Structural Steel Beams, Pipes & Piles Protected from Corrosion with Denso Products

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Project Data

Project Details

The Strategic Petroleum Reserve (SPR) is an emergency petroleum store maintained by the United States Department of Energy. With 5 locations along the Gulf of Mexico Coast, it is the largest emergency supply in the world with the current capacity to hold up to 727 million barrels (116 million m3 ) of crude oil.

Emergency crude oil is stored in the Strategic Petroleum Reserve in salt caverns. Created deep within the massive salt deposits that underlie most of the Texas and Louisiana coastline, the caverns offer the best security and are the most affordable means of storage, costing up to 10 times less than above ground tanks and 20 times less than hard rock mines.

Due to the highly corrosive environment, Denso’s Petrolatum Tape products have been used for many years for corrosion protection at all 5 locations in a variety of applications.

Corrosion protection for a large Raw Water Intake structure at the Big Hill Site had been a continual battle for the DOE. After many years of painting the beams, columns and piping network, they selected the Denso Petrolatum Tape System in 1998. After 8 years of outstanding service life, the DOE again selected the Denso materials to complete phase 2 (the second half of the steel structure).

Between the 2 phases of installation, the overall scope included the protection of approximately 4,000 LF of structural steel beams and braces, 300 LF of 24″ and 48″ dia. steel support columns and pilings, as well as 1,000 LF of various pipe sizes. Denso materials included the following: 110 cases of Denso Paste S105, 380 cases of Densyl Tape, 65 cases of Denso Hi-Tack Primer, 200 cases of Denso Hi-Tack Tape, and various other materials.

DOE personnel are very pleased with the Phase 1 service life to date, as their previous paint systems were only lasting 2 to 3 years. Furthermore, the recently completed Phase 2 installation, was completed on time and under budget. The massive steel structure will receive many more years of corrosion protection due to the Denso Petrolatum Tape System.