Fusion Bonded Epoxy Powder Coating

Fusion Bonded Epoxy Powder Coating

Fusion bonded epoxy coating, also known as fusion-bond epoxy powder coating and commonly referred to as FBE coating, is an epoxy based powder coating that is widely used to protect steel pipe used in pipeline construction, concrete reinforcing bars (rebar) and on a wide variety of piping connections, valves etc. from corrosion. FBE coatings are thermoset polymer coatings. They come under the category of protective coatings in paints and coating nomenclature. The name fusion-bond epoxy is due to resin cross-linking and the application method, which is different from a conventional paint. The resin and hardener components in the dry powder FBE stock remain unreacted at normal storage conditions. At typical coating application temperatures, usually in the range of 180 to 250 °C (356 to 482 °F), the contents of the powder melt and transform to a liquid form. The liquid FBE film wets and flows onto the steel surface on which it is applied, and soon becomes a solid coating by chemical cross-linking, assisted by heat. This process is known as “fusion bonding”. The chemical cross-linking reaction taking place in this case is irreversible. Once the curing takes place, the coating cannot be returned to its original form by any means. Application of further heating will not “melt” the coating and thus it is known as a “thermoset” coating. The world's leading FBE manufacturers are Valspar, KCC Corporation, Jotun Powder Coatings, Sherwin-Williams, 3M, DuPont, Akzo Nobel, BASF and Rohm & Haas.

Read more about Fusion Bonded Epoxy Powder Coating:  History

Famous quotes containing the words fusion, powder and/or coating:

    No ... the real American has not yet arrived. He is only in the Crucible, I tell you—he will be the fusion of all races, perhaps the coming superman.
    Israel Zangwill (1864–1926)

    Uncle Ben’s brass bullet-mould
    And powder horn, and Major Bogan’s face
    Above the fire, in the half-light, plainly said
    There’s naught to kill but the animated dead;
    Allen Tate (1899–1979)

    The world is eaten up by boredom.... You can’t see it all at once. It is like dust. You go about and never notice, you breathe it in, you eat and drink it. It is sifted so fine, it doesn’t even grit on your teeth. But stand still for an instant and there it is, coating your face and hands. To shake off this drizzle of ashes you must be for ever on the go. And so people are always “on the go.”
    Georges Bernanos (1888–1948)