EonCoat Coating Offers Safety in Confined Spaces

Nearly all coatings have two very serious health hazards for use in confined spaces, toxic fumes and flash point.

Flash Point in confined spaces becomes a non-issue as EonCoat is completely non-flammable and cannot ignite

Flash point is the temperature at which the vapor from a volatile material can ignite in air. In practice this means that in a confined space, when spraying a coating with a flash point lower than the temperature in the space, the vapors can ignite and explode if someone strikes an arc. It is astonishing how many protective coatings have a flash point lower than the typical temperatures seen in a tank. Contractors go to great lengths to recirculate air to keep the concentrations of vapor low. They ban smoking and equipment that might cause a spark, but the work is inherently dangerous. EonCoat vapors cannot be ignited no matter what the temperature is and no matter what spark occurs (even a direct flame) because the coating is completely non-flammable.

Zero Toxicity means no more headaches and no danger of succumbing to fumes

The other issue is toxicity. All of us who have worked within confined spaces for a time, have known at least one person who had to be pulled from a tank or other confined space because of toxic vapor inhalation. We do everything we can to prevent it. We blow fresh air through the tank. We sniff the tank before we enter. We stand a watch outside the tank every second someone is in a confined space. We talk about it at safety meetings. We make people wear a full respirator. Yet it happens – people are overcome by fumes. EonCoat is a huge step in the right direction. It has zero toxicity. While it is always appropriate to have fresh air flowing anytime someone is working in a confined space, with EonCoat you don’t have to worry that someone you are responsible for is in danger from toxic fumes.

A contractor working with EonCoat put all this in perspective for me last week when he said “I don’t go home with a headache anymore.”

For more information about confined space safety visit http://www.osha.gov/SLTC/etools/shipyard/shiprepair/painting/index_paint.html

Why EonCoat Makes Sense as a Corrosion Resistant Coating Primer

For many years there have been three primary methods of corrosion protection. Cathodic protection, sacrificial anode and barrier coat. Now EonCoat offers a fourth method by enabling a passive/alloyed layer chemically bonded to steel that is stable (stable means a metal like gold or platinum that doesn’t generally react with other chemicals).

We’ve had a number of customers ask “Can we topcoat it?” The answer is yes. EonCoat has an inert porous surface with a pH of about 10 so almost all paints bond to it easily without further prep.

We’ve had samples in the sea water spray chamber for nearly a year that have a basecoat of EonCoat and are covered with various topcoats.

As sometimes happens, the most interesting results are unplanned. About 9 months ago one of our lab technicians and application specialist, Mark, put just a brush pass of EonCoat (maybe 2 to 3 mils) on a 3x3 plate with zero prep and sprayed it with a Krylon topcoat out of a can. He then tossed the plate into the sea water chamber curious to see what would happen. After 9 months this sample still looks like new except for a couple of spots of organic growth on the surface, which can easily be wiped off by hand. Now if EonCoat can make a $3 can of Krylon last like a world class protective coating, just think what it could do for a quality barrier coating.

There are more reasons to consider using EonCoat as a primer.

For a long time the most effective corrosion products have employed a system using multiple coating products that work together and complement each other. For example, it is common to use a sacrificial anode primer covered by a barrier coating. The idea is to use the barrier coating to keep corrosion promoters out but if they get past the barrier the sacrificial primer is consumed before the steel starts to rust. This same strategy could be applied to a combination of a topcoat over EonCoat. EonCoat creates a stable layer that does not react. While this layer should be permanent it is likely that at least a few molecules or ions of any substance will eventually dissolve in water.  Adding a topcoat that reduces the amount of water that reaches the EonCoat passive layer would logically further reduce the possibility of ever seeing corrosion.

Additionally, a well-designed topcoat system can also improve performance because EonCoat is a ductile ceramic, but still a ceramic, and with that comes some inherent brittleness. A polymer is exactly the right material to cushion blows and improve the impact resistance of EonCoat in areas where impact is prevalent, like rocks hitting an over the road trailer.

Were Cavemen Paint Chemists?

Thanks to many amazing discoveries throughout history we have known that cavemen had the ability to create rudimentary paintings on a variety of surfaces within their surroundings (i.e. trees, caves, rocks). What we certainly had no grasp of was how sophisticated they truly were. It now seems they were intelligent enough to have an entire paint workshop.

Professor Christopher Henshilwood and his team reported in the journal of Science this month findings from a newly unveiled cave in South Africa that appear to indicate a lab or workshop more than 100,000 years old used for making protective or decorative paint.

The team discovered two “toolkits” in shell containers they believe were used for producing and/or storing an iron-rich ochre compound that included bone, charcoal and possibly urine.  Also within the cave were parts of animal bones (likely used to either mix or apply the compound after it was made), hammers and grindstones.

While the compound’s application “is not self-evident,” (according to the report) it most likely was used as a protective or decorative coating for a surface.

