concrete attack

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Concrete floor coatings needed forprotection in harsh mill areas

Pulp & Paper, Feb 1996 by Van Anglen, Erik

These days, zero loss to the environment is the rule in many states, and any company thathas a chemical spill can be forced to pay for the cleanup, a financial risk that cannot beignored. It is far less expensive to prevent groundwater contamination than it is to remediate

soil beneath a mill. Wherever overflows are common or chemical spills are possible, a reliablesecondary containment system should be established on floors and up containment curbs andwalls.

Resin-rich copolymer toppings are ideal for this purpose under and around tanks, pumps, andpiping because they can be formulated for resistance to most common chemicals overextended periods, and they bond well to damp concrete. The topping selected for secondarycontainment must be impervious to chemicals used or stored in that area. Thirty daychemical resistance test data is available on many products, but more credible data is derivedfrom at least one year of continuous exposure to highly corrosive chemicals.

Because the topping must also protect concrete floors against physical abuse, a thickness of1/4-in. is recommended for all horizontal surfaces.

Bleach plants are especially susceptible to erosion and damage. The floors are constantly wet,with standing pools of water, pulp, filtrate, and other chemicals They ate frequentlydeteriorated by years of chemical attack, yet it can be difficult to provide the necessaryprotection over wet floors without shutting down the plant.

Again, the answer is a resin-rich topping that resists a wide range of chemicals, including thepulp filtrate, 50% caustic, and chlorine dioxide that commonly find their way onto bleachplant floors and into drains. The ability of this topping to adhere to damp substrates is alsocritically important in this wet environment.

In one southern mill with a badly deteriorate bleach plant floor, the installation crew built aseries of dams to control the heavy flow of water and filtrate so that small sections of flooringand drains could be isolated. Although these areas remained damp, they were dry enough sothe work could proceed. More than a month was required to repair the damaged concrete

18/11/2010 Concrete floor coatings needed for pr

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and install the topping, but the extreme wetness problem was solved while the bleach plantcontinued to operate.

In the chemical recovery area, protection or containment may be needed around liquorstorage tanks causticizers, and green and black liquor clarifiers Consideration should be givento covering concrete floor areas where spills of corrosive chemicals are possible.

Around paper machines, wetness frequently leads to worker injuries due to slips and falls.Common anti-slip materials do not last in this environment, because heavy machine rolls and

other heavy equipment break the bond with the concrete and the material comes up. Thesolution is a heavy-duty, moisture-tolerant, resin-rich topping that not only adherestenaciously to the substrate, it withstands the physical abuse of heavy steel-wheeled dolliesand other traffic.

In a Wisconsin mill, a plastic curtain was built beside a tissue machine to shield thedeteriorating floor from splashing water and condensed steam so that the floor could berepaired. Some dampness on the floor was not a detriment to application of a copolymer floortopping. Sand was broadcast over the new floor before it cured. When the surface couldsupport weight, excess sand was broomed off, providing a sandpaper-Like, anti-slip finish.The entire project took only five days, mostly for building the plastic barrier and preparing

the concrete. Application of the new floor required less than one day. After three years ofconstant heavy service, the floor showed absolutely no wear or damage from chemical attack.

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