydroxide 50% Passes
20% Limited resistance
Sulphuric Acid 3 – 50% Passes
Concentrated Not resistant

Instant Failure Characteristics

PUR Coatings have a unique property, wherein if they are applied on contaminated
substrate, such as moisture or oil, the coating will fail immediately. The failure will be

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 airless hot spray machine – normally skid mounted and can be easily carried to the sites
for insitu applications. The same equipment can be equally effectively used for factory
as well as field applications.

Compared to above, the conventional coating systems are quite cumbersome and time
consuming. Even in the simplest of systems, after the surface preparation, a primer coat
is given (generally -50µ). After atleast 2 hours gap, the first coat is applied (approx. 200µ).
The application of second coat has to wait for atleast 6 hours. After the second coat
(approx. 200µ), another 6 hours gap is required before inspection and holiday test. The
touch dry time of conventional coating is well over 90 minutes – sometime several hours.
Mechanical handling can only be done atleast 24 – 48 hrs later. There are several
systems in use, which are even more time consuming than above.

• 100% Solid Polyurethane is Safe

PUR systems are completely safe and contrary to popular belief; the isocyanate
component used in the formulation is not ‘carcinogenic’. However, direct contact with
skin causes irritation and should be avoided by wearing normal protective gears, such as
fresh air facemask, goggles, hand gloves and overalls. The coating being 100% solid is
free from various solvent-based health hazards and flammability concerns. It also
contains none of the other dangerous ingredients that are common in many other
coating systems such as ‘amines’, ‘styrenes’ or ‘monomeric isocyanates’.

The tar modified PUR, however, does fall in the category of toxic products in as much as
any other coal tar based coating, such as CTE, which is still being widely used in India.

Comparative Study Of Coatings

The Annexure I enclosed shows a comparative analysis of laboratory test results of some of
the performance characteristics of selected contemporary coating systems, currently being
used in India for protection of buried structures and pipelines, LPG mounded bullets,
rehabilitation of old pipelines and other critical installations. As the test data has been
compiled from different sources and studies conducted (mostly abroad) adopting different
test procedures and standards (eg. ASTM, DIN, JIS etc.), it would not provide an exact
comparison. However, the results are quite revealing and indicative of the expected
performance levels of coatings considered for this comparative study.

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The coating considered for the study were:
• Coat Tar Enamel (CTE)
• Solvent Amine Epoxy
• 100% Solid Epoxy
• Fusion Bonded Epoxy
• 3 Layer Polyethylene (3LPE)
• 100% Solid Polyurethane (pure)

The performance tests considered for the comparative evaluation are:

• Impact Resistance
• Adhesion test
• Flexibility
• Elongation at break
• Resistance to water permeability
• Resistance to cathodic disbondment
• Resistance to Chemicals

It would be helpful to also look at the results of another independent laboratory evaluation of
external pipeline coatings, conducted by M/s KEW Coulson and GD Temple of NOVA,
Alberta Corporation, Canada. For the purpose of their study, they had selected undernoted
10 nos. generic type of coatings and subjected them to laboratory tests for various
properties, such as adhesion, chemical resistance, electrical resistance, flexibility, hardness /
abrasion resistance, impact resistance, penetration resistance, resistance to cathodic
disbondment, stability at elevated temperature, soil stressing resistance, water absorption
resistance and weathering resistance. The test methods adopted were mostly standard tests
developed by American Gas Association (AGA), ASTM and NACE. However, for evaluating
certain properties, NOVA modified the test methods for better co-relation with condition it
was supposed to simulate. The table below gives the percentage of times each coating
obtained the required values:

Coating System No. of Tests Performed No. Of Tests passed % Pass Rate
Coal tar Enamel 26 10 38.5%
Coal tar Polyester 19 2 10.5%
Extruded Polyethylene 26 18 69.2%
Fusion Bond Epoxy 26 23 88.5%
Polyethylene Tape (Press Sensitive) 26 5 19.2%
Polyethylene Tape (Butyl backing) 23 4 17.4%
Polyethylene Tape (High heat appln) 20 5 25.0%
PVC Tape 20 3 15.0%
Polyurethane (Pure) 26 21 80.8%
Polyurethane (Tar modified) 26 19 73.1%

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The table above clearly highlights the serious deficiencies in certain generic types of coatings
while supporting the case for changing to superior modern coating systems for long-term
protection of critical installations.

Conclusion

On account of overwhelming advantages of PUR over other contemporary coating systems,

customers all over the world are now switching over to this innovative coating. The
application areas include but not limited to following:

Buried pipelines, tanks, valves & fittings

Rehabilitation of old pipelines
Horizontal Directional Drilling Projects
Field Joints of Cross Country Pipelines
LPG Mounded Bullets
Offshore drilling platforms
Piling pipes of coastal installations
Internal linings of Sea Water Intake Systems
Sewage systems & Waste Water Treatment Plants
Ductile Iron & Cast Iron Pipes & fittings
Structures exposed to corrosive chemicals

In India, PUR has been approved and used by following authorities:

BPCL for 3 nos. LPG mounded bullets (5400 sq.m) at their LPG terminal at LONI near
Ghaziabad, UP. (Executed by Macmet - Dec 2000).
IOCL - Gujarat Refinery - for 5 nos. LPG mounded bullets at their LPG terminal at
DUMAD near Vadodara. (Executed by Macmet Oct 2001).
(Note: OISD has now made it mandatory to use 100% solid polyurethane coating on
all LPG mounded bullet projects being set up at various locations in India).
Enron for field joint coating for their Metgas Pipeline Project (Phase 1, Stage 1)
involving 189 km x 36” dia pipeline from Dhabol LNG facility to Panvel in Maharashtra.
(Project delayed).
IOCL - for field joint coating on Cross Country pipelines factory coated with 3-layer
polyethelene (3LPE) .
IOCL for rehabilitation of 42" dia x 5.6 km twin pipeline at Vadinar, near Jamnagar,
Gujarat.

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 NTPC - for internal lining of 3.2 metre dia x 2.5 km seawater intake pipeline system at
Simhadri Power Project, Vizag (2000)
Nuclear Power Corporation - for intake water screening equipment. (Project under
execution by Macmet 2002)
BPCL – for external coating of 24” dia underground pipeline at Haldia

It is now internationally recognised that the traditional coating systems have failed to provide
long term protection to vital Installations. If lifetime integrity of structures has to be preserved,
the answer lies in the use of 100% solid polyurethane.

References

Ms Kate Hopton, Editor DGS Publishing Ltd., UK - The Curse of Corrosion

Mr Rainer Kuprion, General Manager, Goldschmidt TIB GmbH, Germany – Pipeline
Protection with Polyurethane
Mr Christopher P Dorsey, Sales Manager, U.K., India, Middle and Far East, Goldschmidt
TIB GmbH, Germany - Pipeline Protection
Dr M B Mishra, Chief Engineer (NDTS), PDIL, Noida – Corrosion Prevention in LPG
Mounded Bullets
Mr David Walker, Business Development Manager (Pipeline) & Dr Shiwei Guan,
Madison Chemical Industries Inc., Milton, Ontario, Canada – Protective Linings for
Steel Pipe in Potable Water Service.
Mr KEW Coulson and Mr G Temple, Material Quality Management, NOVA, An Alberta
Corporation Calgary, Canada – An independent Laboratory Evaluation of External
Pipeline Coating.

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