Protective and Marine Coatings

A two-pack epoxy primer heavily pigmented with zinc dust, giving galvanic protection to the steel at coating defects and barrier protection across the film. The epoxy binder is more tolerant of variable application conditions and of long or short overcoating intervals than a silicate binder, which makes it the usual choice for fabrication shops and site work on bridges, transmission structures, process steelwork and tank exteriors. It is the base coat for three-coat and multi-coat systems written for ISO 12944 corrosivity categories C4 and C5 at high or very high durability.

Substrates Abrasive blast cleaned carbon steel to Sa 2½ or better with an angular profile to ISO 8503. Not applied over hand or power tool cleaned steel, over hot-dip galvanising or over non-ferrous metal, where a surface-tolerant epoxy or a primer formulated for zinc is used instead.
Process Airless spray at a 45:1 or higher pump ratio with a 0.017 to 0.021 in tip, and brush for stripe coats on edges, welds and bolt heads. Continuous agitation is required to keep the zinc in suspension. Overcoat after the stated minimum interval once the film is through-dry, and wash zinc corrosion products off weathered films before overcoating.

A solvent-borne ethyl silicate primer that cures by reaction with atmospheric moisture to form a hard, inorganic zinc-bearing matrix. It carries higher heat resistance and higher solvent resistance than the organic grade, and is specified under systems for CX exposure, as a holding primer for fabrication, and beneath high-temperature finishes where an organic primer would degrade. Cure depends on ambient humidity, and film thickness control is critical because over-application causes mud-cracking and delamination.

Substrates Abrasive blast cleaned carbon steel to Sa 2½ or Sa 3 with a measured profile. It requires a clean, dry, salt-free surface and is not suitable over hand-prepared steel or over aged coatings.
Process Airless spray with continuous agitation, applied in a single pass to the specified thickness rather than built up wet on wet. Cure needs atmospheric moisture, so relative humidity is held at or above roughly 50 % during cure and the film is checked by solvent rub to ASTM D4752 before overcoating. A mist coat or a tie coat is used to prevent bubbling when a high-build epoxy is applied over a porous zinc silicate film.

An aluminium and micaceous iron oxide pigmented two-pack epoxy that wets and adheres to hand-prepared, power tool cleaned and marginally prepared steel, and to sound aged coatings. It is the maintenance and drydock product, used where blast cleaning is not available and where the alternative would be a zinc-rich system applied at reduced quality. The lamellar pigmentation lengthens the diffusion path through the film and improves resistance to moisture. It screens the binder and slows chalking between coats, but no epoxy is ultraviolet stable, so a polyurethane or polysiloxane finish is applied where appearance is part of the specification.

Substrates Carbon steel prepared to St 2 or St 3 to ISO 8501-1, blast cleaned steel, hot-dip galvanising after degreasing and sweep blasting or abrading with zinc salts removed, thermally sprayed metal, and sound aged epoxy or alkyd coatings after adhesion and compatibility testing on the actual surface.
Process Airless spray, brush or roller, applied in one or two coats with stripe coats to edges, welds, rivets and back-to-back angles. Induction time after mixing is observed before spraying, and a reduced overcoating window applies at low temperature where cure slows.

A high-solids epoxy reinforced with chemically resistant glass flake, applied at high film build in one or two coats. The aligned flakes reduce permeability and restrict film shrinkage, which suits splash zone steelwork, jetty legs, buried pipe, valves and the ISO 12944 immersion categories Im1 to Im4. It is also used as a heavy build repair and rebuild coat where abrasion and impact would damage a conventional epoxy.

Substrates Abrasive blast cleaned carbon steel to Sa 2½ or Sa 3 with a coarse profile, over a zinc-rich or surface-tolerant primer or applied directly to blast-cleaned steel in immersion duty. It is also used as a build coat over thermally sprayed aluminium, applied after the sprayed layer has been sealed with a thinned, low-viscosity sealer, because a flake-loaded film is too viscous to penetrate the porosity of sprayed metal and would bridge it instead.
Process Airless spray at high pump ratio with a wide tip and a short, large-bore hose, because glass flake raises the applied viscosity. Brush application is limited to stripe coats. Wet film thickness is checked during application, and the specified dry film thickness is confirmed to ISO 2808 before the next coat.

