SPONSORED CONTENT | Coating Selection Spotlight: Carboline

Carboline was founded in 1947 in St. Louis, when Stanley Lopata developed a product to solve a problem for a single customer. After 70 years, Carboline is still committed to solving customers’ problems by providing high-performance coatings, linings and fireproofing products worldwide.

Since 1947, Carboline has expanded to more than 25 manufacturing locations and numerous distribution centers, strategically located around the world. In addition, Carboline has one of the most advanced global research and development facilities strictly dedicated to high-performance coatings, linings and fireproofing materials.

The company's state-of-the-art facility, located in St. Louis, includes world-class development, testing and applications areas. The St. Louis lab serves as a technical hub to regional research and development facilities around the world.

Throughout the life of the company, Carboline has focused on innovation, with many breakthrough product developments and the launch of more than 500 products, including brands such as Bitumastic, Carboguard, Carbothane, Carboxane, Carbozinc, Firefilm, Phenoline, Plasite, Polyclad, Pyrocrete, Pyroclad, Reactamine, Sanitile, Semstone, Thermo-Lag, Thermaline* and more. In the early 1950s, Carboline developed and later patented Carbozinc 11, which revolutionized painting for steel fabrication. More than 60 years later, it is still the premier zinc primer in the industry.

In the 1960s, Carboline developed the first epoxy mastic coating, Carbomastic 15. This was the first-of-its-kind maintenance coating that allowed application with minimal surface preparation. Pyrocrete 241, a breakthrough cementitious fireproofing product with outstanding durability, was developed in 1978. Pyrocrete 241 has a proven track record of success — involved in numerous fires without failure — and remains the industry standard today.

ecent innovations include Carbotherm 551, an insulative epoxy coating that is extremely durable and protects against hot surfaces. In 2016, Carboline released Phenoline Tank Shield, an expansion of its comprehensive tank lining product family. Phenoline Tank Shield is a solvent-free single-coat epoxy with fast cure times and fast return-to-service properties. Carboline has always been known for its tank lining technologies.

Reflecting on some of its project achievements over the years, Carboline commemorates products used on iconic projects like NASA’s Cape Canaveral Launch Station, Atlanta’s Olympic Stadium, and countless other museums, stadiums, refineries, power plants, water tanks and marine vessels.