HVAC/R refrigeration coils are leaking at an alarming rate IT’S THE WATER

in industrial, commercial, and residential applications. While

the reasons are many, chemicals ranging from household clean-
ers to industrial process compounds are the main culprits that
produce leaks and pitting corrosion on all types of coils.
Many HVAC manufacturers, distributors, and contrac-
tors might not realize that corrosion caused hundreds of
thousands of coil failures during the past decade. The source
is environmental pollutants, household cleaning agents,
pesticides, formaldehydes, building materials, and even off-
gassing of food. Each contamination source can corrode coil
tubing in a year or less, if the conditions are right (Figure 1).
For example, refrigeration coils in a South American fruit
processing plant’s banana room were continually failing.
Figure 1. Continuous contact with contaminated condensate
The chamber used ethylene gas to ripen the fruit. Byprod- caused this corrosion.
ucts from the gas generator combined with moisture in the
ripening area to form a weak acid that produced pinhole SEA TO SHINING SEA
leaks in the coil tubing after a year or less.
Also, most coastal area HVAC equipment is bombarded
with corrosion caused by ocean salt (Figure 2).

TYPES OF COIL CORROSION

The most common forms of coil corrosion are pitting and
formicary corrosion. Both can occur in as little as a few
weeks, but most corrosion begins appearing within a one-to-
four-year period. The ability to distinguish pitting from for-
micary corrosion might help detect and eliminate the cause.
Pitting corrosion (Figure 3) is typically caused by chlo-
rides or fluorides. Chlorides are found in snow-melting
crystals, toilet bowl/tile cleaners, dishwasher detergents,
fabric softeners, vinyl fabrics, carpeting, and paint strippers. Figure 2. This corroded coil is from a coastal area.

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 Reliability / HVAC
Fluorides are used in municipal water treatment. Pitting
usually is visible to the naked eye on the exterior of a copper
tube. It’s caused by chloride/fluoride ions that condensate
carries to the metal surface. The cations attack the oxide
film the metal uses to protect itself, essentially forming a
corrosion-driven battery that consumes the copper. Once
pits form, they progress through the tube wall forming a
pinhole that leaks refrigerant.
Formicary corrosion (Figure 4), on the other hand, is
caused by organic acids. Acetic acid is abundant in numer-
ous household products such as adhesives, paneling, particle
board, silicone caulking, cleaning solvents, vinegar, foam
insulation, and dozens of other products. Formic acid can
be found in cosmetics, disinfectants, tobacco, wood smoke,
latex paints, plywood, and dozens of other materials. The
corrosion these substances cause usually isn’t visible to the
naked eye, although black or blue-gray deposits sometimes
appear. Formicary corrosion produces a network of micro-
scopic tunnels within the tubing wall. It resembles ant nest-
type structures that are substantially larger than the surface
pinholes. Eventually, one or more progresses to the surface
and forms a pinhole, which quickly results in coil leakage.
46 September 2010 www.pLANtSerVICeS.Com
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Choosing the Right Coating
When confronting coil corrosion, first determine if it will
recur after replacement. It’s difficult to know if corrosion is a
one-time phenomenon or a continuing problem in that loca-
tion. In the case of the banana processing plant or a coastal
area unit, coils most likely will corrode continually, and
their replacement units should have a protective coating.
In less corrosive environments, you can attempt to pre-
vent corrosive materials from entering the return air stream.
You can store these materials in areas far from a return duct.
This might eliminate the need to coat a replacement unit.
Choosing the most appropriate coating could save thou-
sands of dollars and eliminate repeat treatments. The wrong
coil coating could degrade heat transfer and lead to higher
energy bills. Heat transfer is a major concern when coating a
coil, especially in a retrofit, because the coil might no longer
perform at its design specification. The thinner the coating,
the better the heat transfer. Another concern is the coating’s
hydrophobicity, or how well it sheds condensate. Ideally, water
would drain off of the coil quickly. Surface water accumulation
is detrimental because it can lead to mold and mildew. Most
coatings don’t resist biological growth, but high hydrophobicity
can passively deter such growth.
the ChoiCes
The four most prominent HVAC coatings are polyurethanes,
epoxies, fluoropolymers, and silanes. Each offers differing
corrosion resistance, scratch resistance, flexibility, weight,
thickness, hydrophobicity, and heat transfer.
Polyurethane (PU), invented in the 1940s, can be manu-
factured as hard as fiberglass, bouncy as rubber, sticky as
glue, and soft as upholstery foam. Many off-the-shelf PU-
based coil coatings can be field-applied. PU formulations are
fairly inexpensive, less viscous, more flexible, and thinner
– typically 25 microns to 50 microns – than most coatings.
But, they aren’t as resilient or long-lasting as other coatings.
Epoxy, or phenolic-based, coatings generally are the
cheapest. Developed in the late 1920s, they’re known for
excellent chemical and heat resistance and often are used
for coating floors and other surfaces. The high viscosity of
epoxy-based systems leads to thicker coatings – approxi-
more resources at www.plantservices.com
toPiC seaRCh
hePa filters “Waging the battle against dirty air”
Chiller tips “10 tips for improving chiller efficiency”
Finance “selling your hVaC project”
Refrigeration “10 cooler ideas”
Reheat coils “Watch those hVaC reheat systems”
For more, search www.Plantservices.com using
the keywords acid, corrosion, and refrigeration.
8/26/10 10:56 AM

