Don't take all epoxies for granted!

There are many things we buy where ingredients make a world of difference. Nutritional supplements for example: the labels may have the same mg's, but there can be a vast difference in the basic ingredients (whether natural or synthetic), potency, purity, bio-availability (absorption rates) to mention a few.

Mattresses are another virtually unknown product. Purchase preference is usually based on advertising claims and price. How about jewelry? Do you know how to determine the quality of one diamond from another, or one sapphire from another?

Which Epoxy is right for you?
With so many to choose from, which one is best?

Epoxies are a similar breed--an 'unknown' quantity that mystifies many of us. Just like vitamins, mattresses and jewelry, all epoxies are not the same. Why do some sell for $30 a gallon, others for $130? "It's what goes into an epoxy that makes a difference in performance and price. This report will give you a better understanding of how and why epoxies differ."

Understanding Epoxies...
How many epoxies are cheapened.

Other than fusion-bonded epoxy (FBE) most epoxies used as a protective coating are two-part, liquid epoxies consisting of a base resin and a curing agent. Some are cold applied. Others require heat.

To make their epoxies less expensive many epoxy manufacturers load the base resins with a solvent or dilutant. That's like adding water to whiskey. While it drives down the cost, it adds nothing of value.

For example, if an epoxy is 60% solids and sells for only $60 a gallon, the real price for the epoxy is $100 a gallon. That's because in a 60% solids formulation, 40% is made up of solvents. You should always compare prices as if the epoxy were 100% solids and 100% epoxy.

An epoxy that has a large percentage of inexpensive solvent presents problems from the start. The solvent has to work it's way out of the coating. In doing so, it may affect the properties of the '60%' epoxy. And if some of the solvent is trapped, the life of the coating is in jeopardy. Adhesion, abrasion and impact resistance can all be affected. Thus it can fail in a relatively short period of time.

The price of an epoxy is not a cost,
it's an investment in proven performance.

That's why you want your epoxy to be 100% or as close to 100% as possible (such as Kwik-Set® at 100% or Corroless EP at 97%). When you pay the higher price for a Corroless epoxy, you're paying for just that: the epoxy--not for a large amount of inexpensive solvent or polyurethane additive.

Cheap extenders also drive down cost.

Cost is further reduced by adding extenders or fillers, such as calcium carbonate (chalk). These cheap extenders give the epoxy more body but have no meaningful properties and may even do harm to the effectiveness or performance of an epoxy.

Corroless adds 'active ingredients' to its' epoxies, to enhance their properties and increase their performance and effectiveness for pipeline companies.

On the other hand, Corroless uses several special, expensive ingredients. They are forgiving, don't sweat and make for very predictable thin film set time.

Good epoxies with a high percentage of solids such as Kwik-Set® or Corroless EP, have natural properties that are excellent for typical pipeline use: good adhesion, no moisture permeation, good resistance to chemicals and abrasion, withstand impact and will not shield cathodic protection.

But a "good" epoxy can be made even better for pipeline use. How?
By adding ingredients that enhance its natural properties.
Thus, under known conditions, it will perform better
with the added ingredients than without.

Additives that let Corroless-USA's epoxies bond to wet pipe!

What are these conditions? Situations such as "Sweaty Pipe". The reason Corroless EP and Kwik-Set Epoxies are able to displace water or extreme dampness from a pipe surface is that these epoxies are formulated with a special substance, a resinous material known as a "couplant" that actually seeks out the steel substrate beneath the moisture, displaces the moisture and lets the epoxy bond securely to the substrate. Exactly what the resinous material is, is not disclosed as it is considered "intellectual property."

Extra ingredients that address pipeline needs.

Other pipeline concerns are protection against corrosion, soil stress; conditions that are weather related, such as rain before application, during application or immediately thereafter; sweating due to a difference in temperature of the pipe contents and the outside; inadequate surface preparation; contaminants found in the soil or atmospheric contaminants, etc. All of these states will affect the performance--and the life of the coating used.

"Understanding the environment that Corroless coatings will encounter, goes a long way in determining what our formulation has to achieve!"

Earlier, we mentioned adding ingredients. We use additives in the Corroless EP and Kwik-Set® epoxy formulations solely to enhance the performance characteristics of the epoxy, not just give it more body or reduce cost. These additives aren't cheap, but for the extra anti-corrosion protection they provide, they are well worth it.

The EP formulation includes two very significant additions.
The first and most important is our glass flake technology.

1. Borosilicate Glass Flake Technology.

Many epoxy manufacturers add glass flakes to their epoxy just to give it more body. These flakes are randomly distributed throughout the epoxy and can be detrimental to its performance. How? By inviting "wicking" which eventually directs any moisture that penetrates the epoxy down to the substrate for corrosion to start.

But Corroless EP doesn't use glass flakes to give it more body. Our glass flakes serve a different and uniquely beneficial purpose. They are a special kind of glass called "borosilicate." These borosilicate flakes are microscopic, heat-hardened and there are millions of them in each Corroless EP 5-liter kit.

Magnified coating sections showing randomly
distributed flakes, left, and continuous layer
of treated glass, right.

Through a special technology developed by Corroless, the glass flakes don't
distribute themselves on a random basis. Instead, the glass flakes rise to the
surface of the coating as it cures, inter-leafing themselves (like millions of
shingles on a roof) and laminate into tightly controlled, dense layers.

Adds protection to the top and bottom of our epoxy coating.

More information on Glass Flake Technology can be found in
"The Corrosion Engineers' Guide to Choosing Effective Epoxy Coatings."