“This isn’t just a chance mixture; it is early chemistry,” Henshilwood told Nature News. “It suggests conceptual and probably cognitive abilities which are the equivalent of modern humans.”

In our opinion, the most amazing thing about the discovery is pushing back what was previously believed to be the invention of ancient formulations another 40,000 years.  Could Stone Age Homo sapiens really have had a grasp of chemistry!?!

More from the Report

Although the discovery was made in 2008, Henshilwood and his team had been diligently working to study the findings and test theories.   Below are a few report highlights and quotes.

*****

“We waited three years before publishing to make sure the analysis was right. I think we’ve established rather accurately that the reported contents of the shells are correct.”

“The recovery of these toolkits at Blombos Cave adds evidence for early technological and behavioral developments associated with H. sapiens and documents their deliberate planning, production, and curation of a pigmented compound and the use of containers.”

“H. sapiens thus also had an elementary knowledge of chemistry and the ability for long-term planning.”

For the full report, VISIT HERE.*

*Full report requires signing up for a free subscription to the journal of Science.

EonCoat Chosen as Top Ten Green Product of 2012

On Thursday, October 6 at the Greenbuild Conference in Toronto EonCoat was named a 2012 Top-10 Green Building Product.

On behalf of the team at EonCoat, I can say that everyone was honored with this distinction and excited to be recognized alongside many other great products.

According to the article highlighting the announcement, “though we discovered these products over the previous year, they are produced by forward-thinking manufacturers that are addressing fundamental building needs for 2012 and beyond. “

Building Green products editor, Brent Ehrlich, had the following to say about EonCoat:

“All these years we've been using industrial and commercial coatings high in health-threatening and smog-producing VOCs when the ingredients we needed could have been found at any 1950s drug store? EonCoat sounds almost too good to be true, and I have to admit our editors were pretty skeptical at first.”

“This two-part, waterborne ceramic coating is made out of phosphoric acid and milk of magnesia. It's a fascinating and elegant solution to a problem that has plagued us for decades. And the performance really seems to be there: industrial facilities are starting to use it in highly corrosive environments and finding it amazingly durable.”

EonCoat’s Environmental Benefits

When EonCoat was being developed there were many environmental goals on tap including creating a coating that vastly reduced carbon footprint, generated less waste and lowered VOCs and HAPs. 

We are happy to say the EonCoat team of scientists created a ceramic coating that has a 90% smaller carbon footprint than the average paint, (30 pounds of CO2 is created per gallon during manufacturing of the average paint while EonCoat only creates 3 pounds.) has no VOC’s and odor and greatly reduces waste disposal. For more information please visit the links below and thanks again to all our blog readers and to those who selected EonCoat for this award!

More on EonCoat’s Environmental Benefits

More on  EonCoat’s lack of VOC’s and HAPs

Construction Contractors See Historically Low Margins

A survey of more than 70 large construction organizations in the UK titled “Review of Contracting Supply Chain” paints a grim picture of the construction market.  The survey was conducted by the construction consultancy firm Davis Langdon and provides some insight into how construction contractors are coping with a down economy.

One of the key takeaways from the results of the survey is that construction companies are seeing historically low margins across the board.  Some are even bidding on projects that may not net them any profit.  In an attempt to sweeten the deal, some construction contractors are turning towards providing attractive financing options for developers, reworking payment schedules or targeting environmentally friendly markets with greener construction processes when bidding for jobs.  The survey found that the hardest hit portions of the construction industry are mid-sized projects ($77M - $155M), closely followed by demand for mega-construction projects.

While the construction industry is currently suffering, those of us here at EonCoat are very excited about the future both for the company and for the industry.  Tough economic times represent a challenge, but also an opportunity… an opportunity to innovate.  If contractors are losing the game – then let’s change it! 

EonCoat can produce savings for contractors on several fronts.  For example, in the vast majority of cases, only one coat of EonCoat is required.  This represents significant labor savings (follow link for savings breakdown) for larger projects.  In addition to the labor savings, EonCoat sets in one hour for a speedy return-to-service on capital investments that are expensive to shut down.

For those construction companies targeting green building projects EonCoat can add value and help the environment with zero-VOCs and zero-HAPs. That’s right, not low, but zero-VOCs.  Since there are no VOCs there is also no traditional fresh paint odor.

If you’d like more information on the survey’s findings you can view the actual report (pdf) or visit PaintSquare to get their thoughts.

 Photo Source: compujeramey on Flickr

EonCoat is now NSF/ANSI 61 Certified!

We are proud to announce that EonCoat is now certified by NSF International, the premier certification body for public health and safety standards!  Here at EonCoat we’ve been working towards our NSF/ANSI 61 certification for the better part of 2011. 

