Cortec® Corporation is the global leader in innovative, environmentally responsible VpCI® and MCI® corrosion control technologies for Packaging, Metalworking, Construction, Electronics, Water Treatment, Oil & Gas, and other industries.
Julie Holmquist: “Cortec® manufactures VCI/VpCI® (Vapor phase Corrosion Inhibitor) packaging, coatings, and water treatments—as well as MCI® (Migrating Corrosion Inhibitors) for concrete construction applications. Cortec® prides itself on finding more environmentally responsible materials and methods to improve sustainability, both by reducing materials’ degradation and developing biobased, biodegradable products where possible. We also manufacture a variety of compostable films—with and without corrosion inhibitors.”
Interview with Julie Holmquist, Marketing Content Writer at Cortec® Corporation.
Easy Engineering: What are the main areas of activity of the company?
Julie Holmquist: Two of the biggest areas of corrosion control we address are storage and shipment of metal parts and equipment. Storage takes on many different faces, whether it be a build ahead program at an auto manufacturer, the layup of critical spares at a power plant, or the mothballing of an offshore rig. Storage can also be an extension of shipment. For manufacturers that want their customer to receive their shipment in like-new condition, it is often critical to use packaging or coatings material that will protect metal from corrosion during transit—especially in harsh oversea export conditions. Many times, the recipient will also need corrosion protection for an extended period before the equipment/parts can be installed or used at the destination site.
E.E: What’s the news about new products?
JH: Our most recent releases are a great representation of the wide range of products Cortec® produces. Here is a sampling:
Eco Film® II Backyard Compostable is Cortec’s newest generation of compostable film development, venturing beyond commercial composability to create a film designed to meet standards for disposal in the backyard compost heap.
EcoLine® AL-Corr™ is a corrosion inhibitor for aluminum agriculture pipe internals. It contains 81% USDA certified biobased content and was made with biodegradable ingredients used in food preservation and personal care products, to minimize environmental impact on fields and in farm water runoff.
EcoClean® Scale and Rust Remover HP is a scale remover that is designed to be safer than extremely harsh chemicals like muriatic acid while still providing fast-acting scale removal.
EcoAir® Biobased Outdoor Coating powered by Nano VpCI® is a biobased temporary rust inhibiting coating that can be applied by way of an air-powered spray can, without the use of traditional spray can propellants. It leaves behind an oily film that does not dry and is great for use in sheltered applications outdoors (i.e., where rain cannot wash it off). Another example of a renewably sourced product, EcoAir® Biobased Outdoor Coating powered by Nano VpCI® contains 65% USDA certified biobased content.
M-535 is a new corrosion inhibitor for use in ashless oil systems that are becoming more and more prevalent in the industrial world. Although compatibility with each individual oil should be verified before adding M-535, this new generation of Cortec® oil additives was made with ashless performance needs in mind and is targeted for use in turbines and other ashless lubrication systems.
EcoShield® VpCI®-386 HT Slip Coating is a high-temperature, extra slip version of one of our best performing water-based anticorrosion coatings. It was designed for use inside piping such as electrical conduits where corrosion protection is needed but an extra degree of slip is required to thread electrical wires through.
E.E: What are the ranges of products?
JH: As noted, our products range from packaging, to coatings, to water treatments, to additives, to corrosion inhibitors for concrete. Packaging is one of our largest product categories, including VCI films and bags, VCI papers, VCI emitting materials, and compostable films. MCI® is another major product line, for which we have developed corrosion inhibiting concrete admixtures, surface applied corrosion inhibitors (SACIs), and MCI® enhanced repair mortars. Water treatments include everything from hydrotesting additives to easy corrosion solutions for boiler and cooling system layup. Permanent and removable coatings offer proprietary chemistry alternatives to the traditional use of sacrificial metals for corrosion protection. Many of our removable coatings and liquid rust preventatives are unnoticeable and easy to remove (or do not need to be removed at all). Cortec® also has a subsidiary that uses natural biotechnology for bioremediation, cleaning, waste treatment, and agricultural enhancement.
E.E: At what stage is the market where you are currently active?
JH: Cliff Cracauer and Jessi Meyer: As Cortec® is an innovator, we operate in leading edge markets where there is more developmental work that has to happen, all the way to mature markets.
E.E: What can you tell us about market trends?
JH: Sustainability is a huge market trend across all industries. The market is interested in using more renewable resources in place of petroleum and finding other ways to lower environmental impact. Cortec’s work dovetails directly into this interest with its portfolio of biobased rust preventative products, its Migrating Corrosion Inhibitors to extend the service life of high-impact concrete structures, and its compostable films and in-house VCI film recycling programs.
E.E: What are the most innovative products marketed?
JH: Two product lines that come to mind are our boiler layup “animals” and our MCI® Technology. Our boiler layup “animals” are true market leaders for an industry where the standard practice has been to use desiccant, nitrogen purge, dehumidification, or do nothing to protect the inside of a boiler from corrosion during temporary shutdown. Products like the Boiler Lizard® have revolutionized this preventative maintenance area. Boiler Lizard® is a water-soluble film tube filled with Vapor phase Corrosion Inhibitor powder. Application is pretty simple just by placing the tube inside the boiler waterside, slitting the packaging open to release the protective vapors, and closing all boiler openings. You don’t even have to make sure the system is bone dry. Return to service is incredibly easy, because the Boiler Lizard® just dissolves in the water as the boiler is refilled, and the user is able to avoid problems like high iron levels in the water or corrosion products clogging the system.
Our line of Migrating Corrosion Inhibitors (MCI®) has led the market with a technology that everyone wants to copy. MCI® Technology departed from traditional calcium nitrite based corrosion inhibiting admixtures to create products approved for use in potable water structures, that are easy for ready-mixers to work with, and work independently of the chloride threshold.
E.E: What estimations do you have for 2022?
JH: CC and JM: As a whole, Cortec® is experiencing above average growth this year. We expect this trend to continue for the foreseeable future as much of the supply chain is still behind.