Carbide-laden coatings deposited using a hand-held high-velocity air-fuel (HVAF) spray gun

Driven by sustainability and cost considerations, there is growing interest in power generation utilizing renewable sources, especially biomass and waste. While premature degradation of power plant components due to corrosion is well-known, erosion can be a dominant damage mechanism in plants that use “pure” biomass with less corrosive elements like Cl, K, etc. Circulating fluidized bed (CFB) parts are prone to erosion-driven damage and demand periodic re-protection or replacement. In response to the above, this preliminary study evaluates a selection of complex carbide-based coatings to enhance protection against erosion to prolong service life of boiler components. Recognizing on-site coating requirements of real boiler applications, a specific focus is on evaluating performance of a hand-held high-velocity air-fuel (HVAF) spray gun and compare it with the current state-of-the-art high-velocity oxy-fuel (HVOF) deposition. Coatings developed by the above routes have been characterized with microstructural analyses, and their performance evaluated and ranked in an air-jet erosion rig at various impact angles.