An amine-cured, solvent-free epoxy lining for the internal surfaces of fuel and water storage tanks, applied in two coats to a high total build with no solvent retention in the film. Typical service is diesel, gas oil, jet fuel, crude oil, produced water and industrial water storage. A lining for potable water is a separate matter: drinking water contact is a regulated approval held for a specific product under the regime that applies at the point of use, and that status is confirmed against the enquiry rather than assumed from the chemistry.

Substrates Abrasive blast cleaned carbon steel to Sa 2½ or Sa 3 with a profile to ISO 8503 and soluble salts within the limit set for immersion service. Welds are dressed and sharp edges radiused before priming, because the lining will not hold thickness over an unprepared edge.
Process Plural component or single-leg airless spray at controlled material temperature, with stripe coats to welds, nozzles and internal corners. Each coat is applied within the maximum overcoating interval, and continuity is proved by holiday detection to ASTM D5162 and adhesion by pull-off to ISO 4624 before the tank is returned to service.

A solvent-free epoxy phenol novolac lining with a higher crosslink density than a standard epoxy, giving resistance to solvents, oxygenated fuels, acids and hot produced water, and a higher wet service temperature. It is specified for chemical storage, process vessels, secondary containment and hot immersion duty where a bisphenol A epoxy would soften or blister. Selection is made against the actual medium and concentration, the service temperature and any thermal gradient through the wall, because a hot wall with a cooler exterior drives blistering that the medium alone would not cause.

Substrates Abrasive blast cleaned carbon steel to Sa 2½ or Sa 3, and concrete bunds and floors after mechanical preparation and moisture testing. Where the medium is oxidising or strongly acidic beyond the novolac window, a reinforced vinyl ester system is specified instead.
Process Plural component spray for large areas, roller and brush for detail and repair, applied in two coats with the reinforcement mat laid in where the specification calls for it. Post-cure at elevated temperature is applied where the service temperature requires it, and immersion service is not commissioned before full cure is confirmed.

A light-coloured, pure epoxy anti-corrosive for water ballast tanks, void spaces and the underwater hull, applied in two coats with stripe coats to edges, welds and fabrication details. The light shade is there so that inspection can find breakdown early in a confined space. Where a specification calls for compliance with the IMO Performance Standard for Protective Coatings, that is a regime covering preparation grade, soluble salt limit, nominal thickness, stripe coating and inspection, and it requires a type approval or statement of compliance issued by a recognised body for the individual product, which is confirmed at enquiry rather than claimed here.

Substrates Abrasive blast cleaned steel to Sa 2½ for newbuild, and mechanically prepared steel with sound aged coating for drydock repair where the surface-tolerant grade is used instead. Shop primed plate is overcoated after assessment of the primer condition and any welding and burning damage.
Process Airless spray with brush-applied stripe coats before and after each spray coat. Steel temperature is held at least 3 °C above dew point during application and cure, and dry film thickness is verified to ISO 19840 for the blast-cleaned steel surface. Under an antifouling or foul-release topcoat the hull scheme takes the tie coat specified for that topcoat.

A finish range for the above-water areas, supplied either as an acrylic polyurethane or a polysiloxane topside and superstructure finish with gloss and colour retention, or as an abrasion-resistant deck grade that accepts anti-slip aggregate for working decks, gangways and cargo areas. The boot top sits between these duties and takes alternating immersion, wash and impact from berthing and ice, so it is coated with the abrasion-resistant grade over the anti-corrosive scheme. Antifouling is a separate, biocidal product category whose supply depends on registration of the actives at the point of sale, and it is not covered by this grade.

Substrates Over Arcshield EP or MR anti-corrosive coats on carbon steel, over aluminium superstructure with the appropriate etch or epoxy primer, and over sound aged polyurethane finishes after preparation and adhesion testing.
Process Airless or conventional spray for finish quality, roller for decks and for aggregate broadcast work. Application is closed out inside the recoat window of the coat beneath, and colour-critical work is applied in a single continuous operation across a visible area to avoid banding.

