Coal Tar Epoxy Coatings for Steel Pipes

Chatham Steel Pipe Coating Project

Special Coatings Preparation – Pipe Sandblasting

Chatham Steel, a steel producer in Orlando, Florida contracted Industrial Painting Solutions Inc. to sandblast and spray coal tar epoxy to roughly 523 pipes for a water project in the Caribbean islands. The specifications on the sandblast portion was to brush blast the new 42’ eight inch pipes with a brush blast technique to give it a profile and to knock off all of the mil scales.  Handling the pipe was the hardest part of the job.  IPS had to use their own 22 ton Tadano Crane to lift the bundles of 5 off the truck and then load each piece by forklift  onto the blast rack.  The weight of the pipes were roughly 6800 lbs.  After blasting the pipes with a brush blast, IPS transferred the pipes, roughly 10 at a time to each paint booth where they were blown down for lose sand.

Coal Tar Epoxy – Saltwater Anti-Corrosion Coating

Sherwin-Williams coal tar epoxy was sprayed on each pipe.  Coal tar epoxy is a two part A&B epoxy that is specifically used for underwater steel.  It is a common use for sheet piling and underground water pipes.  The coating holds up very well in the most hazardous conditions.  Saltwater applications are very common for this coating.  The coating can either be sprayed or rolled to get the desired millage.  After the coal tar was applied, Randy our head painter and crane operator transferred the pipes from our paint shop to the truck. Each pipe had to be carefully placed on a piece of wood to keep from scratching the coating. Coal tar is a fairly resilient coating and dries with a nice hardness, however you can’t be to careful stacking steel pipes on top of each other. Call Industrial Painting Solutions for all of your sandblasting and painting needs.