29/6/2016 Tightrope:IdentifyingLimitingConditionsforCoatingsSpecification

Tightrope:IdentifyingLimitingConditionsfor
CoatingsSpecification
ByMarkDavidson,Eng.,October22,2015

Takeaway:Inwritingcoatingspecifications,itisessentialtounderstandandincludeallofthelimitingconditionsata
specificsitewheremaintenancepaintingistobedone.

TheIdeal:
Maintenance
Paintingatthe
FirstSignsof
Degradation
Inconsideringthe
requirementsof
equipmentandthe
constraintsof
maintenancepainting,
forexampleinan
operatingrefineryora
pulpandpapermill,
theselectionofthe
coatingsystematthe
timeitisnewly
installedisextremely
important.Thisis
wheretheimportance Fullscalemaintenancepaintingunderwayonanoffshorevessel.
ofhavingthedesign Source:MarkDavidson
basisdocumentreally
comesintoitsown.If
thedesignengineersorthepersonsworkingwiththespecificationareawareofalllimitingconditionswhenthe
specificationiswrittenatnewbuild,itmakesforfareasiermaintenancepaintinglateron.

Thiscomesdowntohowalloftheelementsofagoodcoatingspecificationareinterconnected.Soinanidealworld,the
coatingspecificationshouldrecognizeallofthemaintenancerequirementsandlimitingconditionswhenmaintenance
paintingistobedone.

Assumingthatalloftherequirementshavebeenaddressedinthecoatingofnewequipmentandstructuralsteel,the
maintenancepaintingshouldideallynotbedifficult.Buthavingaknowledgeablecoatingengineeroralongterm
relationshipwithaskilledcoatingmanufacturerisessential.

Ivereadmanyarticlesdiscussingwhenyoushoulddomaintenancepaintingandtheyoftenstatethatthatowners
shouldneverallowthecoatingtobreakdowntothepointthatabrasiveblastingisnecessary.

Ideallyyoushouldbedoingmaintenancepaintingassoonasfinishcoatsbeginshowingsignsofweatheringand
deteriorationbeforeyouhavetodofullsurfacepreparationandabrasiveblastingthatrequireslargescalecontainment
ofblastmedia.Thisscenariocausesmajorimpactsontheoperationandalsocreatesmajorhealthandsafetyimpacts.

Sothatisanidealsituationandthatsreallywhatanawarefacilityownershouldbeaimingfor.Ideally,ifthecoating
engineerhasadesignbasisthatrecognizesallthesefactors,he/shewouldbeabletosaytomanagement,Itiswell
understoodthatifyoudoyourmaintenancepaintingfairlyearlyinthelifeofacoatingsystem,whenyoufirstbegin1/4
https://www.corrosionpedia.com/2/2539/corrosionprevention/paintsandplasticscoatings/tightropeidentifyinglimitingconditionsforcoatingsspecification
seeingsignsofdeteriorationinthetopcoat,thenthescopeofsurfacepreparationandaccessthemajorcostandthe
29/6/2016 Tightrope:IdentifyingLimitingConditionsforCoatingsSpecification

majorfacilityimpactwillbemuchlowerthanifyouleaveituntouchedforanother5or10years.Ifyouwait,youllhave
majorcoatingdegradationandcorrosionoccurringinthesubstrate.Sotheseareveryimportantconsiderationsforall
stakeholders.

TheReality:OverdueMaintenancePainting
Ifmaintenancehasnotbeendone,oraprematurecoatingdegradationhasoccurred,fullscalesurfacepreparationmay
berequired.Thisiswherelimitingconditionscomeintoplay.Herearesomeexamples:

Canequipmentbetakenoutofservice?
Isthereatimelimitonthepaintingprojecttobedone?
Isblastsurfacepreparationpractical?
Isblastmediacontainmentrequired?
Whatotherrestrictionswillimpactcoatingapplication?

Canequipmentbetakenoutofservice?Again,thatrequirementwouldideallybecontainedinandrecognizedby
thedesignbasis.Butiflimitingconditionsarenotdocumentedinthedesignbasisorinthemaintenancephilosophy,then
itsawholedifferentballgame.

