CORROSION CONTROL IN PIPELINES

Glass flake filled organic coatings have proven to be suitable for

applications where good corrosion resistance and excellent mechanical
properties are needed. They have an outstanding corrosion resistance
to a wide range of acids, alkalis, solvents and salt solutions. They also
have excellent thermal stability.
DG Dhole, Kirloskar Brothers Ltd., Pune

he enormous loss caused due to corrosion of metal is a great economic concern

of each and every country today. In India premature failure of machinery, equipment,
structural breakdown, corroded pipelines, contamination of products etc. lead to
losses around Rs. 24,000 Crores. (Ref. Figure1). These are latest estimates. The
corrosion is much more acute in coastal regions. Over the years the most commonly
adopted practice for corrosion prevention has been use of anti-corrosion coatings
since it is a practical and economical solution.

Pipelines of different sizes are used for carrying raw w ater, treated water, sea water,
chemicals, oils etc. in process plant, power plants and various other industries.
Pipelines are essential in any industry to carry different fluids from one place to

another. A majority of pipe work used in industry is of carbon steel and other similar
material that are prone to corrosion.
Corrosion is a natural phenomenon. All natural processes are spontaneous &
irreversible. A negative free energy change leads to a spontaneous process. Metals,
which are at higher position in electrochemical series, show higher tendency towards
oxidation & get corroded. It would be well to think of the "corroded" condition as the
normal and the "noncorroded" condition as the transition phase in the never-ending
battle between the engineer a nd the environment. Some metals oxidize at a rate so
low as to be imperceptible, and some at an explosive pace. All requiring an ionizing
medium and all will display a change of rate with differing conditions.

Factors which influence corrosion

There are so many factors, which are directly or indirectly related to the corrosion
process.
These factors can be classified as:

Primary (Inherent in the material itself)

Secondary (Affected by environment)

Primary factors should be regarded as those, which influence the tendency to enter into
the flowing medium and leading to corrosion and the secondary factors as those, which
influence the rate of corrosion.
Primary Factors:
Effective electrode potential of a metal in fluid.
Electrode potential is an inherent property of each element. The tendency of a metal to
enter in to a fluid is a function of its electrode potential. Metals, which are of lower
reduction potential, have a tendency to enter into the fluid.

GLASS FLAKE TECHNOLOGY TORTUOUS PATH

Homogeneity of metal surface (physical and chemical).

If a metal is physically and chemically homogeneous, corrosion will take place
uniformly over the entire surface. If not, the susceptible areas will be attacked at a
faster rate, and this will result in localized corrosion.
Tenacity and permeability of oxide (and other corrosion product) films.
Some metals have highly desirable property of forming microscopic, strongly
adherent layer of corrosion products (mainly oxides) which are impervious in nature
that prevents further corrosion. Such metals are known as "corrosion resistant"
metals. Iron piping will form porous and fragile passive layer and can be broken easily
by any mechanical means, fluid flow that leads to corrosion.
Secondary Factors:
Environments affecting pipelines:
When pipelines are exposed to following environment, it may lead to corrosion.

Industrial environment: Environment where coke plants, power plants are

situated consists of gases like sulfur dioxide, carbon dioxide etc. These
environments are markedly highly corrosive. Pipelines exposed to these
environments are corroded severely.
Marine environment: Mainly pipelines in power plants, which are located in
seacoast, are exposed to marine atmosphere. Near seacoast, environment
contains high concentration of salt mist, humidity which is the main cause of
pipeline corrosion.
Pipelines exposed to splash zone: Pipelines always get wet by seawater
splash and get corroded by chlorides present in seawater. Pipelines exposed to
frequent dry and wet condition leads to corrosion.
Pipelines immersed in seawater: Seawater contains high concentration of
chlorides, sulphate, and sea organism, which lead to corrosion by various
ways. Pipelines immersed in seawater are corroded by chlorides, and
metabolic products produced by marine organisms.
Pipelines immersed in fresh water: Fresh water contains some
concentrations of chlorides and dissolved oxygen, which lead to corrosion.
Chemical environment:This consists - Acids like Hydrochloric, Sulphuric, and
Nitric, Strong alkalis like Sodium Hydroxide, Calcium Hydroxide, Corrosive
gases like Hydrogen sulphide, Sulphur Dioxide. Pipelines exposed to above
chemicals and gases are heavily corroded.
External corrosion of buried pipelines: Underground pipelines are in
direct contact with soils. Corrosion by soils depend on - (a) Content of oxygen,
moisture, and soluble matter (b) pH of soil. Corrosion increases with the
increase in pH. (c) Electrical conductivity of soil increases the corrosion
process. (d) Soil containing microorganisms causes corrosion.
Internal corrosion of pipelines: A major problem by pipeline owner is builtup of deposition of internal surfaces of pipelines. Which is the main cause of
pipeline corrosion in which deposit provides a hiding place for bacteria. The
activities of microbes in and around or under the deposit often result in the
formation of organic acid, inorganic acid, hydrogen sulphide, carbon dioxide or
other metabolic products. These byproducts when concentrated to high levels
in and under the deposits result in localized corrosion.

Cost of corrosion involved is evident from following:

1. Additional pumping costs associated with reduced pipe diameters and increased
wall friction in dirty pipes.
2. Products losses through leaks
3. The cost of replacing pipelines / Refurbishment
4. To control microbial induced corrosion, biocides & chemical inhibitors are added to
liquid streams.
To control these problems application of high performance coatings is the best
solution, which will provide long term protection against corrosion.
Investments in installation of piping system is always huge and in order to get long
life one has to consider following cost involved prior to selection of appropriate
coating system.
Following factors should be considered for working out a life cycle cost of any system
prior to selection of cost-effective coating system.

