Views: 2 Author: Site Editor Publish Time: 2025-08-08 Origin: Site
In various industrial and infrastructure constructions, steel pipes are an important component, and their corrosion resistance is crucial. FBE coated steel pipes are a cost-effective surface coating solution for pipeline anti-corrosion treatment. So, what exactly is FBE coated steel pipe? What are its unique features?
FBE stands for Fusion Bonded Epoxy, which means fusion bonded epoxy powder. FBE coated steel pipe is a special process that evenly applies epoxy powder on the surface of the steel pipe, and after high-temperature curing, forms a strong protective layer that is tightly bonded to the steel pipe. This protective layer is like putting a strong armor on the steel pipe, making it resistant to various harsh environmental erosion.
FBE coating can be divided into single-layer and double-layer. The single-layer FBE coating uses a specialized fusion bonded epoxy powder coating as the film-forming material, and is formed in one go through electrostatic spraying technology. This epoxy powder coating is made by mixing and crushing solid epoxy resin, curing agent, and various additives. Before coating, the steel pipe needs to undergo shot blasting treatment and intermediate frequency preheating, and then the epoxy powder coating is sprayed on the surface of the heated steel pipe, melted, bonded, and solidified to form a coating. The double-layer FBE coating uses a standard FBE coating as the base coating and a modified FBE coating as the outer anti-corrosion layer, further enhancing the comprehensive performance of the coating.
The production of FBE coated steel pipe is a rigorous and orderly process, and each link has a significant impact on the final product quality. The specific process flow is as follows:
Steel Pipe Treatment
Hot Treatment
Epoxy Powder Spraying
Curing Treatment
Cooling Treatment
Finished Product Inspection
This is the core function of FBE coating. Epoxy powder has a strong adhesive force with the surface of steel pipes, forming a tight barrier that effectively prevents oxygen, moisture, and various corrosive media from coming into contact with the steel pipes, thereby slowing down the corrosion rate of the steel pipes and greatly extending their service life. FBE coating can provide reliable corrosion protection for steel pipes, whether in humid underground environments or chemically aggressive industrial scenes.
FBE coating not only prevents corrosion, but also has excellent mechanical properties. It has high hardness and wear resistance, can withstand a certain degree of friction and impact, and is not easily scratched or damaged. During the transportation, installation, and use of pipelines, even under external forces, the FBE coating can remain intact and continue to provide protection. At the same time, the coating also has good bending resistance and can adapt to the deformation of steel pipes under different working conditions without cracking or peeling.
In many industrial fields, pipelines need to transport various substances with chemical properties, and FBE coatings have excellent resistance to a variety of chemicals. Whether it is common corrosive chemicals such as acid, alkali, salt, or some special industrial media, FBE coating can effectively resist their erosion, ensuring the safe operation of steel pipes in complex chemical environments.
FBE coated steel pipes are suitable for environments within a certain temperature range. The operating temperature range of ordinary fusion bonded epoxy powder coating is usually -30 ℃~100 ℃, which can meet the needs of most conventional working conditions. In some occasions with special temperature requirements, special formulations of epoxy powder can be used to further improve the high or low temperature resistance of the coating, making it suitable for more extreme temperature conditions.
Galvanized
Painting
3LPE/3PP Coated
The production of FBE coated steel pipes follows strict standards to ensure the reliability and stability of product quality. Here are some common relevant standards both domestically and internationally:
1.CSA Z245.20-2018 "Pipeline Fusion Bonded Epoxy Powder External Protective Coating Standard": This standard specifies the identification, application, inspection, testing, handling, and storage requirements for the application of fusion bonded epoxy (FBE) coating on the outer wall of steel pipes for six coating systems. It is one of the important FBE coating standards internationally.
2. ISO 21809-2:2014 "Petroleum and natural gas industries - External anti-corrosion coatings for buried or underwater pipelines used in pipeline transportation systems - Part 2: Single layer fusion bonded epoxy coatings" specifies the identification, application, testing, and handling requirements for welded steel pipes and seamless steel pipes used in pipeline transportation systems in the petroleum and natural gas industry for the application of single layer fusion bonded epoxy (FBE) coatings in anti-corrosion plants. It is widely used in the international pipeline anti-corrosion industry.
