Study of Cresol-Novolac Epoxy Systems on Fusion Bonded Epoxy Coatings for Pipeline Protection

Fusion Bonded Epoxy(FBE) systems have been widely used to protect pipelines for over 30 years. Numerous attempts have so far been made to improve the properties of FBE coatings such as chemical resistance, adhesion, water resistance, cathodic disbondment resistance, impact resistance, and flexibility to protect pipelines at a wet and a high temperature condition. But these attempts have not been successful in reducing some weakness, for instance, in pipeline operating at high temperature due to poor hot water resistance and cathodic protection. The purpose here is to build a basis for getting better corrosion resistance of FBE systems. Cresol-novolac epoxy coating systems were studied compared to bisphenol A type epoxy systems. After the immersion of the film in water at a high temperature for a long period, good adhesion to metal substrate and excellent cathodic disbond resistance were observed in the cresol-novolac epoxy resin systems. It is well known that the adhesion of organic coatings to metal substrate might be decreased due to the disruption of a chemical bond across the film and metal interface induced by water molecules. A high crosslinking density might decrease water permeability and improve cathodic disbonding protection in the coatings. Other factors are studied to understand anti-corrosion mechanism of Cresol-novolac epoxy coatings. In addition, the water absorption rate and the effect of cure temperature on the adhesion and cathodic disbonding resistance ofthe films were studied in different epoxy coatings and the effect of substrate was evaluated. The results of field application are proved that the Cresol-novolac epoxy coating system developed recently is one of the most suitable coatings for protection of pipelines.