A more-modern version of this website is under development. Please view it here
Amtec Corrosion Engineers Provide Fast, Friendly & Cost Effective Expert Consultancy in Coatings and Corrosion
Who Are Amtec?
Amtec Consultants specialise in issues related to coatings and corrosion. The company was founded in 1985 by Dr Les Callow and Dr Jane Lomas based on their various research activities in the Corrosion Faculty at the University of Manchester (UMIST). Currently we have over 100 years of combined experience of practical corrosion engineering.
What Services do Amtec Offer?
Amtec is primarily a consultancy and expert witness based company, working on corrosion, metallurgy and coatings (paint and metal) issues on a global basis.
We work in the construction industry, civil engineering, HVAC (heating, ventilation and air conditioning), transportation (rail, air, vehicle, marine), pharmaceutical and chemical processing industries. We also work on paint specification and guarantees.
We offer courses on all aspects of corrosion and coatings failures, which can be tailored to individual company requirements. Amtec have also written and present courses for the Institute of Corrosion (ICorr).
Amtec offer a free initial consultation by phone or email.
Expert Witness Services in Corrosion and Coatings
During the past 45 years Amtec have dealt with a very large number of legal cases requiring expert witness input. These projects have ranged from expert collaborations, reports, mediations, arbitrations, tribunal and high court appearances. Dr Callow has undertaken Bond-Solon witness training.
A partial list of solicitors and lawyers with whom Amtec has worked can be found under About us.
Construction and Civil Engineering
In the construction industry, Amtec work mainly with metallurgy, corrosion and coating problems on building cladding, primary steelwork and secondary steel work issues.
The breakdown of the cladding paint and metal in more severe environments such as marine and polluted industrial locations which can be classified into C4, C5, C5M or CX in ISO 9223-2012.
Polluted environments can also occur within buildings such as recycling plants, composting facilities, production and chemical industry plants and factories.
Both primary and secondary steelwork can suffer from corrosion and fail prematurely if they are exposed to a corrosive environment for a longer than expected period of time. This can also result in failure and early breakdown of paint and coatings such as primers and pre-applied intumescent paint schemes.
Amtec also consult in the area of coating breakdown and failure, premature corrosion of main plant items such as pipe runs and reactor vessels.
Galvanised components, especially cold formed Z275 and Z600 zinc coated sections have limited life times. Amtec can offer service life prediction skills based on the calculations contained in ISO 9223-2012. More details can be found in the “Industrial Corrosion” section of our website. Corrosion of weathering steels, such as Corten, aluminium structures and cladding, zinc and stainless steel structures are also investigated by Amtec.
In the Civil Engineering field, Amtec work on coating failure, corrosion and breakdown occurring on larger structures such as bridges, buildings, wind farms and solar panel arrays.
HVAC – Heating, Ventilation and Air Conditioning Systems
Amtec investigate HVAC systems, including boilers, radiator corrosion, fan coil units, plus copper pipe pitting, corrosion of steel, galvanised and stainless steel pipe work at all stages of the lifetime of the system.
Corrosion failures of copper and stainless steel pipe work tend to occur early in the service life of the system and often relate to pitting and corrosion whilst the system is stabilising in the months following cleaning and commissioning. Pipe work, radiators and boilers all fail at stages when water quality is critical or when water treatment is not properly maintained. Amtec have extensive experience in this area.
Pipe pitting and failures are especially common when artesian or bore hole water supplies are included in the water system.
Towards the end of the life of a heating or cooling system, Amtec can carry out invasive assessments of older systems by examining old risers, pumps, chiller units, boiler parts, fancoil units and pipework for evidence of corrosion. An estimate of any remedial work needed and the likely remaining lifetime of a system can be estimated.
We also cover corrosion and water treatment issues.
Transportation Industries
Amtec are actively involved in the areas of marine corrosion, shipping, railway vehicles, infrastructure and road transport. Stray current corrosion problems can be difficult to trace; Amtec have many years experience in this area.
Chemical and Pharmaceutical Industry
The chemical industry experiences many corrosion problems that are associated with manufacturing process and storage vessels. Pitting and crevice corrosion of stainless steel are common problems as are tea staining and rouge or rouging, rust hazing.
Corrosion problems can become worse as a result of stray galvanic effects and Amtec have successfully investigated many such problems.
Reference Library
Amtec consultants provide corrosion expertise in metallic corrosion, including guides to corrosion of mild steel, stainless steel corrosion, galvanised steel and corrosion of galvanising, aluminium corrosion and copper corrosion.
There are a series of guides on our website covering with common Coating Failure and Breakdown topics.
We also cover HVAC (heating, cooling and air conditioning) corrosion and water inhibitor / treatment related corrosion.