Imagine coating a 300-foot diameter by 40-foot tall storage tank with an eight-inch roller. That was the challenge facing Industrial Coatings Contractors at the Koch Supply & Trading (KS&T) company’s St. James Terminal before the project’s engineers were introduced to an advanced-technology coating from Tnemec. “The last time the tank had been painted, there was an overspray problem involving nearby residential property, so the contractor was told to brush and roll the tank,” according to Tnemec coating consultant Eddie Borne. “The contractor recommended using Series 30 Spra-Saf EN as the solution to the overspray issue.”
Spra-Saf EN is a hydrophobic acrylic polymer with dry-fall characteristics that can help reduce the potential for overspray issues on automobiles, buildings and surrounding property. In addition to its good gloss and color retention on steel, Spra-Saf EN provides long-term corrosion protection and weathering properties.
To prepare the tank’s exterior for coating, the applicator commercially blastcleaned the substrate in accordance with SSPC-SP6/NACE 3, then primed it with Series 90E-92 Tneme-Zinc, a two-component, inorganic zinc. “They sprayapplied two coats of Spra-Saf EN,” according to Borne. “The first was a mist coat, followed by a full spray-applied coat. This coating system is currently the standard being used successfully by Exxon Mobil, Citgo, Shell, Marathon and numerous other petro-chemical facilities through out the gulf coast.
“The applicator was delighted that they were able to spray the tank because they could do it a lot quicker and more economically than having to apply the coatings with rollers,” Borne added. “One person with a spray gun can cover about five times as much surface area as a guy with a roller. So the job was done much quicker and after being in service for more than 12 years, it still looks good.”
KS&T’s St. James Terminal has crude oil and fuel oil storage capacity of 500,000 barrels. With its direct access to the Mississippi River, it is connected to several key U.S. receipt and delivery points, including Capline Pipeline that delivers more than 1 million barrels of crude per day to the Midwest. Koch Supply & Trading companies are subsidiaries of Koch Industries Inc., and have extensive operations including crude oil, petroleum products, and commodity trading as well as capabilities in risk-management and cross-commodity offerings.