MP Hempel 1 White Paper PDF

Corrosion under insulation in the thermal

power generation industry

How can learnings from the oil & gas industry help eliminate costly
corrosion under insulation?

Corrosion under insulation (CUI) costs the thermal power generation industry
millions each year in downtime and repairs - and the problem is getting worse.

With the rise of renewable power, some fossil-fuelled power plants are increasingly
run intermittently, as much needed capacity for when renewable energy is not
enough. This repeated intermittent use leads to heating and cooling of equipment,
which means the plants more often pass through the 60-150°C (175°F) temperature
range, the danger area for corrosion under insulation.

The traditional coatings used in the thermal power generation industry are not
designed to cope with these conditions. But the oil & gas industry has long had to
deal with similar conditions. If coatings proven in oil & gas applications were more
widely used in the thermal power generation industry, it would allow the industry to
more proactively address the issue of CUI.

What is CUI?
CUI occurs when moisture becomes
trapped underneath insulation around
pipework, ductwork, valves and other
insulated equipment in the plant. This
can be external water, which seeps
through leaking and poorly maintained
joins in the outer cladding, or
condensation formed when the plant is
heated and cooled. As it is beneath the
insulation, the water does not have the
opportunity to evaporate and so settles
on the metal surfaces in the space between the insulation and the equipment
substrate, subsequently leading to corrosion.

CUI caused by condensation is an increasing problem, as fossil-fuel-powered plants
are spending more time cycling through the CUI temperature zone.

Why are traditional coatings not the answer?
Traditionally, the thermal power generation industry has used zinc silicates, often
overcoated with zinc aluminium, on pipework, ductwork, valves and other insulated
equipment. While these coatings perform very well at extremely high temperatures,
they are not designed to handle a wide temperature range. In addition, when zinc
silicates without topcoats or with topcoats that have degraded are exposed to
repeated cycling in warm wet areas, the zinc is consumed extremely rapidly and
corrosion quickly occurs.

Previously, this has not been a problem as most plants have operated almost
constantly, meaning constant high temperatures and little or no condensation. But, in
the new energy climate, with the intermittent operation required by practices such as
peak shaving, these coatings are no longer the ideal choice.

Currently, whilst there are many standards and guidance documents around
combatting CUI, there are no international standards for testing a coating’s ability to
operate in CUI conditions. As a result, many ‘ad-hoc’ test programmes have been
devised, but often designed with the oil & gas and process industries specifically in
mind, not necessarily thermal power. A standard is being developed – with a number
of companies involved, including international coatings manufacturer Hempel – but
there is already a solution at hand.

What we can learn from the oil & gas industry
The simple solution to CUI is to overcoat the zinc with other coatings to prevent it
from coming into contact with the warm wet environment. However, this approach
has limitations. The topcoat used must be able to resist the temperatures concerned,
provide good barrier properties in all temperature ranges where moisture is present
and must, of course, be thoroughly compatible with the zinc silicate.

A better solution is to use inert multi-polymeric matrix type materials, such as
Hempel’s Versiline CUI 56990, which has been proven on multiple projects around

the globe. These coatings contain a silicone backbone, they are applied in thicker
films and have better barrier properties than thin-film aluminium silicones, which offer
limited corrosion protection. As a result, they provide far better CUI resistance during
the time that the plant is in the CUI temperature zone.

Inert multi-polymeric matrixes have other advantages. They have a high temperature
resistance, beyond the 400°C of zinc silicates. They are also faster drying than
silicone aluminium coatings, and so can reduce downtime during maintenance and
increase productivity when applied from new.

The final advantage with inert multi-polymeric matrix type materials is simplicity. They
were initially developed for the oil & gas industry, because oil & gas applications
involve a very wide temperature range. Inert multi-polymeric matrixes can be
specified for a number of temperature and performance categories, making them
ideal for bulk items such as pipework and valves.

By introducing these coatings, the thermal power generation industry has a ready-
made solution for the CUI challenge – one of the biggest causes of lost uptime and
extra maintenance in the industry today.

Read more from Hempel at versilinecui.hempel.com

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Corrosion under insulation in the thermal

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