Feature 1 | CoAtingS, SeAlAntS And pAintS
Eco friendly coatings for potable water
tanks offshore
Danish company Hempel AS has released Hempadur 35560 coating,
designed for application on the insides of tanks and pipelines used to store
and transport potable water. Michael Aamodt, marine product manager at
Hempel explains the benefits of this coating.
C
lean drinking water is a rare
and precious resource and
often has to be stored and
transported, so that it is available when
and where needed. Water of sufficient
quality to serve as drinking water is
termed ‘potable water’ whether it is
used as such or not. Tanks for drinking
water on a ship are small compared to
cargo tanks or ballast tanks. A cargo
ship has typically two or three potable
water tanks with an overall volume of
about 100-500m³. Large passenger or
cruise vessels can have potable water
tanks of more than 500m³ to provide
its passengers with drinking water.
Large elevated onshore potable
water tanks or water storage towers can
hold more than 100,000m³ drinking
water. Onshore potable water tanks
can be made of many materials such
as hard plastic, fibreglass, concrete,
stainless steel or carbon steel. Potable offshore pipe-layer vessel Normand Seven belongs to Solstad Shipping AS (Credit: Ulstein
water tanks made of carbon steel need Verft AS/Solstad Shipping AS).
to be coated internally with a lining
that will protect the steel tank from
corrosion and ensure that it retains
its structural integrity. The potable
water coating should not contaminate
or affect the quality of the drinking
water. In particular the smell or taste
of water should not be affected by the
coating. A suitable coating for the tanks
should last with minimal maintenance
for up to 25 years without problems of
corrosion or water quality.
Coatings applied to potable water
tanks are usually two-component
pure epoxies, either solvent-free
Stripe coating application of Hempadur
35560 in a ship potable water tank onboard
Normand Seven (Credit: Hempel AS).
20 Offshore Marine Technology 1st Quarter 2010
Eco friendly coatings.indd 20 27/01/2010 12:01:38
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