Go deep
Figure 3. This cross-section shows the results of pitting corrosion.
mately 50 microns to 100 microns – with poor flexibility and
adherence. Epoxy is difficult to apply in the field. Typically,
the coil is disconnected and shipped to a contractor or OEM
for treatment. Because they’re thicker, epoxy coatings reduce
heat transfer, system efficiency, and capacity. Epoxy coatings
might best suit new installations where heat transfer losses
PS1009_45_48_hvac.indd 47
Reliability / HVAC
invisible to the naked eye
Figure 4. This cross-section shows how deep-seated formicary
corrosion can penetrate a copper tube.
are accounted for in the system design specifications.
Fluoropolymers, first developed in 1938 by DuPont, are
available in many forms under a variety of trade names.
They’re known for their high resistance to acids, solvents,
and bases. They’re most effectively applied to metal
through electrostatic powder coating or by a thermal sin-
www.PLANTSERVICES.Com SEPTEmbER 2010 47
8/26/10 10:56 AM
 Reliability / HVAC

tering, as is done for cookware and fluoropolymer-based field-use coatings haven’t gained traction in the industry
other non-stick products. typically is less than the more ad- because of the expense and the inabil-
Additionally, many field-applied vanced epoxy- and PU-based coatings, ity to apply those coatings in the field.
fluoropolymer sprays are available. but the lifetime and effectiveness are Silanes are excellent coupling agents
These sprays generally have poor ad- limited. Fluoropolymer coatings ap- that can bond dissimilar materials such
hesion, and their effectiveness quickly plied in the correct manner, through as paint (an organic material) and glass
diminishes significantly. The cost of thermal sintering or electrocoating, (an inorganic material). A variety of
silanes are available, many of which are
tailored for particular characteristics such
as flexibility, hydrophobicity, and scratch-
resistance. Thus, a properly formulated
FREE Hotel Nights and Spouse Pass for Early Bird silane coating can provide a flexible,
Registration resilient glass-like coating with good cor-
rosion resistance and water-draining ca-
pability that bonds well to aluminum and
copper (an inorganic material). Silanes
form an extremely thin coating – less
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Nov 8-12, 2010, Bally’s Hotel on the Las Vegas Strip, corrosion, are hydrophobic, and reduce
Las Vegas airflow friction. Silanes can be difficult
to apply properly in the field if you’re not
a trained applicator. The coil surfaces
Our Keynote Speaker is Special guest apperance by must be cleaned thoroughly and prepared
America’s most trusted Sig Hansen, Capt. F/V NorthWestern properly for a successful application, and
contractor, Mike
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off-site. Although silane coatings typi-
cally are somewhat more expensive than
the other coatings, they also exhibit the
best heat transfer properties and typically
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only one-stop educational event for • 4½ days of presentations Our research indicates that a silane-
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each day tection from the environment and has
maintenance, energy auditing,
building diagnostics, condition • Exhibits & networking events minimal effect on heat transfer while
monitoring, machine vision and • Renew your ITC certification remaining a long-lasting barrier that
automation, optical gas imaging • Spouse pass includes all daily protects an HVAC coil against corro-
and gas detection, R&D, thermal Breakfasts, lunches, and gala sion for an extended time – typically
dynamics in engineering design … dinner
and much more!
five years or more.
Each coating technology carries
different levels of toxicity. A service
technician who is planning to apply
Register online now at www.inframation.org any of these coatings in the field
or call us at 866.872.4647 should be outfitted with proper OSHA
equipment and the appropriate breath-
ing apparatus.

Joshua D. Sole, Ph.D., is senior mechani-

cal engineer and alan H. brothers, Ph.D.,
is senior materials engineer at Mainstream
engineering Corp., Rockledge, Fla. Con-
tact them at (321) 631-3550.

48 September 2010 www.pLANtSerVICeS.Com

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