Within the chemical and refining industry, most applications work with very aggressive media. In addition, they require huge and bulk storage of extremely corrosive and acidic chemicals that can react with metal. It is, therefore, not a good idea to use traditional equipment and products that would degrade quickly and would eventually provide inaccurate information. There are some metal alloys, however that may be resistant to corrosive chemicals in the tank such as nickel, titanium, zirconium, and other materials.
These exotic alloys are very expensive and production takes much longer. This is where chemical resistant coatings like teflon coatings, play a crucial role in protecting the tanks, the traditional level gauge, and other equipment used in the industry. These coatings are a smart solution that is specially formulated to withstand the attack and damage of the aggressive media. They will give the instruments uninterrupted service for a very long time. For applications that need threaded vessel connections, special alloys can be used on the flanges that will be connected to the tank, which will then be attached to a chemically coated level gauge.
This kind of system will be more cost effective than having the entire gauges made from those expensive exotic alloys. It will further improve the production turnaround times. There are various types of chemical resistant teflon coatings that can be used in this certain application as well as other settings where machines and instruments will see consistent contact with chemicals. These include the following materials:
- Phenolic: this kind of protective teflon coating is specifically suitable for diesel components to prevent sulphuric corrosion from attacking the exhaust gas recirculation systems. It’s a high bake barrier coating that’s specially made with the intention to combat chemical corrosion.
- PTFE: chemical resistant coatings made from this material are non-stick, very resistant to chemicals as well as high temperatures. They also provide a reduced coefficient of friction when applied on a substrate.
- Fluoropolymer: this coating is most suitable for industrial and automotive applications. Coatings made from this material are very resistant to chemicals and provide high performance.