YEREVAN (Noyan Tapan)–The new system of metal protection developed by Armenian scientists has aroused great interest in Armenia and abroad. A complex coating is designed to protect pipelines and rigid constructions from corrosion. The new system was tested at the Yerevan Thermal Power Plant. It proved to be more effective than foreign types by its complex of its properties–range of application and economical efficiency.
Chief of the Laboratory of the Institute of General and Non-Organic Chemistry of the National Academy of Sciences of Armenia Vladimir Ovchiyan–the investor of the new system–said in a Noyan Tapan interview that about 80 percent of metals are used in open air conditions and rigid constructions inevitably rust. The method of metal protection widely practiced at present requires removals of rust from the metal surface with a subsequent coating with paint materials. The new materials developed in Armenia can be used in coating surfaces without any preliminary rust removal. Thus it makes the process less expensive and saves much labor.
The new system consists of two components. The first component transforms a thick layer of rust into a compact protective layer well coupled with metal. A new protective enamel compatible with many types of protective dyes is coated on the converter.
The coatings protect metal in aggressive environmen’s–such as sulfuric–hydrochloric and other acids–alkaline and salt solutions–petroleum products and derivatives. The enamel withstands greater temperature drops than its foreign analogues. For example–its resistance in a boiling 30 percent sulfuric acid may last over 5 hours. The enamel can be coated on wet surfaces as well–as its solidification is possible in temperatures below zero–in high humidity conditions as well as under water. These qualities combined with resistance to sea-water makes the enamel widely applicable in shipbuilding.
Many enterprises in the fields of energy–defense–shipbuilding–food production are agriculture are showing interest in the new enamel. Coatings based on the enamel are environmentally friendly. The lacquers the enamel is based on may also be used in coating inner surfaces of metallic food packages.
"Chimreactive" has already produced experimental samples of the new coatings. The production of Ovchiyan’s enamels is 65 percent based on locally procured raw materials.