Plant Services - June 2008 - (Page 42)

ow did we get involved with industrial painting? In most cases, we were thrown into it, kicking and screaming. How diﬃcult can it be to paint something? You have your blue paint, red paint and numerous other colors. For most of us, that was how it started. en, we had a premature coating failure that required repair and it cost lots of money. e painting contractor said the paint was no good and refused to honor the warranty. e surety company sided with the contractor. ese scenarios tells us it’s time to get serious about industrial coatings. We need to get smart. In the 1970s and 1980s, 80% of the premature failures could be attributed to improper application techniques. Based on my years in the failure-analysis business, that was a pretty good estimate. e remaining 20% were attributed to material selection, speciﬁcation errors or omissions, and design conﬁgurations that couldn’t be coated or inspected in accordance with the speciﬁcation. ese are termed inaccessible areas. In the 1980s, organizations such as NACE International and SSPC, e Society for Protective Coatings, initiated training programs for personnel and companies involved in the industrial painting business. e price of labor had risen substantially and the new, high-performance coating materials became far more application-critical. e Envi42 ronmental Protection Agency and the Occupational Safety and Health Administration added to the mix by initiating regulations protecting the public from transient dust and the worker from health hazards. SSPC initiated contractor qualiﬁcation programs, which required painting applicators to attend many of these training programs. For the ﬁrst time, training was available to teach personnel how to inspect the application of protective coatings. In other words, the coating applicators are more technically competent today. ey’ve become so out of necessity, and their work has improved. Personnel from applicators commonly attend these training classes. NACE has already certiﬁed more than 4,200 coating inspectors. About 20% of these inspectors work for coating applicators. In the 21st century, the cause of premature failures attributed to coating application has been reduced from 80% to about 40%, and is dropping. is means that 60% of the premature failures are traced to material selection, speciﬁcation errors or omissions, or design not lending itself to proper coating application or inspection. How to cause coating problems is development has meaning for the maintenance engineer responsible for painting in a manufacturing facility. J .PLANTSERVICES. http://www.PLANTSERVICES.com

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Plant Services - June 2008 Contents From the Editor Letters The PS Files Up and Running Crisis Corner What Works Asset Manager Technology Toolbox Cover Story HVAC Coatings Motors Web Hunter In the Trenches Product Picks Classifieds Energy Expert

Plant Services - June 2008

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