For more detailed information:
Click here to request
"The Corrosion Engineers' Guide to Choosing Effective Epoxy Coatings."
...it's free!

2. Rare, Unique, German Pigment.

The second ingredient that adds value to the Corroless EP formula is a rare, unique pigment developed in Germany. Corroless has the exclusive rights to this rare pigment for all types of coatings. The pigment has the amazing ability of stabilizing tightly adhering rust, transforming it into an inert iron-oxide called 'Magnetite'.

In effect, if there's tightly-adhering rust present on your
substrate, this pigment will neutralize it and transform the rust into magnetite.
Another layer of protection (magnetite) has been created
between the bottom of the coating and the substrate.

How does this benefit pipeline users? For one thing, it means that surface preparation (usually an expensive procedure in rehab projects) doesn't have to be near white, or even a commercial blast. Though a blasted surface is the preparation of preference, there are times when you just can't blast--budget constraints, field conditions, etc. That's when Corroless EP really comes to the rescue. A good power tool or manual preparation using needle guns, wire brushes, etc., is all that's required for the Corroless EP epoxy coating to succeed.

Corroless EP neutralizes flash rusting

How many times is your contractor faced with flash rusting? He blasts the surface of the substrate and before he can coat, a film of rust appears on the substrate caused by the humidity or pipe sweat? Or supposing it rains? What then?

As a reinforced rust stabilizer,
that's never a problem for Corroless EP.

One of the natural properties of coal tar (basic to the Corroless EP epoxy formula) is that it's impervious to moisture. The benefit is you can apply Corroless EP or Kwik-Set^® to a moist or wet substrate. Our epoxy will bond--adhere solidly, even to a poorly prepared surface.

You now have a good basis to validate using Corroless EP and/or Kwik-Set® on your next rehab project.

More information on Corroless' Reinforced Rust Stabilizing pigment can be found in "The Corrosion Engineers' Guide to Choosing Effective Epoxy Coatings."

For more detailed information:
Click here to request
"The Corrosion Engineers' Guide to Choosing Effective Epoxy Coatings."
...it's free!

Kwik-Set® cold-applied, liquid, two-part epoxies
...the only pipeline coating that contains Kevlar®

Kwik-Set® also contains another ingredient to enhance its' natural properties. The ingredient is DuPont's remarkable microscopic fiber, Kevlar® .

We're all familiar with the many novel uses for this amazing fiber. For example: as a bullet-proof vest; as the material used in constructing the air bags of the Pathfinder space craft and protected the Pathfinder's precious cargo (the remarkable space rover, Sojourner) as it landed on Mars.

The reason for Kevlar's acclaim is that the fiber is 6 times stronger than steel. That's why we add Kevlar® to the Kwik-Set® formula--to give this coating unbelievable strength; to increase its resistance to abrasion and impact. And to increase Kwik-Set's resistance to chemical attack--whether these chemicals are airborne or in the soil.

There's a second reason. Kevlar® gives thixotropic management to the coating too.

More information on Kevlar® can be found in
"The Corrosion Engineers' Guide to Choosing Effective Epoxy Coatings."

For more detailed information:
Click here to request
"The Corrosion Engineers' Guide to Choosing Effective Epoxy Coatings."
...it's free!

To summarize:

1. All epoxies are not created equal.

2. Some epoxies perform better than others for pipeline use as they contain special ingredients that enable them to counteract corrosion more effectively and completely.

3. Corroless EP and Kwik-Set® are epoxies formulated to meet the challenges and needs of the pipeline industry. They offer significant benefits to meet these challenges:

Corroless EP, a 97% solids, liquid, cold-applied, two-part coal tar epoxy.

1. Bonds to damp or moist substrates.

2. Contains millions of microscopic, heat-hardened borosilicate glass flakes that rise to the surface where they form an additional, impenetrable layer of protection.

3. Can be applied over tightly-adhering rust, transforming it into an inert iron-oxide called Magnetite.

4. Requires minimal surface preparation.

5. Is compatible with fusion-bonded epoxy and almost any other coating used by the pipeline industry--except PE or PP tape.

Kwik-Set® , a 100% solids, liquid, cold-applied, two-part epoxy.

1. Bonds to wet or moist substrates.

2. Applies in only one coat!

3. Back-fill in only 1 or 3 hours after application.

4. Contains microscopic Kevlar® fibers and fibrils. These fibers make the epoxy much stronger; more resistant to abrasion, impact and chemical attack.

5. Requires minimal surface preparation.

6. Is compatible with fusion-bonded epoxy and almost any other coating used by the pipeline industry--except PE or PP tape.

The best recommendation for an epoxy (or any product for that matter) borrows from a Buick automobile commercial, a favorite slogan from the past:

I recently wrote and asked corrosion technicians and engineers who had used Corroless EP for at least eight years, which of the properties of this enhanced coal tar epoxy they like best? Here are some of their actual replies, typical of all those I received.

• "It can be applied to sweaty pipe; it will displace water and even cure underwater."

• "It has higher temperature capabilities than most other approved coatings have."

• "Minimal surface prep. I apply it after a power brush surface prep instead of expensive sandblasting."

• "I use it on irregular surfaces, especially valves."

• "It's the only high temperature coating I have found that remains well bonded."

• "I like it because it's real easy to use. It's the best product I've ever used for coating risers."

I invite you to ask any of our knowledgeable customers.

Ralph A. Heineman
President
Corroless-USA, Inc.