Even as the economy prepares to cautiously open in many places, the fact is that these are challenging economic times and more may be ahead. It is not yet clear what the full pandemic fallout will be, or how many plants may be forced to shutter their operations temporarily or indefinitely, now or later, due to supply and demand changes. Great discretion and ingenuity will be needed to navigate the coming months. For those businesses that do deem plant layup necessary, Texas Technologies is here to ease the pain and loss as much as possible with strategies to preserve asset value and ultimately facilitate a smooth return to operation. 

Texas Technologies is a trusted distributor of Cortec products. Many of Cortec’s solutions to corrosion employ innovative Vapor phase Corrosion Inhibitor Technology to preserve assets in a user-friendly, effective manner. These corrosion inhibitors simplify and enhance protection by vaporizing and dispersing throughout an enclosed space to form a protective molecular layer even on intricate and hard to reach metal surfaces. Due to their vapor-phase action, these corrosion inhibitors typically do not need to be cleaned off—unlike traditional rust preventatives—before the equipment can be used. They also do not require constant monitoring or a continuous source of electricity. 

A number of basic equipment preservation strategies apply to almost any plant. For example, electronics and electricals should be protected from corrosion by placing the correct size and number of VpCI® Emitters into junction boxes and electronic cabinets depending on enclosure volume. A VpCI® -101 Device is good for small boxes of up to 1 cubic foot (28 L), and one VpCI®-111 Emitter protects up to 11 cubic feet (0.31 m³) of void space. ElectriCorr® VpCI®-239 also provides a robust corrosion inhibiting film that can be used for protection either inside an electrical box or on electrical panels exposed to the air. 

Although essential boilers and cooling water systems are often left with complicated layup procedures or no corrosion protection at all, Cortec’s time-tested Boiler Lizard® has revolutionized the ease and effectiveness of dry layup for boilers. Pairing the Boiler Lizard® with the Boiler Egg™ makes startup even easier and more effective by eliminating clogging and leakage problems from corrosion during layup and further protecting against corrosion in the critical startup phase when the normal chemical treatment program has not been implemented. Cooling Loop Gator™, the layup technology counterpart for, also offers a similar preservation advantage otherwise not available in standard industry practice.