Loss of production due to

outage / shut down
Maintenance cost of
pipeline
Cost of replacement &
refurbishment
Increased initial cost of
pipe using more
expensive material
Sa fety factor
Public relations
Reliability
Loss of customer due to
outage / shut down
Staffing cost

Generally low investment proposals are considered to protect pipelines from

corrosion due to various constraints. If we consider the life cycle cost, we find that
low investment proposal ultimately turn out to be costly. Hence it is worth to consider
proposals based on life cycle analysis & select a cost-effective product.

Corrosion Prevention in Pipeline - As corrosion is a natural & irreversible

phenomenon i t cannot be stopped. There are various ways by which corrosion
can be retarded. The economical process by which corrosion can be retarded
is the application of organic coatings. Conventional organic coatings do not
show better performance over a long period. To improve reliability and
durability, high performance organic coatings are recommended. The
minimum criteria, which are essential for the choice of high performance
coatings, are:
Good adhesion strength.
High permeation resistance.
High chemical resistance.
High dielectric strength.

High abrasion resistance

To get optimum
property from any
polymeric coating
system, high
performance additives
Pipe coating in process by spinning
are necessary.
method
Appropriate blending of
additives with polymers
enhanced with glass
flakes, following
coating systems is
developed:

Styrene based
Vinyl Ester resin
Styrene based
Bisphenol A
polymer resin
Styrene based
Isopthalic
polyester resin
Special Epoxy
system

These coatings are proven where corrosion/ abrasion resistance with excellent
mechanical properties is required. Following are the three main properties of flake
glass filled coatings:

Tortuous path leading to low permeation rate (Ref. fig 2 & 3)

Low shrinkage leading to low surface stress
Co-efficient of thermal expansion similar to low carbon steel
These three properties lead to other properties like
Extremely high resistance to under cutting
Abrasion resistance (Ref. fig. 4)

Another special property is good resistance to cathodic disbondment. Besides, this

reduces the overall current requirement in cathodically protected pipelines. It also
reduces the possibility of leakage of current and thereby protecting the support
structure of pipelines
Most conventional coatings have constraints for offering long term corrosion
protection to pipelines. These are discussed below:
Rubber lining

1. Rubber is an adsorbent. Due to this total elimination of moisture is not

2.

3.
4.
5.

possible while applying rubber lining on substrate. This leads to Filiform

corrosion.
Curing process of rubber involves vulcanization, in which addition of sulphur
compounds increases hardness, so it reduces the flexibility markedly. When
rubber lining is subjected to temperature fluctuations, thermal stresses
developed leads to microcracks. Through these microcracks, ingress of
moistures takes place and corrosion initiates.
Repair work is possible only before full cure. To repair after full cure total
removal of rubber lining is necessary, spot repair is not worthy to protect the
substrate.
As there are no fillers it has low abrasion resistance, as compared with glass
flake or silicon carbide filled coatings.
Rubber lining can be used upto 80-90 Deg. C. in immersed condition.

Internally Coated Pipes

Internally coated pipe with Isopathalic Polyester

Flake Glass Syeam for Seawater Handling

Cement lining

1. Generally it is applied in 4-8 mm thickness. In order to get desired velocity

engineer has to select higher diameter pipes for cement lining leading to
higher initial investment cost.

2. On prolonged exposure, surface layers are removed and aggregate expose to

3.

the fluid flow. This increases friction leading to head loss and high-energy
consumption.
Not suitable in acid environment.

Internal Pipe Spraying Machine

Coal Tar epoxy

1.
2.
3.
4.
5.

Low UV resistance leading to brittleness in film.

High vapour permeation rate.
Low resistance to Cathodic disbondment
It cannot withstand high temperatures beyond 60 Deg. C.
Low tensile strength.

Polyurethane coating system

1. High vapour permeation rate as compared with glass flake filled coatings.
2. Low abrasion resistance as compared to glass flake coatings.
3. Temperature resistance limited upto 90 Deg. C.
Kirloskar Brothers Ltd. has a vide variety of glass flakes coatings which offers long
term corrosion protection. As discussed earlier selection of cost-effective coating is
most important. Apart from selection of a product right application of coatings is
equally important. In order to apply the coating product following activities are
involved:

1. Removal of surface contaminant e.g. corrosion depositions, chlorides etc.

2. Proper surface preparation by use of high quality abrasives.
3. Application of coatings by use of proper equipment under controlled
environmental conditions.

4. Proper QA / QC programme.
Following methods are used for pipeline coatings:

1. Pipe spinning method for internal coating of small dia pipes (see photograph)

2. Pipe sprayer method for internal coating of medium dia pipes (see
photographs)

3. Hand airless spray method for external coating of medium dia pipes
4. Hand airless spray method for internal as well external coating of large dia
pipes
All the above techniques are specially designed for application of glass flakes filled
coatings to ensure long term protection.
Conclusion
Glass flake filled organic coatings have proven to be suitable for applications where
good corrosion resistance & excellent mechanical properties are needed. They have
an outstanding corrosion resistance to a wide range of acids, alkalis, solvents, & salt
solutions & they also have excellent thermal stability.
They are widely used for application such as chemical process equipment including
process vessels, storage tanks, pipes, ducts, and chimneys. Some of the products are
also suitable for potable water application.
Kirloskar Anti Corrosion Products Division, in technical collaboration with Corrocoat
Ltd., Leeds UK, offers a broad range of glass flake filled coatings & has proven to be
suitable for various applications in the field for the last seven years in India.