In November 2017 KFUPM signed an ‘Option to Negotiate a License’ with a local startup company TELAA. The Option is for an invention (pending for patent in GCC Patent Office) related to anti-corrosion coating using recycled crumb rubber that is low cost, high performance, and environmentally-friendly.

Mr. Mohammad Al-Buali, Chief Executive Officer, and the entrepreneur behind the startup is a KFUPM’s Management graduate. Under Mohammad`s leadership, TELAA won the first place in the 4th KFUPM Business Plan competition.

The exclusive Option allows the company time to negotiate with KFUPM an exclusive license for the IP for GCC region upon completing its planned proof of concept work (development, lab tests, field tests, approvals of end user, vendor registration etc) and submitting a detailed business plan.

About the invention

The Invention Recycled Crumb Rubber (RCR) mixed with other chemicals to produce corrosion resistance coating applied on steel surfaces:

• It helps conserving the environment and natural resources.
• It has a low cost structure and high performance especially for oil and gas pipelines.

Corrosion is the damaging attack of a material by reaction with its environment. The consequences of corrosion have become a global problem. In fact, corrosion causes waste of valuable resources, plant shutdowns, loss of product, costly maintenance, and reduction in efficiency. The annual cost of corrosion in the US exceeded $1 trillion in 2013. In addition, the annual cost of corrosion in Saudi Arabia was more than $13 billion.

This invention is designed to be applied on external steel surfaces such as pipes. The product makes an excellent alternative of external coating for pipelines transmitting oil, gas, water and the like. Based on initial tests, the product has a potential of high protection performance regarding corrosion resistance compared to existing ones in industry.

The inventors include Dr. Nasser Al-Aqeeli (a faculty member from KFUPM Mechanical Engineering department) and Engr. Homoud Assehdi.