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Long term integrity...
...minimises life cycle costs

Reducing heat gain and preventing Corrosion under Insulation (CUI) are major cost-control objectives for plant operators. However, achieving these goals depends on long-lasting, watertight cladding. FibaRoll and FibaShield prevent water entry into insulation by providing a strong mechanical barrier with watertight seams and excellent adhesion at terminations.

Reducing heat gain

In gas, LNG and petrochemical plants, much of the purpose of insulation is to prevent liquids from gaining heat while they are running at operating temperatures below ambient. By gaining heat, cold liquids may be lost through boil off or have to be re-liquefied using valuable energy, hence increasing costs.

However, insulation systems are designed to be dry and, if they do become wet, the insulation value is reduced and therefore heat gain increases. FibaRoll and FibaShield systems provide a strong mechanical barrier with watertight seams, thus avoiding wet insulation. This is why some of our biggest applications have been on cold or cryogenic applications, totalling nearly one million square metres of materials – projects like Sakhalin LNG/OPF (400,000 sqm), Nanhai Petrochemical (250,000 sqm) and LNG Import Terminals in Spain (60,000 sqm).

Furthermore, FibaRoll and FibaShield are specified with PAP foils rather than mastics, making the costs and application time attractive against traditional systems.

Reducing the risks of CUI

CUI is a particularly insidious form of corrosion because it is so difficult to spot, hidden as it is under insulation and cladding. It is caused by the presence of water and a breakdown in the coating system.

Water is able to enter the insulation due to inadequate sealing of metal cladding - at overlaps between sheets and at terminations. A further reason for the cladding being compromised is the fact that foot traffic bends the metal, leading to water entry.

Why do coatings break down? Sometimes they are damaged during construction and never properly repaired; in other cases they are damaged during operation or the wrong coating specified originally.

The solution is to use FibaRoll and FibaShield. These systems can be used on all temperature ranges but are best employed from minus190°C to plus 120°C.

FibaRoll is hand applied from rolls, normally as sheets in an uncured form or as FibaClad, which is supplied in cured sections and mouldings. Because of the strong nature of the cladding it is often used to clad vessels prior to erection. This technique is further described in our "Construction" page.

FibaShield Pre-Insulated Pipes are insulated/clad prior to welding and are 12m lengths which combine continuous closed cell insulation and a continuous jacket.

Sealed terminations

FibaRoll is mouldable prior to curing and achieves good adhesion to steel and coated steel. As these pictures show the material is able to closely follow complicated contours and effectively prevent water entry.

Strength to resist impact

Both FibaRoll and FibaShield possess sufficient strength to resist foot traffic, which is a typical source of damage to metal cladding and subsequent water ingress - as these pictures show all too clearly. They show the petrochemical plant built in Nanhai, and were taken about 9 months before the plant was operating. This fact makes foot traffic even more of a problem, because metal cladding was specified on "hot" operating temperatures which would normally be expected to drive off moisture entering the insulation, in which case the risks of CUI are not great. However, this was 9 months before start-up, and the plant was therefore cold!