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Environmental conditions can be major hindrances to building equipment. As pipelines, pipe clamps, and rail systems are often made of steel, corrosion in certain conditions can cause expensive damages. The cost of the world’s corrosion is 2.5 trillion USD, but you can avoid costly damages by using top surface protection. If you haven’t looked into what top surface protection is, this article will cover all you need to know about it.

What is the effect of undetected corrosion on building materials?

If undetected, on building materials corrosion can damage or threaten the integrity of the entire structure. For pipelines, corrosion damage can cause the pipe to burst. Corrosion refers to the chemical reactions or processes that happen on the metals’ surfaces. It can happen on the inside and outside of the pipe or building materials and cause damage to the joints and welds. You’ll find it difficult to control once it starts. It can easily spread and damage the other areas of the pipeline. That is why top surface protection is important.

What does top surface protection do?

Top surface protection offered by exceptional plant engineering services will protect the steel material of building materials from corrosion. This includes rail systems, pipe clamps, thread connections, and pipelines. When you use top surface protection, you also extend the endurance of the steel pipes or building equipment. If you’re unsure what factors to think about when choosing top surface protection, read on.

Choosing the ideal top surface protection

You’ll need specific information when selecting top surface protection. Not only are the damaging environmental conditions unique, but they can also fluctuate. Acknowledge the following conditions to get started when choosing top surface protection:

• Temperature fluctuations
• Changes in humidity
• Air pollution, and

Atmospheric changes, such as moisture in the air, and temperature increases can affect the steel material’s rate of corrosion. If you have pipelines, pipe clamps, or building materials positioned in sunny locations, for instance, this can impact the rate of corrosion. You should also consider air pollution. Air pollution corrosion on building materials refers to the damage done to the materials due to air pollutants, such as SO2, CO2, and chlorides. They can destroy metals and their alloys.  Choosing the right top surface protection from a reputable plant engineering solutions company will ensure the building materials are well protected.

Building equipment service life and surface protection

When you choose top surface protection for your building equipment, pipelines, or pipe clamps, keep in mind that coatings have a surface life and you may need to recoat them. Exceptional top surface protections, however, can withstand highly corrosive materials.

Corrosion categories and top surface protection

There are six different corrosive categories as classified by environmental conditions, and based on its corrosive category, building materials use different surface protection. The atmospheric corrosion categories range from very low, to very high, and include the following:

Category	Corrosion level
C1	Very low
C2	Low
C3	Medium
C4	High
C5-I	Very high (industrial level)
C5-M	Very high (marine level)

In principle, no corrosion protection is required for C1 corrosion levels. But, one of the highest corrosive categories, as outlined by the international standard on corrosion protection (ISO 12944), is C5-I. Surface protection of the C5 level has particular uses. To give you an idea of their strength and uses, these types of surface protections can protect a wide range of structures including:

• Structures for road tunnels, and
• Structures for indoor swimming pools

How does top surface protection work?

Surface protection works by applying a coating system to prevent the corrosion of steel. Galvanization, or hot-dip galvanizing is the name of this process, which involves dipping the pipelines or materials into zinc to add a zinc layer onto them.

3 benefits of top surface protection

Not only can you save costs with surface protection, but it also requires less labor and is an efficient process compared with other options. Take a look at these three advantages of using top surface protection.

Save on the costs of damages

Stainless steel pipelines and materials can make it costly and difficult to maintain building structures and materials. As mentioned, the cost of global corrosion is approximately 2.5 trillion USD. You’ll save on the costs of damages, but also the cost of materials when you use top surface protection as it’s a cheaper alternative. Instead of using expensive stainless steel for pipelines, use surface protection to protect the material.

Use less labor when applying surface protections

After you have applied the surface protection, there’s no need to get the surfaces ready, or paint the steel as often, or check for scrapes or cracks; surface protections do the hard work. 

More efficient than painting surfaces

The alternative to surface protection is using other coatings or paint. These can be scraped or chipped, which means your hard work will serve little purpose as you will be repainting your pipelines or building materials. Instead, surface protection lasts a long time, is durable, and doesn’t need to be re-applied as often.

Learn more about surface protections and increase your pipelines’ durability

With high costs of damages to building materials and pipelines and maintenance being a challenge, keep in mind that choosing surface protection will:

• Increase the life and durability of pipelines
• Help reduce costs of maintaining building structures, and
• Lead to less labor with maintenance and re-application of alternative materials

Surface protections are the best option for building materials and pipeline protection. Learn more about plant engineering solutions and pipeline materials at prosupportsolutions.ca.