ABSTRACT

A new way of coating repair method was designed with a few key factors in mind: turn-around time, health, safety, environment, and sustainability. The paper discusses the evolution of the field applied coating as a repair method for damages caused during installation, and as maintenance for aged coatings. Selecting the correct mix of polymers with zero hazardous chemicals or VOCs made it a good choice for the health of the applicators. Immediate adhesion to various substrates and coatings with minimum surface preparation made it simple and safe use, with no hazardous components leaking into the environment. Lastly, choosing the right polymers may also lead to extended service life, less and/or an extended maintenance period providing a true contribution as "green" energy and therefore sustainability. Innovation comes with challenges in recognizing and meeting the requirements of standards made for different coatings, such as ISO 12944-CX, which will be touched upon as a guide to the ultimate offshore coating performance predictor.

INTRODUCTION

Offshore wind towers are commonly foreseen with factory-applied anti-corrosion coatings that consist of multi-layer 2-component protective paint systems like epoxies or polyurethanes. These coating systems have various requirements in place for application and curing conditions like a high degree of surface cleanliness of steel, roughness profile for achieving proper adhesion, low levels of salt contamination on the surface, and appropriate control of temperature and humidity during curing. During transport and installation of the coated towers, the factory-applied coating often gets damaged. Repairing with the same type of coating is almost impossible due to many factors like mobilization of equipment used for abrasive blast cleaning in an uncontrolled environment and the time needed for the coating to cure. In addition to this, many types of 2-component protective paint systems contain substances that are hazardous to people and the environment and, finally, generate substantial amounts of hazardous waste like blasting media and paint remnants left behind in containers. Furthermore, challenges respecting intercoat curing times in changing and uncontrolled environments add to the complexity of completing the job within the limits. This triggered the idea of developing a new repair coating system that would eliminate many drawbacks of traditional 2-component protective paint systems if not all.

This content is only available via PDF.
You can access this article if you purchase or spend a download.