3. ISO 21809-1:2018 "Petroleum and natural gas industries - External anti-corrosion coatings for buried or underwater pipelines used in pipeline transportation systems - Part 1: Polyolefin anti-corrosion coatings (three-layer polyethylene and three-layer polypropylene)": Although mainly targeting three-layer structured polyethylene anti-corrosion coatings (3PE) or three-layer structured polypropylene anti-corrosion coatings (3PP), it also includes relevant requirements for FBE coatings.
In the field of pipeline anti-corrosion, 3LPE and FBE are commonly used coating methods, and they differ in multiple aspects:
1.3LPE coating: 3LPE is a three-layer polyethylene coating, with the inner layer consisting of fusion bonded epoxy powder (FBE), which provides good adhesion and corrosion resistance; The middle layer is an adhesive layer that serves to connect the inner FBE and outer polyethylene layers; The outer layer is made of polyethylene, which has excellent resistance to mechanical damage, water, and ultraviolet radiation. This multi-layer structure enables the 3LPE coating to integrate the advantages of multiple materials, resulting in more comprehensive protective performance.
2. FBE coating: FBE coating is usually a single-layer structure (there are also double-layer structures, but relatively few), directly coating epoxy powder on the surface of steel pipes. Its structure is relatively simple, but with the excellent properties of epoxy powder itself, it can also provide reliable protection for steel pipes.
1.3LPE coating: Due to its unique three-layer structure, the 3LPE coating exhibits excellent anti-corrosion performance. The inner FBE is tightly integrated with the steel pipe, effectively preventing corrosive media from corroding the steel pipe; The intermediate adhesive layer ensures a firm connection between each layer; The outer layer of polyethylene can block the invasion of moisture, oxygen, and microorganisms. In harsh corrosive environments such as high salinity soil and strong acid-base industrial areas, the 3LPE coating can provide long-term and efficient anti-corrosion protection for pipelines.
2. FBE coating: FBE coating has good corrosion resistance, strong adhesion between epoxy powder and steel pipe surface, and the formed coating has good resistance to chemical media erosion. However, in some extreme corrosive environments, its protective performance may be slightly inferior compared to 3LPE coating. However, in most conventional corrosive environments, FBE coated steel pipes can fully meet the usage requirements and have a high cost-effectiveness.
1.3LPE coating: In the 3LPE coating, the inner layer FBE has strong adhesion to the surface of the steel pipe, and the middle adhesive layer further enhances the bonding force between each layer, making the entire coating system form a tight whole with the steel pipe. The adhesion is strong and can effectively resist the peeling phenomenon of the coating during use.
2. FBE coating: FBE coating itself also has good adhesion to the surface of steel pipes, ensuring that the coating firmly adheres to the steel pipe under normal use conditions. However, due to its single-layer structure, the stability of its adhesion may not be as good as that of 3LPE coating under some special working conditions, such as high mechanical stress or drastic temperature changes.
1.3LPE coating: commonly used in important pipeline projects with extremely high anti-corrosion requirements, such as long-distance oil and gas pipelines, pipelines crossing complex geographical environments such as rivers, lakes, and swamps, and municipal water and gas supply pipelines laid in corrosive soil. These projects have strict requirements for the service life and safety of pipelines, and the high performance of 3LPE coating can meet these needs.
2. FBE coating: widely used in pipelines in general corrosive environments, such as urban sewage discharge pipelines, industrial wastewater transportation pipelines, coal mine underground water supply and drainage and ventilation pipelines, etc. In these scenarios, FBE coated steel pipes can provide reliable protection and have good economy, making them an ideal choice.
1.3LPE coating: It has a wide temperature adaptability range and can maintain good performance in both high and low temperature environments. Under some special formulas, it can even adapt to more extreme temperature conditions and is suitable for pipeline laying in various climatic conditions.
2. FBE coating: The operating temperature of ordinary FBE coating can meet the temperature requirements of most conventional working conditions. However, in extremely cold or hot environments, additional insulation or cooling measures may be necessary to ensure the stability of coating performance.
1.3LPE coating: The outer polyethylene layer has certain flexibility and impact resistance, which can absorb and disperse external impact forces, effectively protecting the inner FBE coating and steel pipe from damage. 3LPE coating exhibits good adaptability in situations where mechanical impact may occur during pipeline transportation, installation, and use.
2. FBE coating: Due to its single-layer and relatively hard structure, the impact resistance of FBE coating is relatively weak. When impacted by sharp objects or significant external forces, the coating may be damaged, thereby affecting its protective effect. Therefore, more attention should be paid to avoiding mechanical damage to FBE coated steel pipes during construction and use.