Health,safetyandlocal/nationalregulatoryrequirementsmustalsoberecognizedinthecoatingspecification.Andthisis
wherethecoatingengineerortheconsultantwhowritesthecoatingspecificationmustspendalotoftimewiththefacility
ownerorthemaintenanceengineerwhoisresponsibleforthemaintenancepaintingandforhealthandsafety.These
meetingswillhelpthespecificationwriterunderstandallpertinentlimitationsatthatparticularfacility.

Ideally,thecoatingsengineerorconsultantwouldbeengagedbythefacilityownerandtogethertheywouldinspectthe
plantwiththepaintingcontractor,coveringalloftheareaswherepaintingistodone.Theywouldlookatthepressure
vessels,thestructuralsteelalloftheareasthatrequirepainting,andtheywoulddocument:

Accessissuesandsolutions
Whichequipmentcanbetakenoutofservice,ifany
Whatfactorswillaffectthetypeofsurfacepreparationthatcanbedone
Hotandcoldsurfaces

Oncethecoatingengineerunderstandsallofthelimitationsthatwillaffectsurfacepreparationandpainting,thenthey
cansitdownanddiscusslimitationswiththemaintenancepaintingcontractorideallyacontractorwhohasexperience
withthatparticularplant.Whatmethodshavebeenusedpreviously?Whatlimitationsdoesthecontractorseefor
differentsurfacepreparationmethodsandtheequipmentandstructures?

Atthispoint,thecoatingspecificationcanbedrafted.Thenthecoatingengineerwillspendtimewiththefacilityowner
andwiththecoatingcontractor,goingthroughthatfirstdrafttoincludeallthevariouspracticalrequirementsfor
containment,surfaceprepcleanup,andotherrestrictionsthatwillimpactcoatingapplication.

Theseareallofthespecialthingsthatneedtobeincorporatedintothecoatingspecification.And,ofcourse,thecoating
manufacturerwhowillsupplythecoatingsmustattendthosemeetings.Ideally,thiswouldbeamanufacturerwhohas
supportedthatrefineryorpulpandpaperfacilitysincenewlybuilt.

Thecombinedexperienceofallthesestakeholdersshouldgointothemaintenancepaintingspecification.

ARecentFieldCaseintheNorthSea
AcompanyIrecentlyworkedforhasmanyoffshorefacilitiesintheNorthSeaandaroundtheUK.About18monthsago,
thecompanyembarkedonamajormaintenancepaintingprogramononeoftheiroffshoreplatforms.Thecoatingson
thisoffshorerighadbeenleftuntouchedtothepointwheretherewasextensivecoatingbreakdownandsomecorrosion
ofthesubstrate.

Thisoilcompanyhasmaintenancepaintingcontractorspresentonalloftheiroffshorefacilities,sothecontractorand
https://www.corrosionpedia.com/2/2539/corrosionprevention/paintsandplasticscoatings/tightropeidentifyinglimitingconditionsforcoatingsspecification 2/4
theoperationsmaintenanceengineerswereaskedtocomeupwithamaintenanceprogram.
29/6/2016 Tightrope:IdentifyingLimitingConditionsforCoatingsSpecification

BearinmindthatintheNorthSeaenvironmentthereisonlyaboutathreemonthwindowoptimumoverthesummer
whenmaintenancepaintingisabletobedone.Onoffshoreplatforms,thesizeoftheaccommodation,andhencethe
numberofbedsthatareavailableislimited,soaccommodationsareplannedindetailduringthedesignstage.Thats
wheretheoperationsteamhasamajorimpactontheoverallspecification.Itsenvisionedthatduringmaintenance
painting,somanypersonnelwillbeneededonboard,andthereforesomanybedsareincorporatedintothedesignof
theaccommodation.

However,withthisplatform,themaintenancepaintingscoperequiredsomanypaintingpersonnelthattheyhadtobring
inafloatinghotel,or"floatel",atacostofhundredsofthousandsofdollarsperday.Thefloatelhadtobebrought
alongsidetheplatformandconnectedbyaspecialbridgetotheoffshoreplatform.Andthatswhereallpersonnellived,
andwhereallthecoatingsmaterialsandequipmentwerestored.

