Sherwin-Williams Protective & Marine (Cleveland, Ohio, USA) has expanded its line of FIRETEX passive fire protection coatings with a new solution designed to optimize applications and reduce costs by enabling precise coating thickness specifications for onshore assets.
According to the company, its FIRETEX M90/03 passive fire protection is an intumescent coating that meets UL 1709 testing requirements for onshore passive hydrocarbon fire protection, while also permitting stakeholders to apply variable material thicknesses to different-sized steel sections.
“Sherwin-Williams FIRETEX passive fire protection coatings offer specifiers freedom of design, while delivering long-term corrosion protection and defined fire protection for asset owners,” says Troy Marshall, fire director for the Americas region. “We continue to expand our offerings worldwide, helping the industry contain costs and enhance application quality with faster drying and handling times, more durable finishes, and reduced coats.”
FIRETEX M90/03 has been tested and approved for application at variable dry film thicknesses (DFTs) for different pieces of steel used on an asset. Without a topcoat, the product also meets all UL 2431 durability testing requirements related to combination wet/freeze/dry cycling, salt spray resistance, acid spray, and other key environmental factors, according to the company.
The product’s passive fire protection can provide UL 1709-certified protection against the intense heat of hydrocarbon pool fires for up to four hours. This defense helps to protect the structural integrity of numerous steel assets found in onshore oil and gas refining and chemical processing environments, including spheres, vessels, skirts, beams, and columns.
“Protecting oil and gas industry assets from both the long-term effects of corrosion and the immediate dangers of hydrocarbon fires is critical to ensure operational safety,” says Bruce Toews, global oil and gas market director.
Applicators commonly apply the material using plural-component spray equipment and trowels, but also have the flexibility for single-leg spraying. The product also features improved dry heat resistance compared to previous M90 series offerings. In all, the epoxy coating is designed to deliver long-term durability, strong corrosion protection, ease and speed of application, and low required thicknesses to help asset owners reduce their total cost of ownership.
Determining the optimal coating application thickness for each steel section size requires careful engineering considerations, according to the manufacturer. As such, Sherwin-Williams offers a fire engineering and estimation team to provide technical and engineering support, including technical advice, training, recommendations, customized coating thickness calculations, and fire protection and engineering designs.
The coating is available now through the manufacturer’s extensive global distribution network.
Source: Sherwin-Williams Protective & Marine, protective.sherwin-williams.com.