Giant construction project protected by International

Citation

(2001), "Giant construction project protected by International", Anti-Corrosion Methods and Materials, Vol. 48 No. 2. https://doi.org/10.1108/acmm.2001.12848bab.005

Giant construction project protected by International

Giant construction project protected by International

Keywords: International Protective Coatings, Steel, Coatings

It is reported that products from International Protective Coatings have been used to protect the steel on Canada's largest ever construction project, a massive new US$1.8 billion aluminium plant in Quebec.

The plant is owned by Alcan Aluminium Ltd, said to be the world's second largest integrated aluminium producer. It will produce 375,000 tonnes of aluminium a year, about 20 per cent of Alcan's annual total output of 1.9 million tonnes.

Sited 225km north of Quebec City, in the remote Saguenay-Lac Saint-Jean region, the huge complex, covering 95 hectares, took two years to contruct.

It has two pot lines – 1km and 0.5km; 432 reduction cells (or pots), that use Pechiney AP-30 pre-baked anodes with dry scrubbers. It also encompasses a high voltage sub-station, raw materials unloading and storage facilities, a pot relining shop, anode plant, casting centre, molten metal shipping centre, closed loop water process and environmental protection and control equipment.

The 620mw of power it requires come partly from Alcan's own hydro-electric installations. The whole site is surrounded by a 4-6m high acoustic berm to abate noise and reduce the impact of the plant on the surrounding environment. The Alma Smelter employs 700 workers, many from the company's nearby Isle-Maligne smelter.

IPC products are used on 42,000 tonnes of structural steel, piping, stacks and silos for the carbon sector, pot-gas treatment, central potline, secondary potline and casting house.

International has enjoyed a successful business relationship with main contractor and engineering firm SNC-LAVALIN for over 20 years. Fabricators were Supermetal (Quebec City), ADF (Montreal), Can-Am (St Gedeon/Montreal), Proco (Alma Quebec) Structure GB (Rimouski, Quebec) and Mometal (Montreal, Quebec). Specialist coatings applicators were Trans-Canada Sandblast, Drytec, Houle Sandblast and Peinture D'Hauterive, all from the Montreal area, and Sablage Industriel Saguenay from Chicoutimi.

The value of the coatings to International Protective Coatings is approx $Can4 million.

Earlier aluminium smelters had been protected very successfully by HB Chlorinated Rubber, but this substance has since been banned from its sites by Alcan. Instead, the company wanted a direct-to-metal, fast drying primer/finish epoxy in medium grey and finally approved Intergard 540HS, a product that was not at that time globally available and had never before been produced in the US factories.

This coating was subsequently used on the majority of the steel, after a short initial delay in setting up production of the coating in the Americas, with a special faster drying catalyst to accommodate the Canadian winter weather, when temperatures can go down to –40°C. Since then International has globalised its product range.

Intergard 540 is described as a low VOC, high build, high solids product containing zinc phosphate and designed to be fast drying. It is a single coat epoxy primer/finish for moderately corrosive environments with a hard abrasion-resistant film to minimise damage during handling.

International Protective Coatings offers full technical support for all its coating systems. The company owns factories in 21 countries and has offices in more than 50. The product range is now global and produced to the same specification wherever it is ordered and delivered. The company also promotes the use of independent random infra-red fingerprinting. This effectively identifies chemically whether a product specified (and registered via fingerprinting) is the same as the product supplied at site, ensuring that the customer is getting what he needs.

Full details of the company's products are available in their comprehensive global product catalogue. This has just been made available in an interactive CD-ROM format. In addition to all the product details contained in the printed version, a new section enables International's customers to quickly and easily create their own global specifications to the new ISO 12944 standard, with full supporting documentation.

Details available from: International Protective Coatings. Tel: +44 (0)20 7479 6000; Fax: +44 (0)20 7479 6555; E-mail: jim.kavanagh@uk.akzonobel.com Web site: www.intemational-pc.com

Canada: Tel: +1 514 333 6221; Fax: +1 514 333 3030; E-mail: richard.champagne@uk.akzonobel.com