Figure 1 The EPRI 50-Year Coating Evaluation Report
In 2017, three large electric utilities gave the Electric Power Research Institute (EPRI) the task of identifying a 50-year coating. Initial testing was performed to reduce the field of contenders down to a final grouping of seven coatings. Those seven, which included Ovante’s Storm Greeter, are listed by type in EPRI’s final report.
For the final round of tests, galvanized steel coupons, coated with each contender, were divided into four groups: a base group, a UV group, a salt spray group, and an immersion group. The last three groups were subjected to accelerated life testing. 1,200 hours in either UV, salt spray, or immersion chambers is equivalent to 50 years in the real world. After that 1,200 hours, the coupons from each group were subjected to tests aimed at bringing the coatings to the point of failure.
The testing ended in July of 2019, at a facility in Louisville, Kentucky with a playoff between the top two coatings. Each company was required to coat two pole sections. Ovante coated the sections, achieving an average of 50 mils thickness, in one application. The other top contender required six applications to reach 20 mils.
According to the final scores, Storm Greeter finished in the top two. However, there were two tests performed on all seven coatings, the results of which could not be scored. Those were the Modified 3-point Bend Test and the Electrochemical Impedance Spectroscopy (EIS) test.
In the 3-point bend test, Storm Greeter never cracked. The other coating cracked. In the EIS testing, Storm Greeter showed that the more it was abused, the more resistant, or capacitant, it became.
Finally, Storm Greeter can be applied in the field as a repair, or as a new coating. The other coating can’t do that. Ovante considers that a win!