Thisscenarioisnotuncommonforoffshoreplatforms,wheretheoperatorwillleavemaintenancepaintingundonea
long,longtimebeforehe/shedecidestodoanywork.

SurveysofOffshorePlatformsintheNorthSea/UKSector
Recently,therewasasurveycarriedoutintheUnitedKingdombythestatutorybody,theHealthandSafetyExecutive
(HSE).ThatagencyvisitedandsurveyedanumberofoffshoreplatformswithintheNorthSea/UKsector.Theyidentified
wherecoatingbreakdownhadoccurredandhowitwasaffectingthevarioussystemsontheplatforms.

Therearealsosafetycriticalservicevalvesforensuringthatintheeventofaleakoremergency,thefacilitycanbeshut
downquickly.Thesesystemsincludemanysafetycriticalvalvesthathavetooperatereliablyinanemergencyinorderto
shutofftheflowofgasandoil.

Manyvalvesareremotelyoperatedusinginstrumentgas,whichisawholepipingsystemreticulatedaroundthefacility.

TheHSEsurveysfoundsomeofthisinstrumentgaspiping,amixofcarbonsteelandstainless,inverypoorcondition.
Haditbeenleftanylonger,theremayhavebeenfailures.Theagencyfoundcoatingdeteriorationsoadvancedinsome
instancesthatitcouldhaveanimpactonthereliableoperationofsafetyfacilities,andtheirabilitytoshutoff
hydrocarbonsflowinanemergency.

Theseareextremeexamplesofhowlongtheresponsiblepartieshadleftthecoatingstodegrade.Therewerevarious
otherexamplesofsafetycomponentsdegradation,suchassteelgratingthathadbeenallowedtocorrodetothepoint
whereitwasnolongersafeforpersonneltouse.Walkwaysandescaperouteswerentsafe.Cablesupportswere
corroded,andcableladderandcablerackscoatingshadalldegraded,affectingthestructuralintegrityofthose
supports.

Whenstructuraldegradationreachesthatpoint,thenstructuralreplacementisrequired,andthisinvolvesweldingofnew
structuralsteelandadditionalcost.Thisisapoorreflectiononthefacilityownerwhoallowsdeteriorationtogettothe
pointwhereitjeopardizessafety.NoneofthiswasunusualinthesurveythatwascarriedoutintheNorthSea/UKsector.

Summary
Whenwritingacoatingspecificationformaintenancepainting,agreetoanddocumenttherequiredcoatingsystem
durabilityinthefacilitydesignbasis,andincorporatemaintenancepaintingrequirementsintothedesignbasis.Fornew
buildcoatingspecifications,ensurethatthespecificationincludesmaintenancepaintingsystems.Inallcases,adhereto
thedesignbasisduringfacilityoperation.

Andalwaysincludethefacilityowner/operator,thepaintingcontractorandthecoatingmanufacturerinpreparationofthe
maintenancepaintingspecification.

***
Moreinthe"HowtoWriteaGreatCoatingSpecification"series:
https://www.corrosionpedia.com/2/2539/corrosionprevention/paintsandplasticscoatings/tightropeidentifyinglimitingconditionsforcoatingsspecification 3/4
CoatingsSpecifications,Good,BadorUgly:LouVincentQ&A
29/6/2016 Tightrope:IdentifyingLimitingConditionsforCoatingsSpecification

WhyitsaMistaketoReuseOldCoatingSpecs:LouVincentQ&A
WhoParticipatesinSelectingEqualCoatingProducts?
ConditionSurveyTheBackboneofaGoodCoatingSpecification
DefiningServiceRequirements&EnvironmentalFactorsforCoatingSpecification
DefiningClientObjectivesforCoatingsSpecification
Methods&PitfallsinSelectingCoatingSystemsforSpecification
ProblemsCausedbytheLackofClarity&DefinitioninCoatingSpecifications
WritingSafetyIntoYourCoatingSpecification

https://www.corrosionpedia.com/2/2539/corrosionprevention/paintsandplasticscoatings/tightropeidentifyinglimitingconditionsforcoatingsspecification 4/4