For those of you not intimately familiar with NSF certifications, the NSF/ANSI 61 certification is the standard that “establishes minimum health effects requirements for materials, components, products or systems that contain drinking water, drinking water treatment chemicals, or both.” 

We’ve known since the beginning that EonCoat was non-toxic and safe to use with drinking water systems, but knowing and being certified are two different distinctions! With this certification, contractors can now be 100% confident in using EonCoat to protect and coat their drinking water systems in commercial and industrial settings with a return to service of one hour for dry applications and 24 hours for wet applications (without extensive rinsing cycles).

A special ‘Congrats’ goes to the EonCoat scientists for creating a coating that deserves this prestigious certification as well as the EonCoat staff that spent countless hours in the application and testing process to become NSF certified!

Visit the NSF/ANSI 61 standards page for EonCoat for complete details on our certification. 

Questions or comments?  Let us know below, on Facebook or on Twitter. 

Now that we are NSF certified you may be interested in giving EonCoat a try.  If you use more than 500 gallons of paint each year you qualify for a free EonCoat sample.  

EonCoat Predator System Training

Check out our training video below for the EonCoat Predator System.  This short training video is your one-stop-shop for instructions on how to use EonCoat safely and effectively with the Predator System.  Any additional questions?  Let us know below in the comments, on Facebook or on Twitter.

Does your company use 500 gallons of paint/coating per year?  If so, you qualify for a free sample of EonCoat.  

How Quick Does EonCoat React?

In this video Tom Wall, VP of Operations at EonCoat, shows off EonCoat's reaction time in what we're calling the "popsicle demo".  Tom mixes Part A and Part B of EonCoat in a styrofoam cup and, well... hit play to see what happens for yourself. (this video is shot in real time; no time-lapse here!)

Does your company use 500 gallons of paint/coating per year?  If so, you qualify for a free sample of EonCoat.  

Mirrors on NASA’s ‘James Webb Telescope’ Receive Gold Coating

NASA’s next generation Hubble, the James Webb telescope, recently received a high-class coating – 0.12 ounces of gold - on each of six important mirror segments.  The microscopic layer of gold will protect the beryllium surface from radiation in space, the extreme cold, and other stresses related to long-term space travel. 

The James Webb telescope is set to become a primary tool for scientists looking deep into the cosmos.  A system of 21 mirrors works together on the telescope and will allow scientists to observe some of the most distant objects in the universe while the telescope flies in high orbit around Earth.  Scientists hope to use the telescope to find images of the first galaxies ever formed and to take a close look at planets around distant stars.

The gold coating was applied by Quantum Coatings, Inc., a Moorestown, NJ coating company. Quantum used a unique method to create the thin coating layer.  The gold was heated up to its liquid point (more than 2,500 degrees Fahrenheit) and was allowed to evaporate onto the telescope’s beryllium mirrors.  The coating that resulted was a mere 120 nanometers (about 200 times thinner than human hair) and almost perfectly even. 

Now that the six main mirrors have been coated, they’re on the move to Boulder, CO where they’ll be fitted with actuators to allow scientists to adjust the mirrors in orbit.  The telescope is the most expensive ever built at $8.7 billion and is a joint project between NASA, the European Space Agency and the Canadian Space Agency.  You can read more about the telescope on NASA’s James Webb page.

Photo Sources: NASA on Flickr & NASA on Flickr

A Green Blasting Tool for the Eco-Conscious Coater

The MONTI MBX Bristle Blaster is a mean green beast when it comes to removing coating, mill scale and protective coatings that have to go.  Instead of using grit blasting, the MONTI MBX uses rotating bristles that are dynamically tuned.  The bristles immediately retract when they come into contact with any surface, ensuring a smooth and grit-like blast.  Designed to mimic the kinetic energy of traditional sandblasting, the MBX creates a clean surface similar to NACE 2 or SSPC-SP 10.

While the MBX doesn’t produce the spent shot blasting associated with grit blasting, there are some drawbacks.  The MBX (in its current form) takes slightly longer to properly clean a surface than comparable grit blasters and the replacement bristles are still fairly expensive.  In addition, while it effectively profiles most surfaces, some contractors note that they’ve had trouble profiling the hardened cut edges of steel plates.

ExxonMobil has recently started to use the MBX on their offshore rigs to clean steel surfaces.  While this type of surface prep is relatively expensive, it will be interesting to see if MONTI can improve the design and lower the cost with future versions of their product.  As this technology progresses, will coaters begin to switch to bristle blasters?  Only time will tell, but for the present, the MBX represents one big step forward for the environmentally conscious coater.

MONTI has an excellent eBook on how their bristle blaster works.  It takes a while to load, but if you’re interested, you can check it out here.  Have you used the MBX?  If so, let us know how your experience was on Facebook, Twitter or in the comments below.  Thanks for reading and happy coating!

Does your company use 500 gallons of paint/coating per year?  If so, you qualify for a free sample of EonCoat.