Many types of thermal insulation materials are used in oil and gas plant facilities. Recently new materials have been developed to prevent corrosion under insulation (CUI) and even the conventional materials have been improved their properties to provide better protection.When designing a plant measures to prevent CUI are studied when verifying the materials of construction determining the protective coatings systems and selecting thermal insulation and jacketing materials. Measures to prevent CUI should not be considered separately for these but rather together as a total system. Recently though while protective coatings have been studied by users coating manufacturers and independent organizations such as testing laboratories engineering firms and consultants there has been little investigation of the ability of thermal insulation materials themselves to prevent CUI.In this study the ability of various thermal insulation materials to prevent CUI in a simulated severely corrosive environment were examined. The factors influencing CUI prevention or aggravation were identified based on which it was recommended that these factors be considered when selecting thermal insulation materials during the design of a plant. As a summary of this study experiences of design of plants and related other CUI studies effective ideas relating to protective coatings thermal insulation and jacketing materials for preventing CUI will be shared.

The designer of industrial equipment and piping has three weapons in the fight against corrosion
under insulation (CUI). The first and primary defense against CUI is a high quality, immersion
grade coating. The second is a properly designed and installed weather barrier jacketing. The third
and, arguably, least understood element is the choice of insulation material. This paper will explore
the ways in which insulation materials influence CUI behavior, presenting results from both
laboratory and field-testing on seven industrial insulation materials and one composite system.
The materials tested were calcium silicate, expanded perlite, cellular glass, mineral wool (both
regular and water-repellent grade), and two types of flexible aerogel blanket material -Pyrogel
XT and Cryogel Z

Pond investigated pressure vessel tank failures which are causing recurring maintenance of $250,000 per year. This challenging project had limitations of space, operational time pressures/vessel availability requirements, cost and replacement variables. This presentation will chronical problems and discuss best practices of specifications, material selection, surface preparation, and application inspection that would have prevented the aforementioned outcome. This paper discusses the fundamentals of composite coatings, industry accepted design standards for their use, and examples of typical uses for these materials that solve problems in varied industries.