Ferrosur Grupo Mexico operates the largest railroad network in Mexico, with more than 10,000 km (6,200 miles) of track covering the major industrial and commercial zones in Mexico. Ferrosur, a subsidiary of Grupo Mexico decided to reduce their endless and costly re-painting cycles by implementing Nano-Clear Industrial coating as the protective topcoat of their coatings system.
Nano-Clear Industrial Coating was chosen to protect Ferrosur’s Aboveground Storage Tanks (ASTs) from corrosion, chemical and UV attack. The ASTs were wet-media blasted to remove all corrosion and remaining paint. The ASTs were repainted with International Interzone 954 epoxy. The tanks were then top-coated with Nano-Clear Industrial Coating using airless spray equipment. Due to the outstanding performance of Nano-Clear, Ferrosur has contracted for more of their AST assets to be coated with Nano-Clear.
Industrial companies within the oil & gas sector have a big problem with ASTs corroding, paint oxidizing then failing and mold growth. Conventional epoxy paints by themselves do not have the physical properties for long-term surface protection. Asset owners’ managers must continually re-paint ASTs and refinery pipelines to deal with on-going paint failures. The cost to repair failing paint is very expensive and results in a “patchy” look on the storage tanks and pipelines.
Painted assets like storage tanks and pipelines do not receive routine cleaning and need to be protected by a top-coating that will stand-up to harsh environments. The use of Nano-Clear will eliminate at least 1-2 repainting cycles by dramatically improving the long-term corrosion and UV resistance of ASTs. The business case for using Nano-Clear is very strong by significantly reducing repainting cycles, reducing paint material cost and reducing contracted labor costs during the lifecycle of the asset.
