Industrial Nanotech, Inc. announced that their patented Nansulate Translucent PT thermal insulation and asset protection coating has been chosen for an oil refinery project to provide thermal insulation and corrosion protection of an oil pipeline at Galp Energia’s Porto Refinery. Nansulate coatings are currently included in an additional project bid, which is pending award, for fuel storage tanks at the same refinery. The coatings will be used at their Porto Refinery and will provide both thermal insulation and corrosion prevention. Nansulate coatings resist moisture absorption and have the ability to retain their insulating ability over time without degradation. This applications consists of 20 coats of Nansulate Translucent PT for insulation to reduce surface temperature from 100°C to approximately 30°C. The overall dry film thickness of the application will be approximately 1,000 microns. Nansulate technology was originally created specifically for these types of applications; to provide a solution to corrosion under insulation (CUI), while offering excellent weathering capabilities and performance attributes that are not typically found in other types of insulation.
Galp Energia SGPS SA, Portugal’s biggest oil company, plans to invest €5.2 billion ($6.5 billion) through 2013 as it develops projects including Tupi, the biggest oil discovery in the Americas in three decades. Galp plans to spend €2.2 billion on its refining and marketing division, mostly on conversion projects at its Sines and Porto refineries as it tries to increase diesel output and improve refining margins. Galp Energia acquires from several suppliers the crude oil that is processed in its refineries at Sines and Porto. These refineries have a total refining capacity of 310 thousand barrels of crude oil a day, or 20 percent of the Iberian Peninsula’s refining capacity.