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Large tank floor with hundreds of metal support beams bolted to floor

Coating the Uncoatable: How to Solve Seemingly Impossible Coating Challenges

By advmarketing on January 24, 2023

Coating projects range from the small and simple to the large and seemingly impossible. Don’t give up on a complex project requiring customized coating solutions. Start by asking the right questions and knowing how consultations with experts in specialty coatings can give you the foundation for moving forward. 

How do I know which coating system to use?

Many service conditions don’t fall neatly into one category of coating solution.  The most challenging applications often have a combination of requirements for the final solution.  Leaching lines in a mine require both high chemical resistance and abrasion resistance, and the hot side of a condenser waterbox requires both permeation resistance and resistance to elevated temperatures.

For these types of challenges, the chemistry of the coating as well as the interaction between the coating and the chemicals it will contain must be understood and analyzed by experienced professionals. For a longer service life and maintenance-free options, a comprehensive analysis and expert recommendation is step one. In the muddied waters of multi-faceted challenges, expert consultations make the right solution clear.

What should I know before starting a coating project?

We recommend taking advantage of a coating expert.  Choosing the wrong coating could lead to high maintenance costs, short service life, and ultimately another repair or replacement. In addition to choosing the wrong coating type, improper surface preparation or installation can lead to many failures, including solvent entrapment, pinholes, and blisters. Using experienced contractors and proper third-party QC inspectors who understand the installation of industrial coatings will reduce the risk of these mishaps.

Large tank floor with hundreds of metal support beams bolted to floor

Case In Point: Internal Chemical-Resistant Coating for Environmentally Friendly Fuel

Seeing how the challenges of other complex coating situations were overcome can give you the background for understanding your circumstance and its unique demands. In this case, a major regional energy provider contacted us because they were looking to transition their fuel oil storage tanks to a more environmentally friendly fuel source.

Orange coating on bottom of clean tank floor.
Team working on solving coating challenge for underground tank

What made this case complicated?

Environmentally friendly fuel sources, like biodiesel, are significantly more corrosive than hydrocarbon-based fuels. The synthesis of biodiesel leaves trace amount of methanol and ethanol and employs a catalyst to alter the pH of the solution.  Excess alcohols and trace amounts of acidic or caustic catalysts make biodiesel corrosive to steel, unlike typical hydrocarbons.  It can also oxidize to create organic acids like acetic acid. To properly prepare the storage tanks for the new corrosive product, the storage tanks needed to be coated with an immersion-grade, chemical-resistant coating system on the floor, 2” up the angled supports on the floor, and 24” up the side walls.

The tanks also needed to be cleaned of all oil residue, which was extremely high in viscosity, prior to coating. Bringing the storage tanks to the level of cleanliness that was needed for the transition to a more environmentally friendly fuel was an enormous and time-consuming process. The client had already undergone several attempts to clean the tank over the course of many months but was unsuccessful at achieving the desired cleanliness.

To add an extra challenge, the storage tank was larger than a football field and had hundreds of internal supports!

What did Advanced FRP recommend to solve this problem?

First, we used on-site testing and verification to better understand the challenge at hand. Using the results from the test and analysis, we recommended solvent-washing the areas of the tank with the heaviest oil residue followed by grit blasting. Since the oil couldn’t be completely removed prior to blasting, our team recommended using an oil-tolerant epoxy primer that would achieve proper adhesion to the substrate while being more forgiving to the tank’s cleanliness. The primer was applied before using an immersion-grade, chemical-resistant coating. The primer provides the required levels of adhesion despite any residual oil contaminating the surface.

Our team also used stripe-coating to ensure coverage of difficult areas, especially for the complicated geometries formed by the angles and supports in the storage tank.

In the end, were the challenges of this case overcome?

Despite many experienced coating professionals assuring us that we wouldn’t be able to perform, the client achieved  >2,000 psi adhesion despite oil contaminating the surface by following our recommendation.

The client achieved the maintenance-free, 20-year service life, internal chemical-resistant coating (despite being told it was virtually impossible) they wanted while also reducing cleaning and prep time.

Need a Coating Consultation? Contact us.

If you’re faced with a complex coating situation, contact us and we’ll find the right coating solution for you.

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