1) Corrosion prevention is the most important reason to paint steel structures, as it protects massive financial investments from rusting away. 2) Fouling control is also important for marine structures, as barnacles and other organisms that attach to unpainted surfaces can increase drag and fuel costs significantly. 3) Cosmetic appearance is another factor, as painting steel provides an attractive and uniform appearance for structures like ships, factories, and oil rigs.

1. Paint Technology
IP Indonesia – May 2006
Updated November 2005

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3. Introduction
Why do we paint steel?
Updated November 2005

4. Why do we need to paint steel?
By far the single most important
reason is to protect a huge financial
investment by means of Corrosion
Prevention.
Ships, factories, oil refineries etc
cost millions of dollars to build – we
can not just let them rust away.

5. Corrosion Prevention
Ballast Tank

6. Corrosion Prevention
Deck of an FPSO

7. Corrosion Prevention
A serious corrosion problem!

8. Corrosion Prevention
Serious Metal Loss

9. Corrosion Prevention
Potentially catastrophic breakdown

10. Corrosion Prevention
Could it get worse?

11. Corrosion Prevention
Could it get worse?

12. What is Corrosion
Corrosion is basically:-
“The attack on metals by their environment.”
We normally see it as steel changing to rust.
Nature is simply returning steel from an unstable man-
made state to a stable natural state.

13. Corrosion
STEEL
Iron Metal
Chemically Unstable
Structural
HEAT CORROSION
(By Man) (By Nature)
Chemically
the same!
IRON ORE RUST
Iron Oxide Iron Oxide
Chemically Stable Chemically Stable
Non-Structural Non-Structural

14. Corrosion
• Steel corrodes…
• Rust is weak…
• Rust is porous…
• Rust detaches from the steel…
• Rust does not prevent more corrosion…
…..…SO WHY USE STEEL?

15. Why use Steel?
• Iron ore is very widely available.
• It is easy to make steel from iron ore
• Steel is strong relative to its weight
• STEEL IS CHEAP!!!!!

16. Corrosion Prevention

17. Why do we need to paint steel?
1) Corrosion Prevention
2) Fouling Control (Marine uses only)

18. Fouling control

19. Fouling control
Enteromorpha (Green) Ectocarpus (Brown)

20. Fouling control
Acorn Barnacles

21. Fouling

22. Fouling

23. Fouling
Shoreline animals released as tiny larvae:-
• Hydroids - can swim for just a few hours
• Barnacles - can swim for up to 6 weeks
…if they do not find a surface to colonise in that
time they die.

24. Fouling

25. Fouling

26. Fouling

27. Fouling

28. Why do we use Antifoulings?
We are used to the idea of fast moving items having to
be streamlined to go smoothly through air

29. Why do we use Antifoulings?
……but the same principles apply for ships passing through
water – albeit at much slower speed.

30. Why do we use Antifoulings?
Drag on ships comes from roughness due to corrosion & fouling!
Although a barnacle seems very small compared to a ship,
if there are enough of them, it will greatly increase fuel costs..
BECOMES

31. Fouling control
Shell Fouling: Up to 40% increase in drag

32. The Fouling Challenge
POLAR
• Temperature TEMPERATE
• Pollution TROPICAL/SUBTROPICAL
• Nutrients EXTREME FOULING ENVIRONMENT

33. Fouling Control

34. Why do we need to paint steel?
1) Corrosion Prevention
2) Fouling Control
3) Cosmetic Appearance

35. Cosmetic Appearance

36. Cosmetic Appearance

37. Cosmetic Appearance

38. Cosmetic appearance

39. Cosmetic appearance

40. Why do we need to paint steel?
1) Corrosion Prevention
2) Fouling Control
3) Cosmetic Appearance
4) Cargo Storage / Carriage

41. Cargo Storage / Carriage
The wrong
chemical with the
wrong coating can
be a disaster.

42. Cargo Storage (PC)

43. Cargo Carriage (Marine)

44. Marine vs PC
• We do not use the same coatings for both Marine &
PC tanks.
• PC Tanks hold one chemical for many years.
• Marine Tanks hold cargoes for short periods and
then have to be able to carry a totally different cargo.

45. Why do we need to paint steel?
1) Corrosion Prevention
2) Fouling Control
3) Cosmetic Appearance
4) Cargo Storage / Carriage
5) Abrasion Resistance

46. Abrasion Resistance

47. Abrasion Resistance

48. Abrasion Resistance
Typically CAREFUL
loading of a cargo
to prevent damage
to the coating!

49. Abrasion Resistance
Typical cargo
hold damage
from hard
cargoes such as
Iron Ore & Coal.

50. Abrasion Resistance
Heavy
Fender
Damage

51. Abrasion Resistance

52. Abrasion Resistance
Ice abrasion removes all
coating from outer hull

53. Abrasion Resistance
An ice-breaker
hull protected
by a special
anti-abrasion
coating.

54. Why do we need to paint steel?
1) Corrosion Prevention
2) Fouling Control
3) Cosmetic Appearance
4) Cargo Storage / Carriage
5) Abrasion Resistance
6) Skid Prevention

55. Skid Prevention
Would you like to be working on this deck?

56. Skid Prevention
Good grip is essential to land a plane on a deck

57. Why do we need to paint steel?
1) Corrosion Prevention
2) Fouling Control
3) Cosmetic Appearance
4) Cargo Storage
5) Abrasion Resistance
6) Skid Prevention
7) Fire Protection
8) Radar Absorption
9) Heat Resistance
10) Low Solar Absorption

58. Fire Protection

59. Radar Absorption
• Some navies require special coatings for above-water
areas to make them ‘invisible’ to radar.
• These are very specific types of coatings for each
navy and developed in great secrecy.

60. Heat Resistance
Engine Room
-Main Engines

61. Heat Resistance
Engine Room
showing pipes
protected by
special heat
resistant paint

62. Low Solar Absorption (LSA) Coatings

63. Low Solar Absorption (LSA) Coatings

64. Introduction
Why do we paint steel?