Nitrogen blanketing has long been a standard method for preserving idle industrial tanks, process vessels, and piping runs.
However, setting up pressurised gas lines is expensive, requires constant monitoring, and creates a serious suffocation risk for workers entering the area.
Cortec® Corporation’s environment-friendly VpCI®-337 inhibitor is a direct, ready-to-use, complete replacement for nitrogen blankets and dry air systems.
Instead of maintaining inert gas pressures, maintenance crews mist the waterborne fluid directly into enclosed void spaces.
The vapour phase inhibitors diffuse through the air inside the enclosure, forming a protective molecular barrier on all exposed metal surfaces, including internal crevices, tube banks, and pipe bends that liquid coatings cannot reach.
Beyond improving safety and cutting operational costs, VpCI®-337 delivers a strong environmental advantage over traditional preservation methods.
Formulated as a waterborne, low-VOC liquid, it eliminates reliance on heavy, solvent-based rust preventatives that release harmful volatile organic compounds into the atmosphere.
Technicians apply VpCI®-337 fogging fluid into equipment interiors to prevent internal corrosion
The fluid is biodegradable, ensuring that facilities can manage chemical inventories responsibly without introducing persistent environmental contaminants.
Because it leaves only a thin, self-replenishing protective layer rather than a thick oily residue, plants do not need to perform chemical stripping or solvent degreasing prior to equipment restart.
This eliminates the generation of hazardous wash-water runoff, saving labour while supporting strict plant environmental standards.
Field applications across the global energy sector highlight the practical reliability of this approach.
At a major liquefied natural gas (LNG) project in Malaysia, an oil and gas operator sought a safer alternative to nitrogen blanketing for internal pipe preservation.
By fogging VpCI®-337 into pipe sections and inlet header boxes, the facility achieved 24 months of complete corrosion protection without the high maintenance costs or safety hazards of pressurised gas.
A similar success occurred at the South Humber Bank Power Station in the UK during a cold-weather shutdown.
VpCI®-337 inhibitor is a direct, ready-to-use, complete replacement for nitrogen blankets and dry air systems
Applicators fogged VpCI®-337 inside two heat recovery steam generators (HRSGs) to protect internal tube banks.
Plant engineers noted that the technique successfully prevented internal corrosion and completely eliminated corrosion dust upon unit start-up, simplifying the commissioning process while maintaining safe working conditions.
This provided a complete replacement for nitrogen blanketing, which is expensive to install and maintain and poses health hazards to personnel entering equipment interiors.
The treatment works across multiple metals, including steel, aluminium, cast iron, copper, and brass making it ideal for power generation assets, LNG piping runs, export shipping packaging, and double-wall void spaces.
For cold climates, Cortec® also produces VpCI®-337 Winterised, which handles application and storage down to -40 deg C (-40 deg F).
By replacing nitrogen blanketing with waterborne VpCI® technology, industrial facilities can significantly reduce operational risks without compromising on corrosion protection.