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by Ron Joseph

July, 2004

Effect of Exhaust Gases on Paints and Coatings

Q. Do you know where I can go for information of the interaction between exhaust gases from engines and paint surfaces ? The gases can be NO, N2O, HNO3, HCl ? Also I need information on paint surfaces going through extreme temperature changes (-200°C up to 25°C) in the presence of these gases (which may liquify or solidify at low temp).

A. Unfortunately I cannot give you a direct answer, because you did not provide information regarding the coatings that are being used. Since some of the gases are acidic, you would definitvely want an acid resistant coating that also has high temperature resistance. It seems to me, but experimentation would be required to confirm this, that polyurethane coatings might stand up quite well.

Depending on the aggresiveness of the environment, you might need to look at a system such as a vinyl or phenolic.

In your email you did not tell me what the end product is, whether it is a large surface or small, what it is made of, etc. Another extremely important piece of information will be the humidity, under which the paint will be exposed, since high humidities will almost certainly result in acidic condensate.

Frankly, I'm hesitant to provide recommendations for a problem such as this, because there are too many factors that will determine the success of the paint system.

If you would like to discuss this with me further, please do not hesitate to call or write, and we can go from there.

If this were my project, I would definitely conduct experiments to determine the likelihood of paint failure.


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