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Corrosion control experts battle Brevard's aggressive conditions
Brevard County's coast is one of the most corrosive environments in the world, according to corrosion experts

by Kathy Hagood
Brevard Technical Journal

Brevard County's coast is one of the most corrosive environments in the world, according to corrosion experts.

The sun, wind and salt spray combine to degrade even high-grade building materials.

So it's no wonder that public and private facility owners and managers on the Space Coast are always seeking new ways to combat the breakdown of various metals and other materials exposed to the elements.

Launch pads, bridges, power plants and wastewater treatment facilities are among the hardest hit.

Coastal homeowners also battle deteriorating air conditioning systems, railings and the like.

Not everyone minds the local environment's destructive effects, however. According to Gerry O'Meara, vice president of Rust Solutions in Indian Harbour Beach, some companies that manufacture or install replacements for damaged structures and equipment see the area's corrosion potential as a blessing.

"After I realized they weren't concerned about improving the longevity of their products, I turned my marketing efforts to business owners and homeowners who have a vested interest in fighting corrosion," O'Meara said. "They are looking for solutions."

Rust Solutions coats structures, vehicles and various items made of metal, wood, styrofoam and cement with a Perma-Tech coating. The polyurethane resin coating is about 12 to 18 times thicker than paint.

With the addition of a mobile treatment unit, the company now is able to offer their services on-site.

The company has a contract with the U.S. Postal Service to coat its blue mailboxes in the area, from Titusville to Orlando to West Palm Beach.

"As you can imagine, the beachside boxes were the biggest headaches to the Postal Service. They were rusting out in about six to eight months, O'Meara said. "Since we've been coating them, they are holding up really well.

Brevard County will be testing the coating at its wastewater facility just south of Melbourne Beach. If the test is successful, the coating might be used for the county's five other waste treatment plants and two water plants.

Because the treatment plant is buffeted by salt spray from both the Atlantic Ocean and the Banana River, corrosion control is a big challenge, said Craig Helpling, a program manager in Brevard's water resources department.

"If the coating proves to do a better job than the paint we're using, then we'll be interested in using the coating at that facility and others," Helpling said.

O'Meara plans to incorporate other coatings into his product line.

A major player in local corrosion control is Corrpro Companies Inc. in Cocoa. Based in Medina, Ohio, Corrpro provides a variety of corrosion mitigation solutions to companies and government agencies. The company has 60 offices nationwide.

The local division has provided corrosion control services to area theme parks, local governments and the spaceport. Corrpro recently coated the City of Cocoa water tower, for example.

"Corrosion is a big problem in this area and we offer a variety of techniques to address it," said Kyle Greenfield, regional manager for Corrpro.

While good design and material choices can lessen a structure's tendency to degrade, use of special coatings, inhibitors and cathodic protection techniques offer additional protection.

Various types of coatings are available for exposed structures and new coatings are being developed all the time, Greenfield said.

"It really depends on what you're trying to protect. Inorganic zinc, for example, has been used to protect the structural steel used in space program structures since the late 1950s. It's still the best option," Greenfield said.

A combination of the use of coatings and cathodic protection is typically employed for metal materials immersed in water or soil. Cathodic techniques provide a means of supplying electrons to metal to compensate for the tendency of most metals to shed electrons and oxidize.

Corrpro is participating in a joint research project for NASA and the U.S. Navy at NASA's Corrosion Test Bed at the Cape Canaveral Spaceport. During the project, several coatings that have been used in industrial settings will be tested to determine if they would perform well for the Navy's ships and NASA's structures.

"We have an aggressive corrosion environment here, so it's the perfect place to get data," said Ray Anderson, a program manager for Corrpro.