BEIJING, Sept. 15 /PRNewswire/ -- Owens Corning (NYSE:
OC), a leading global producer of glass fiber reinforcements for
composite systems and residential and commercial building
materials, will present a technical seminar at China Composites
Expo highlighting how developing nations can avoid building a
legacy of corrosion that will require spending enormous sums
annually for infrastructure repair and replacement by using today's
advanced materials and processes including inherently
corrosion-resistant fiberglass-reinforced polymer composites.
In China alone – if current
construction practices are continued for the next 17 years when the
country could become the world's largest economy – China's annual cost of corrosion could then be
more than US$ 1 trillion
(6.8 trillion Yuan). By employing
optimum corrosion management practices today, China's annual savings could then be as much
as US$ 347 billion (2.4 trillion Yuan).
Estimates of the worldwide direct cost of corrosion today exceed
US$ 1.8 trillion (12.2 trillion Yuan), or 3 to 4 percent of the
Gross Domestic Product (GDP) of industrialized countries.(2) New
material solutions have been developed since much of the corroding
infrastructure was installed in developed nations. An estimated 25
to 30 percent of the annual cost of corrosion can be saved if
optimum corrosion management practices are employed.(3)
Using the 4-percent-of-GDP rate found in industrialized nations
and estimating a 30 percent annual cost reduction for using optimum
corrosion management practices, potential annual savings for other
rapidly developing countries in 2027 could be as much as
US$ 54 billion for Brazil, US$ 54.6 billion for
Russia and US$ 130.2 billion for India.
"Developing nations can now avoid repeating the costly repair
and replacement cycle by adopting modern materials and construction
methods – including composites – that simply weren't around when
many more developed countries were building their core
infrastructures," said Jeffrey Xu,
marketing leader for Greater
China, OCV™ Reinforcements.
"With more than 50 years of field experience, FRP is now proven
technology," continued Xu. "Chemical storage tanks and pipe
constructed with corrosion-resistant composites, for example, have
consistently provided extended service life over those made with
metals. There are many examples where composites have lasted more
than 50 years and are still in service."
Today's composite materials have the potential to outperform
those early applications, even in especially corrosive conditions.
Boron-free Advantex® E-CR glass, for example, offers superior
performance in composites facing corrosive environments when
compared to standard Eglass.
"In 2010, real infrastructure industry growth in China is expected to be 25 percent, reaching a
total of more than US$168.5 billion
(1 trillion Yuan)," concluded Xu. "We
need to make sure a substantial portion of that money is invested
in corrosion-resistant composite materials so China can avoid a legacy of high future costs
for infrastructure repair and replacement."
Corrosion is a natural process that occurs in refined metals
because the materials want to return to their original state. Given
sufficient time, oxygen and water, any iron mass eventually
converts entirely to rust and disintegrates. Corrosion depends on
the nature of soil and other environmental factors, such as the
availability of moisture and oxygen, high electrical conductivity
and high acidity and salts.
The Owens Corning technical seminar on corrosion is scheduled to
begin at 3:10 p.m. (15:10)
Thursday, Sept. 16, 2010, in meeting
room E231 on the second floor of the China National Convention
Center.
(1) The Long-Term Outlook for the BRICs and N-11 Post
Crisis, Jim O'Neill and Anna Stupnytska, Goldman Sachs,
Dec. 4, 2009
(2) Global Needs for Knowledge Dissemination, Research, and
Development in Materials Deterioration and Corrosion Control by
Gunter Schmitt, May 2009, The World Corrosion Organization
(3) Ibid
About Owens Corning
Owens Corning is a leading global producer of glass fiber
reinforcements and engineered materials for composite systems and
residential and commercial building materials. A Fortune 500
company for 56 consecutive years, Owens Corning is committed to
driving sustainability through delivering solutions, transforming
markets and enhancing lives. Founded in 1938, Owens Corning had
sales of $4.8 billion in 2009 and
about 16,000 employees in 28 countries on five continents. OCV™
Reinforcements, OCV™ Technical Fabrics and OCV™ Non-Woven
Technologies are the three main business units that make up the
Owens Corning Composite Solutions Business. The business delivers a
broad range of reinforcement products that provide lightweight
alternatives to steel, wood and aluminum, thereby reducing weight
and improving energy efficiency. Additional information is
available at www.owenscorning.com.
SOURCE Owens Corning
Copyright . 15 PR Newswire