Understanding the Different Types of Industrial Coatings

Understanding the Different Types of Industrial Coatings

Pipeline
Carrie Powers
Carrie Powers
July 9, 2023
4 min
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Industrial coatings (paints) provide a long-term, cost-effective solution to protecting your equipment's reliability, which is vital to maintaining a facility's performance and profitability. In addition, applying a high-quality industrial coating system, like POLYGUARD RD-6® COATING SYSTEM will increase the service life of your equipment and infrastructure, preventing severe damage and expensive shutdowns.

Uncoated metal or concrete surfaces cannot withstand corrosion, abrasive wear, chemical exposure, erosion, high pressure and velocity, and heavy impact abrasion from large solids, which can significantly damage and/or reduce the lifespan of equipment and infrastructure. An industrial-coated surface will consistently outperform an untreated surface.

What Are Industrial Coatings?

The design of industrial coating includes a resin, hardener, and reinforcement that creates durable protective properties with superior chemical resistance.

Applying a chemically engineered industrial coating to a substrate, like steel, concrete, pipelines, storage tanks, etc., protects against workplace abrasion, fire, and harsh environmental conditions that can lead to corrosion.

Lining the inside of water reservoirs and tanks with industrial coating products, for example, will protect against corrosion and create a safe environment for potable water. In the case of water standpipes and reservoirs, the industrial coating will also enhance the aesthetics of the base layer. Industrial coatings play an essential role in helping storage tanks, piping, penstock, and other industrial applications stand the test of time.

It is critical to use a high-quality industrial coating system to ensure a reliable, long-term solution in order to protect your expensive investment.

What to Look for in High-Quality Industrial Coating Systems

High-performing industrial coating systems should create an impermeable barrier that resists penetrations of vapors, gasses, or fluids. The added strength of a high-quality industrial coating will minimize wear and tear and prevent excessive damage due to long-term environmental exposure; therefore, avoiding costly repairs and parts and extending the life of vital equipment and structures.

High-quality coatings contain no harmful volatile organic compounds (VOCs) and odors. Industrial coating systems often involve three vital steps: primer, full coating, and sealant.

Why Choose Polyguard High-Quality Industrial Coating Products?

Polyguard has numerous industrial coating products to protect your costly equipment and structures from corrosion, abrasive wear, chemical exposure, erosion, high pressure and velocity, and heavy impact abrasion from large solids. The POLYGUARD RD-6® COATING SYSTEM protects the equipment's and structure's integrity, preventing expensive repairs and shutdowns.

POLYGUARD RD-6® COATING SYSTEM

You can use the non-shielding, anti-corrosion POLYGUARD RD-6® COATING SYSTEM on buried and submerged line pipe, rehabilitation, and new construction girth welds. You can also use RD-6® above ground; however, this requires a coating to protect against harmful ultraviolet (UV) rays, like the RD-6 UVO.

Polyguard makes the Polyguard’s RD-6® Coating System with POLYGUARD RD-6® COATING, POLYGUARD 600 liquid adhesive, a geotextile-backed protective pipeline coating for corrosion protection, and the POLYGUARD SP-6™ OUTERWRAP.

POLYGUARD RD-6® COATING

Used since 1988, peel and stick POLYGUARD RD-6® COATING, easily applies with a Polyguard approved machine, like the Polyguard Wrapster, to ensure consistent and adequate tension during the application. The design of the Wrapster contains two spindles; one creates tension while applying the RD-6® to the pipe, while the other spools the release liner during application. You can only install rolled RD-6® coatings on pipelines with operating temperatures no higher than 145° F (63°C); however, we offer RD-6® HT for pipelines operating up to 190° F (88° C).

For RD-6® spots prone to bridging and tenting, we recommend POLYGUARD 606 FILLER COMPOUND, a cold-applied, fabric-reinforced protective coating. The polymer-modified compound contains a continuous filament thermoplastic fiber for reinforcement to add tensile strength and resist tearing. The flexible design of 606 FILLER COMPOUND allows it to fill irregular surfaces primed with 600 or 601 LIQUID ADHESIVE.

Advantages of RD-6®:

  • The woven geotextile polypropylene backing utilizes compressions and tension during the application process, ensuring the coating’s long-term performance.

  • Non-shielding against cathodic protection currents, it is less likely to fail if the metal substrates and cathodic coating lose adherence (disbonded) along the pipeline.

  • The high adhesion makes it resistant to soil stress, a significant cause of coating disbondment.

  • It provides superior water vapor transmission resistance.

  • It’s visco-elastic properties accommodate the substrate’s normal expansion and contraction.

  • Quick to apply, with no cure time, it allows for immediate backfill.

  • It provides uniform factory-controlled thickness, not typically found with field-applied liquid coatings.

  • RD-6®’s woven construction of the geotextile backing allows contact throughout the overlaps to create stronger adhesion to critical areas of the coating


POLYGUARD 600 LIQUID ADHESIVE

POLYGUARD 600 LIQUID ADHESIVE consists of a polymer base in a solvent. Using a roller or brush, It applies easily to a clean, dry pipe service. The fast-drying primer works in conjunction with Polyguard pipeline coatings and tapes. For VOC-free applications, we offer the 601 ZERO VOC LIQUID ADHESIVE.

POLYGUARD SP-6™ OUTERWRAP

We strongly recommend applying POLYGUARD SP-6™ OUTERWRAP over the RD-6® COATING for pipe diameters greater than 4-inches. It consists of a strong, non-woven, felt-like polypropylene fabric. The outerwrap provides an inexpensive, non-shielding layer with high-tensile and low-elongation properties, to further reduce damage caused by soil stress.

The Importance of High-Quality Industrial Coatings

Such as the POLYGUARD RD-6® COATING SYSTEM

The high-performing POLYGUARD RD-6® COATING SYSTEM provides a long-term, cost-effective solution to protecting your equipment's reliability, which is critical to maintaining your facility's performance and profitability. Applying Polyguard coating products will increase the service life of your equipment and infrastructure to prevent severe damage and costly shutdowns.

Polyguard professionals can help you understand the different types of industrial coatings and why choosing Polyguard's high-quality industrial coating system will provide the best protection of your costly equipment and structure. Contact Polyguard professionals today to receive the best quote on coating products.

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