Application
Corrosion Under Insulation (CUI) Prevention Coating
Jacketed and wrapped insulation hides one of the most expensive failure modes in industrial piping and vessels until it's a leak or a wall-thickness finding. Cool Touch replaces the moisture trap with a seamless, adhered thin film — eliminating the gap where CUI starts while keeping the substrate visible for inspection.
The Challenge
CUI hides behind the very insulation meant to protect the asset
Corrosion under insulation forms when moisture gets past a jacket or wrap and stays in contact with the steel beneath it — through seam failures, weather damage, wash-down water, or condensation forming on a cold or cyclic-temperature surface. Mineral wool and similar fibrous insulation make it worse: the material itself holds water against the substrate instead of shedding it.
The 150–350°F (66–177°C) range is the classic CUI danger zone. It's hot enough to be insulated and cyclic enough that condensation forms during shutdowns and startups, but not hot enough to keep the substrate consistently dry. Coastal, humid, and washdown environments accelerate the timeline further.
What makes CUI expensive isn't just the corrosion — it's that jacketing conceals it. Damage is often found only when insulation is removed for a turnaround or after a leak, by which point wall loss can be severe. Reliability and asset-integrity programs end up managing CUI as a discovery problem instead of preventing it in the first place.
The Solution
A seamless film with nowhere for water to collect
Cool Touch is NanoTech's thin-film insulative coating, built on Insulative Ceramic Particle (ICP™) technology. Applied directly to the substrate in 1–2 coats, it bonds to the pipe, tank, or vessel instead of wrapping around it — so there's no jacket seam, no fibrous mass, and no annular gap for water to collect against the steel.
Independent testing backs the claim rather than just the marketing copy: Cool Touch has passed 720 hours of neutral salt spray (ISO 9227) with no blistering, no cracking, no flaking, Ri 0 rusting, and 0.0 mm of corrosion at the scribe, and 480 hours of water condensation exposure (ISO 6270-1) with no blistering, rusting, cracking, or flaking. It's also tested to ISO 12944-5/6 for corrosion protection in industrial and marine atmospheres.
Why reliability and asset-integrity teams choose Cool Touch
Eliminates the moisture trap
Bonds to the substrate — no jacket seams, no fibrous wrap, nothing to hold water against the steel.
Keeps the substrate inspectable
No jacketing to remove. Surface condition is visible during routine walk-downs, not just at turnaround.
Independently tested
720 hours salt spray (ISO 9227) and 480 hours condensation exposure (ISO 6270-1) — no blistering, rusting, cracking, or flaking.
Covers the CUI danger zone
Performs across the 150–350°F cyclic range where CUI risk is highest, plus cold and ambient service.
No shutdown required
Apply to live equipment up to 200°F surface temperature — close out CUI exposure without waiting on the turnaround calendar.
Lower lifecycle cost
No demolition-and-reinsulate cycle. Less inspection labor, fewer surprise wall-loss findings.
Where CUI prevention matters most
Process piping in the 150–350°F zone
The cyclic, moderately hot range where condensation and corrosion overlap most aggressively.
Tank and vessel shells
Cut-and-fit insulation leaves seams at every nozzle and curve — each one a future water entry point.
Coastal, humid & marine-adjacent facilities
Salt-laden, high-humidity air accelerates corrosion wherever moisture reaches bare or wetted steel.
Replacement of failed or wet jacketing
Strip out compromised mineral wool and jacketing and recoat with a system that doesn't fail the same way.
Cyclic and intermittent-service lines
Equipment that cools between batches or shutdowns sees repeated condensation cycles under traditional insulation.
Washdown and sanitary-adjacent environments
Frequent water exposure on equipment exteriors, common in food & beverage and chemical processing.
Engineered for industrial reliability
720 hrs
Salt Spray (ISO 9227)
480 hrs
Condensation (ISO 6270-1)
1–2
Coats Required
Visible Substrate
Inspectability
TIME Best Inventions 2024
Recognition
Made in the USA
Origin
Cool Touch is part of NanoTech's TIME Best Invention-recognized ICP™ platform. Asset-integrity and reliability teams receive substrate-specific application guidance, technical documentation, and test data to support specification, procurement, and turnaround planning.
CUI prevention coating FAQs
CUI is corrosion that develops on piping or vessel steel underneath insulation, where trapped moisture stays in contact with the substrate out of sight. It's costly because traditional jacketing conceals it — damage is often found only at turnaround or after a failure, by which point wall loss can be severe. Inspection, scaffolding, and re-insulation costs stack on top of the repair itself.