Sparc Technologies has announced the execution of an agreement with BHP Mitsubishi Alliance to conduct a collaborative field trial involving testing of an ecosparc® enhanced coating in coal handling and processing plant (CHPP) infrastructure at the Goonyella Riverside Mine (GRM) in Queensland, Australia.
The pact is Sparc’s fourth trial agreement for the enhanced anti-corrosive coating, demonstrating its strategy of trialling ecosparc with leading asset owners across government, defence, mining and oil & gas in relevant real-world environments, the company says.
The trial will provide performance insights by comparing the ecosparc enhanced coating with a market-leading anti-corrosive coating under highly corrosive conditions, it added. This is the same format as the other field trials announced with the likes of the South Australian Department of Infrastructure and Transport, 29Metals and Santos.
Sparc Managing Director, Nick O’Loughlin, said: “Sparc is very pleased to be working with BMA, Australia’s largest producer and supplier of seaborne metallurgical coal, to complete field trials of ecosparc enhanced coating in its coal handling facilities. The conditions within the CHPP offers an ideal setting to benchmark the ecosparc enhanced coating against an existing market-leading product.”
Sparc says the temperature, moisture and conditions within the CHPP at GRM, located in Moranbah, are well suited for an effective field trial. The trial will provide valuable performance data for potential customers, building on over six years of research and development and more than 10,000 data points from accelerated cyclic corrosion testing in the laboratory, according to the company.
Sparc’s key obligations, as outlined in the agreement, are to supply the agreed quantities of ecosparc enhanced and unmodified control coatings to BMA at Sparc’s cost, along with specified application instructions. BMA’s obligations include to prepare the agreed steel infrastructure and to arrange for application of the ecosparc enhanced and control coatings at its own cost.
The trial will be monitored over 24 months, with initial results expected within 6-12 months.
Sparc’s graphene-based additive has gone through over six years of research and development. The addition of very small quantities of ecosparc to conventional protective coatings has demonstrated >40% anti-corrosion improvement in commercially available epoxy-based coatings, ensuring the reliability, longevity, safety and cost-effectiveness of the steel infrastructure they cover, the company says.
In 2023, the company commissioned its ecosparc commercial production facility. This facility enables Sparc to provide commercial quantities of graphene-based additive product for the coatings industry and to support field trials.
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