Revolutionary oxidation process to transform light alloy finishing and impact on oil and gas industry

New products and materials

Revolutionary oxidation process to transform light alloy finishing and impact on oil and gas industry

Keywords: Oxidation, Alloys

A unique oxidation process which results in a superhard ceramic layer on light alloys - aluminium, titanium and magnesium and other speciality alloys -has been introduced in the UK by A.T. Poeten & Sons under a licence agreement.

The breakthrough will have a major impact on a number of key sectors including the oil and gas industry, as well as the automotive industry,textiles, robotics, aviation, aerospace, packaging, printing, chemical engineering - and even medicine.

Keronite, based on Russian technology and developed in the Isle of Man by Isle Coat Ltd, is likely to transform the booming light alloy coating sector of the metal finishing market with enhancements in hardness, wear, thermal barrier and corrosion resistance properties. The technology offers significant advances in these areas over current coating processes such as hard anodising and nickel-silicon carbide, as well as outperforming existing oxidation methods. Yet another boon is that it makes magnesium much more usable.

Keronite also compares favourably with spark anodising methods currently under development world wide - ASD in the USA and Japan, ANOF in Germany and MAO in Russia. And the process itself is environmentally friendly, with no toxic threat from the electrolyte, biproducts or deposit.

Competitive features of Keronite include: extreme hardness (up to 2,000 VICKERS corundum); wear resistance (on par with hard alloys); adhesion strength(80 percent to 90 percent of substrate); thermal insulation (up to thermal barrier properties); and breakdown voltage (up to 6v).

Applications for the process include:

• Replacement of existing coatings for aluminium alloys in the automotive industry (pistons, cylinder blocks, sliding bearings), textile industry(shuttles and spin rotors); cookware (frypans and saucepans); robotics (details of pneumatic drive, guide rods); and aerospace (details of landing gear).

• Substitution of steel, cast iron and ceramic parts for automotive industry(cylinder liners, exhaust) tobacco industry (packaging line parts, guide plates); chemical engineering (details of pumps, valves); and the oil and gas industry (submerged oil pumps and flow control valves).

• Creation of new products for automotive industry (gearboxes, engine block covers structural elements and wheels): medicine (bone prosthesis, medical mixers): aerospace (actuators and gears, bearings and wheels, structural elements), and printing industry rollers.

For furthur information contact CFB plc, CFB House, 8-10 Malew Street,Castletown, Isle of Man; Tel: +44 (0) 1 624 825472.