American Journal of Engineering Research (AJER) 2015 American Journal of Engineering Research (AJER) e-ISSN: 2320-0847 p-ISSN : 2320-0936 Volume-4, Issue-12, pp-101-111 www.ajer.org Research Paper Open Access www.ajer.org Page 111 Bitumen in Coating Corrosion Protection of Steel-The Position and Prognosis of Nigerian Bitumen T.N. Guma 1 , S.Y. Aku 2 , D.S. Yawas 3 , and M. Dauda 4 1 Department of Mechanical Engineering, Nigerian Defence Academy, Kaduna, Kaduna State, Nigeria 2, 3, 4 Department of Mechanical Engineering, Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria, Kaduna State, Nigeria ABSTRACT: The paper discusses bitumen as an important cheap technological material that is supplied in a variety of grades that are not all good for specific wide range of its applications. Various grades of bitumen and their sources as well as conditions that govern their selection for corrosion protection services are reviewed. Problem of corrosion of carbon steel as a prime structural material in relation to Nigeria’s solely petroleum dependent economy which is bedeviled by effects and costly management of corrosion is revisited. Benefits of using bitumen in coating corrosion protection of steel works and potentials of exploiting the country’s vast reserves of natural bitumen, the second largest in the world whose compositional contents and quality vary from location to location; to sustainably and profitably combat her corrosion problem are explored. The exploration exposes Nigerian bitumen as generally undeveloped, uncharacterized and ungraded at various resource locations for proper exploitation due to a number of problems. The paper concludes that for engineering utilization of Nigerian bitumen, impediments to development of her bitumen resources must be sincerely and radically addressed to make her bitumen readily available. Extensive test-evaluation of relevant properties and performances as well as standard grading of the country’s bitumen from various resource locations, and documentation of overall applicable coating codes of practice also needs to be properly undertaken beforehand. Key words: Bitumen grades, selection, corrosion coat-protection of steel, Nigerian bitumen, development and exploitation, scarcity of relevant applicable information I. INTRODUCTION Corrosion is an insidious material degradation process that jeopardizes safety and hinders technological progress to maximal attainments [1]. Corrosion is preponderant in the oil and gas industry. The cost of corrosion to the industry worldwide is huge and staggering. A figure of $300 billion was mentioned in the United States alone in 1998. It was estimated that only 15% of the amount was economically justifiable using the existing technologies of corrosion prevention. Several millions of American dollars are spent worldwide annually on researches on the science and methods of preventing steel corrosion, yet the up-to-date efforts and technological sophistication on the subject are far from utopian achievement[2-7]. The practicable technological achievements have been by various levels of cost-incurring control of corrosion. It is thus apparent that corrosion control is primarily an economic problem. Whether or not to apply a control method is usually determined by the cost savings involved. The method or methods utilized must be the optimum economic choice. Companies, business groups and individuals are not into business primarily to make any product-they are in business to make profit [8]. On this basis, paint or organic coatings have been the most important, versatile and widely used method for combating corrosion of steel-the most important, versatile, widely used available and cheap structural material in our engineering technological era. Corrosion of steel accounts to about 90% of all corrosion problems and make it critical to contend with technologically in all spheres. About 90% of all steel are corrosion-remediated by paints or organic coatings. The area of organic materials and coatings is wide and inexhaustible and engineers have been searching for better materials and various ways and levels of combining them to combat corrosion. It is the duty of the engineer to bring the idea and designs into reality by proper selection of the coating material and technology. To keep the challenges imposed on the engineer, it is desirable for them to have thorough knowledge of coating materials and processes for particular applications [9-12]. Organic coating materials vary greatly and include bitumen, epoxy resin, amino resins, polyamides, polyurethanes, cellulose derivatives, casein, polyolefin, acrylic polymers, drying oils, fossil resins and polyvinyl [13]. Bitumen is a