Abstract
The splash zone around offshore structures is without doubt one of nature’s most hostile and corrosive environments. Apart from the continuous wetting and drying of salt spray, wave impacts, plentiful supplies of oxygen and lack of cathodic protection, the region is always difficult and sometimes dangerous to access. This paper reviews the performance of two new offshore repair coatings recently installed on North Sea and Gulf of Mexico installations.
The first coating, a reinforced heatshrinkable sleeve, is designed to be installed over properly cleaned and dried steel surfaces. Suitable conditions for the application of this coating exist during low tide and calm weather when certain exposed sections of the splash zone are accessible. Alternatively, by using a special remote controlled cofferdam chamber to create an artificial local environment, subsea coating application can proceed under ideal conditions. Cofferdam chamber installations are diver-free and can be made throughout the entire splash zone, even during rough weather.
When a remote controlled cofferdam is not available and repairs are needed in subsea or wet areas, then some form of diver assistance is usually required. The second coating system, a unique gel-based, diver applied tape has been developed specifically for such applications.
