This standard (recommended practice) provides guidelines for obtaining an effective internal coating or corrosion barrier to protect against general or pitting corrosion of production equipment commonly used in oilfield operations at atmospheric and elevated pressures. This document is not applicable to the internal or external coating of tubing, casing, line pipe, or other tubular goods.

This standard details various factors required to obtain a satisfactory coating, including production equipment design and fabrication considerations, surface preparation, coating application, and inspection.

Determination of the need for coating, selection of portions of the production equipment to be coated, and selection of a coating are outside the scope of this standard. These decisions must be based on the user's experience, knowledge of the system conditions, project economics, and environmental and safety considerations. Because numerous excellent coatings are available, no attempt was made to list all of the coatings suitable for this service.

This standard is a revision to NACE Standard RP0181-81 and replaces former NACE Standard RP0372-81, "Method for Lining Lease Production Tanks with Coal Tar Epoxy." This NACE standard, prepared by Task Group T-1G-20 of Unit Committee T-1G on Protective Coatings and Nonmetallic Materials for Oilfield Use, is issued by NACE under the auspices of Group Committee T-1 on Corrosion Control in Petroleum Production.

Historical Document 1994