It's no secret that the number of aged hot-dip galvanized structures around the world is large and budgets are tight. Utility owners continue to face increasing pressure to substantially upgrade transmission lines using existing infrastructure. In such cases, the use of existing and often older towers makes economic and political sense.
While the electrical industry is not very old, most towers are approaching 50+ years of age without a set maintenance plan. In these aging towers, major problems, like corrosion, missing members, and missing hardware, exist. The life cycle of these structures is significantly reduced by corrosion in aggressive atmospheric or polluted environments. And, when a tower fails, it causes outages and lost revenue; therefore, proactive maintenance is necessary to prevent tower failures.
Rise IVF, a leading Swedish industrial research institute focused on materials, processes and production systems within manufacturing and product development areas, recently completed a report titled the "Refurbishment of hot dip galvanized products – environmental impacts in a life cycle perspective." RISE IVF performed a life cycle assessment to study the environmental impact of complete replacement of a hot-dip galvanized steel structure, in comparison to life-extension by refurbishment with different methods. The "environmental impact" was determined based on ozone formation, waste disposal, greenhouse gasses and more.
The report offered a comprehensive look at the environmental impact of all methods used to refurbish HDG infrastructure, contained ROI models for various paint systems based on asset-life cycle extension, and ultimately, emphasized the importance of coatings system selection to achieve optimal performance with minimal environmental impact.
Achieve Optimal Performance with Minimal Environmental Impact
Refurbishing hot-dip galvanized structures with minimal environmental impact starts with the effective selection and use of protective coatings. With a proper and proven protective coating system, the surface deterioration on transmission structures can be controlled. Induron Protective Coatings offers utility owners around the world a solution to extend the life of transmission and distribution structures with minimal impact on the environment.
While zinc-rich coating systems protect corrosive substrates in the same generic manner as the original hot-dip galvanization – i.e. galvanic protection, it is impossible to achieve the same level of protection with a liquid-applied coating. Consequently, it's vital that utility owners grasp the cost-prohibitive nature of abrasive blasting and the difficulty in effectively applying zinc-rich coatings systems in the field.
Of all the coatings analyzed in RISE IVF's study, Induron Protective Coatings' asset protection program gained special mention for its minimal impact of surface preparation as opposed to other coatings that require extensive and costly methods, such as abrasive blasting, laser cleaning, etc. Induron's coatings solution offers lower overall applied costs, enhanced wetting, optimal surface tolerance, low stress on aged coatings (overcoating qualities), very low VOC, and long-lasting results based on proven performance from thousands of jobs.
The Induron Method: Environmentally-Friendly Asset Protection
Induron's transmission and distribution coatings continue to prove effective decade after decade. In an energized T&D situation where extensive surface preparation is logistically impossible, Induron's approach is simple and cost effective. If you are coating one structure, cost is important. If you are coating 40,000 structures, cost becomes a huge issue.
When environmental issues come into play, especially VOC, Induron's Induraguard 9200 is compliant even in the most demanding VOC-control zones. Plus, the total impact on the environment is minimal – from the larger reaching carbon footprint impact to the absence of abrasives flying around, which requires extensive controls, cleanup, etc.
Induraguard 9200: A One-Coat Solution for T&D Structures
Induraguard 9200 provides cost-effective, long-lasting protection for one of the world's most important assets. As a high-solids, high-build, single-component, self-priming coating, Induraguard 9200 is extremely surface-tolerant and provides unmatchable wetting. The benefits of this product cannot be overstated: Induraguard 9200 provides proven protection, offers the lowest applied cost and streamlined application, and ultimately, extends the useful life of hot-dip galvanized structures.
Contact Induron for Extreme Asset Protection
Induron has the coatings solutions to provide extreme asset protection and extend the life of your Electric Transmission and Distribution assets. Contact Induron for more information.
