Starting thermal coating facility.

[turbo]

Hello Dear Forum Members,
My name is Zubair Ghani and contacting from Pakistan. Currently we are providing inshop dynamic balancing service of rotors weighing upto 3 tons, length upto 40 ft and dia. upto 8.5 ft, MPI service and various electrical testing service to the local industrial and power sector. We have now planned to add thermal coating facility in our workshop. As we are new to this field and have no past experience of thermal coating, we carried out some survey as per our requirement and decided to go for Sulzer Metco 16E gun. Our main purpose is the rebuilding of wornout shaft of pumps, fans, blowers, industrial steam turbines etc.
I will be pleased to get some feedback from the expert forum members about our selection and its performance as 16E is a new model.
Best regards,
Zubair Ghani
TURBO MACHINERY SERVICES
A-83, SITE-II Super Highway Industrial Area,
North Karachi - Pakistan.
Tel: +92 300 8239993
Email: turbo@cyber.net.pk
zubair@energycapital.net
rotorbalancing@gmail.com

[djewell]

If I were in your position, I would have chosen a twin wire arc gun instead of combustion wire. A twin wire arc gun operates on electricity and air, so you never have to worry about a flame going out. There are no fuel tanks to keep full. The guns are very simple and easy to maintain. However, depending on the coating quality you need on your build-ups, your gun may work well enough. Other types of spray systems will allow you to spray faster while maintaining or improving the coating quality. As you gain experience in the field, keep this in mind and consider upgrading.

[Gordon]

Hi Turbo

No experience with 16E gun, but if it is like its predecessors 14E, 12E, 10E.... then I'm sure it will be fine. Many thermal spray job shops start out in the same way, adding other processes gradually along the way when needed.

[pulaunias]

May I ask a ques (hopefully not a naive one)?

Is HVOF suitable for the applications stated by here by Turbo, in terms of both technology and market.

[Gordon]

Hi Pulaunias

Is HVOF suitable for the applications stated by here by Turbo, in terms of both technology and market.

I'm sure some applications HVOF will be more than suitable. It is more a question of what to start out with. I'm sure at some point Turbo will find the combustion wire spray process limitations regarding coating materials and characteristics may not be ideal for certain applications. At this point he may consider adding other processes to expand his capabilities. Flame spray wire process may be thought of as cheap old dated technology, producing mediocre coatings, but for many of the applications it will provide more than adequate coatings which have proved themselves over many years. Why change, unless you can do it cheaper?

[karunanidhi]

Dear Zubair,

Only procuring 16E may not help you to start thermal spray operations. you need know the sequence of steps involved in thermal spray process for rebuilding worn out rolls and other industrial components

1. Degreasing
2. Pre machining
3. Grit Blasting
4. Masking
5. coating
6. Post coating treatment / Grinding/ finishing

All the above steps of processes requires their dedicated instruments to perform . Do You really have idea about all the above systems. Then I agree with the idea of my friend's to Procure an Arc spray system rather than Flame spray 16 E system. With arc spray you can coat Rebuilding work and Anti wear aplications for turbine components. If you need more information on Thermal spray equipments and their auxilaries pls. visit www.mecpl.com

wish you all the best


Regards
N. Karunanidhi

[Gordon]

Dear Zubair,

Only procuring 16E may not help you to start thermal spray operations. you need know the sequence of steps involved in thermal spray process for rebuilding worn out rolls and other industrial components

1. Degreasing
2. Pre machining
3. Grit Blasting
4. Masking
5. coating
6. Post coating treatment / Grinding/ finishing

All the above steps of processes requires their dedicated instruments to perform . Do You really have idea about all the above systems. Then I agree with the idea of my friend's to Procure an Arc spray system rather than Flame spray 16 E system. With arc spray you can coat Rebuilding work and Anti wear aplications for turbine components. If you need more information on Thermal spray equipments and their auxilaries pls. visit www.mecpl.com

wish you all the best


Regards
N. Karunanidhi

Yes, an important point probably neglected in earlier posts. The spray gun is only part of the process and facilities required. I will also add - Spray booth and fume extraction facilities and health and safety equipment.

As for spraying processes, they all have there pros and cons. I could see that it might not be long before powder flame spray, arc spray are added to broaden capability without a huge capital outlay as the other facilities can be shared. Next step plasma or HVOF