Cost-saving protective coating solutions for hostile chemical & petrochemical environments

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The unmatched protection and wear properties of Thermaspray’s range of superior quality, highly dependable coating and welding solutions offer excellent protection against surface wear and corrosion and assist in enhancing the lifespan of parts and components in the chemical and petrochemical industries.

These industries often use complex and expensive equipment that is expected to operate in extremely hostile environments; chemical reactions and reagents are detrimental to part and component surfaces leading to rapid wear and corrosion and subsequently expensive downtime while costly replacement or repairs have to be performed.

A suitably selected and correctly applied surface coating on new or worn components such as pumps and shafts (figure 1), gears and gearboxes, compressor sections and turbines will assist with improved performance and extended service life, delivering the cost-saving benefits of reduced maintenance, increased uptime and improved productivity for Original Equipment Manufacturers (OEMs) and end-users.

Chris Malan, Manager - Finishing Shop, at South Africa’s surface engineering and thermal spray coating technology specialist company, Thermaspray, explains that the cost of refurbishing a worn component by applying a protective coating is much more affordable compared to replacing it with a new component. “For example, by refurbishing a worn bearing journal on a pump shaft using a suitable coating, we can eliminate the unnecessary and expensive cost of replacing the entire shaft when only a small part is damaged.”

Thermaspray’s range of protective coating solutions with various processes include thermal spray (High Velocity Oxy-Fuel (HVOF) (figure 2) and Arc Spray), these coatings which feature unmatched protection and wear properties, as well as a range of polymers in partnership with German company, Diamant Metallplastic.

The corrosion protection properties of polymeric coating products make them especially suited for the protection of components such as pump casings that operate in certain chemical environments against chemical wear. According to Malan, polymers can increase pump efficiencies of both new and worn single- and multi-stage units.

While coatings offer some advantages over welding such as low heat input which avoids the risk of component distortion, Malan is quick to point out that certain welding processes can be used for wear and corrosion resistance. Plasma Transferred Arc (PTA) welding from Thermaspray can provide the necessary component protection with a coating that can withstand these conditions. Malan adds that Thermaspray’s qualified technicians are able to offer customers expert advice on whether a coating or welding process will provide the best solution for a particular application to achieve optimum results.

Due to the immense cost savings that Thermaspray’s coating technologies are delivering to OEMs and end users, it comes as no surprise that the company is experiencing rapid growth particularly within the chemical and petrochemical sectors. “We have been supplying a range of coatings as well as some welding solutions to South Africa’s chemical and petrochemical giant for close on ten years.

With zero reported failures, our customer clearly sees the benefits that our respective value-adding coating and welding technologies deliver to their bottom line,” concludes Malan.

Thermaspray, in a joint venture with Cape Town-based Surcotec, offers an extensive portfolio of engineering and thermal spray coating solutions that extend component life cycles to assist OEM and end-user clients across southern Africa in reducing costs and increasing production.

The companies’ world-class quality wear- and corrosion-resistant thermal spray coatings, Plasma Transferred Arc (PTA) cladding and Polymer coatings (in partnership with Plasma Coatings USA and Diamant Metallplastic Germany) are augmented by a host of specialised allied services.