A thin-film intumescent basecoat, in solvent-borne or water-borne acrylic chemistry, for columns, beams and bracing exposed to a cellulosic fire, used with a compatible primer beneath and a sealer topcoat above for colour and for exposure durability. Applied thickness is not calculated from first principles: it is read from loading tables generated by third-party furnace testing of the specific product and indexed to the section factor of the member, the critical steel temperature and the required period of fire resistance. A period of fire resistance is certified for a tested system on a tested section, and it is not a property of a product on its own.

Substrates Blast cleaned or shop primed structural steel sections, over a compatible anti-corrosive primer. Internal dry, semi-exposed and exposed positions each require the sealer and system specified for that exposure, and cellular beams, hollow sections and connections are treated according to the assessment that accompanies the test evidence.
Process Airless spray in multiple passes with intermediate drying, brush and roller for touch-up and detail. Wet film thickness is logged pass by pass and the dry film thickness is verified against the loading table for each member, with records kept per section, because the thickness record is the evidence for the rated period.

A two-pack epoxy intumescent for structural steel, vessel skirts, pipe racks and blast-exposed structure where the hazard is a hydrocarbon pool fire or a jet fire rather than a cellulosic fire. It builds far thicker than the acrylic grade, is normally reinforced with carbon or glass mesh at the thicknesses used for jet fire, and holds its char under the erosive force of a jet flame. Thickness comes from the loading tables of the tested system, and the applicable fire test regime, hydrocarbon pool fire or jet fire, is stated in the specification because the two give different loadings.

Substrates Abrasive blast cleaned structural steel over a compatible epoxy or zinc-rich primer, with mesh reinforcement and fixings installed to the tested detail. Offshore, exposed and weathering positions take a durability topcoat over the intumescent. It is a topsides and exposed-structure product and is not specified for splash zone or immersed steel.
Process Plural component or heated single-leg airless spray, with trowel application for detail and repair. Mesh is embedded between passes to the tested arrangement, thickness is recorded per member against the loading table, and the system is inspected and documented as a whole rather than coat by coat.

A single-pack silicone or silicone acrylic coating pigmented with aluminium or heat-stable pigment, for exhaust stacks, flare lines, steam and process pipework, boiler casings and other hot, dry, uninsulated steel. The film air dries to a handleable state and develops its final hardness and heat resistance on first heating in service, so the cure schedule is part of the specification. It is suited to steel that runs hot and stays dry, and it is not suited to insulated lines or to wet cyclic exposure.

Substrates Abrasive blast cleaned carbon steel and stainless steel, and over an inorganic zinc silicate primer where the system requires one. It is not applied over organic anti-corrosive primers that will degrade at the service temperature.
Process Airless or conventional spray at low film build, because thick films of silicone crack on heating. Two thin coats to the specified total thickness, air dry, then cure by ramping the asset to service temperature according to the stated schedule. Colour range is limited by the pigment stability at temperature.

An inert multipolymeric matrix coating for insulated and cyclic hot service, where corrosion under insulation is the actual failure mechanism. Water held against the wall by wet insulation during shutdowns, intermittent operation and cycling through the dew point attacks steel that a dry-service silicone would never be asked to resist, so this grade is formulated for wet and dry cycling across a wide temperature range rather than for steady dry heat. It can be applied to steel that is already in service and hot, which removes the shutdown that a conventional coating would require, and it is used on insulated pipework, vessels, reactor skirts and sub-zero to hot transitions within the stated service range.

Substrates Abrasive blast cleaned carbon steel and austenitic stainless steel, including stainless under insulation where chloride stress corrosion cracking is the concern. Applied over blast-cleaned steel with no separate primer in most schemes, and over prepared aged coating only after adhesion testing.
Process Airless spray in one or two coats, brush and roller for detail, applied to cold or hot steel within the stated application temperature range. Thickness is verified to ISO 2808 and holiday detection is used where the specification calls for it. Qualification for this duty is assessed against the CUI classes in ISO 19277.