PARTICOAT

Acronym: PartiCoat Project No.: 13003 Type of project: FP7 research Start date: November 01, 2008 End date: October 31, 2012 Total project value: ~ 6.9 million € Project coordinator: Fraunhofer ICT, Vladislac Kolarik Total number of partners: 14 Contact person (name/email): particoatrisk-technologies.com Project webpage R-Tech/EU-VRi: http://www.particoat.risk-technologies.com/ Official webpage (coordinator): http://www.particoat.eu/

 

This image shows different coating layers after heating for a certain time.
These layers are marked by lines.
By calculating the distance between this lines, the thickness of the layers can be determined.

 

The concept of the novel approach to protection of surfaces is a coating consisting in its initial state of nano- and/or micro-scaled metal particles with a defined size, deposited by spraying, brushing, dipping or sol-gel. During the heat treatment, the binder is expelled, bonding to the substrate surface achieved, the metallic particles sinter and oxidise completely resulting in hollow oxide spheres that form a quasifoam structure. Simultaneously, a diffusion layer is formed below the coating serving as a corrosion protection layer and as a bond coat for the top layer. The structure of the coating system shall be adjusted by parameters like selection of source metal/alloy, particle size, substrate, binder and a defined heat treatment. For fire protection the formation of hollow oxide spheres will be processed in a separate step before deposition.

The flexibility of the new coatings integrates a wide field of application areas, such as gas and steam turbines in electric power generation and aero-engines, combustion chambers, boilers, steam generators and super-heaters, waste incineration, fire protection of composite materials in construction as well as reactors in chemical and petrochemical industry. A broad impact will thus be ensured increasing safety and the durability of components by an economic, multifunctional and flexible protection of their surfaces. The novelty will provide a real step change in the understanding of materials degradation mechanisms in extreme environments.

Raising the operating temperature is mostly the essential key parameter for achieving a higher efficiency of energy conversion as well as a reduction of pollutants and CO2 emission in practically all processes running at high temperatures. Several research programs, like the COST Action 522 for example, were dedicated to this matter. Efficient protection of components at high temperatures against aggressive environments can only be achieved by coating systems. Higher operating temperatures mostly lead the existing coatings to their limits and imply the demand for more advanced coating systems.

The overall objective of the project is to develop a novel, unconventional and cost efficient type of multipurpose high temperature coating systems on the basis of property tailoring by particle size processing of metallic source materials. The novel type of coating shall offer a new alternative for wide industrial applications. It shall possess multi-functionality and integrate a wide field of application areas, such as gas and steam turbines in electric power generation, aeroengines, combustion chambers, boilers, steam generators and super heaters, waste incineration, fire protection of composite materials in construction as well as reformers and reactors in chemical and petrochemical industry. The multi-functionality  comprises thermal barrier effect, oxidation and corrosion protection, lotus effect, electrical insulation at elevated temperatures and fire protection.




More information of this new coating research can be found in PARTICOAT OFFICIAL SITE.

►Easy to apply
►Low cost
►Low application temperatures
►Possibility to form dense layers with increased mechanical compliance
►Alumina is no oxygen conductor and provides a very good barrier effect against ingress of corrosive species
►Significant potential for electrical and thermal insulation
►Al subsurface reservoir for protective alumina scale formation

Steinbeis Advanced Risk Technologies (R-Tech) performs the qualitative risk assessment in the project and create data base with the coating parameters. Uncertainty in material characterization and modeling and its impact to later implementation, both in regard to technical aspects as well as in regard to social aspects, is another main tasks of R-Tech.

In addition, R-Tech is developing the Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) of the new Particoat coating for a specific target application and comparing it with traditional coatings processes like Chemical Vapor Deposition and Pack Aluminizing. The current LCA is bases on methodology stated on ISO 14040 and ISO 14044, which consist of four steps:

1. Goal & Scope definition
2. Inventory Analysis
3. Impact assessment
4. Interpretation