Exothermic Reactive Seal Coatings (ER-Sealcoat)

The need to reduce CO2 emissions is pushing thermal power plant to use higher operating temperatures and biomass/waste derived fuels, and these factors combine to create demanding environments for heat exchanger tubes. The ‘ER-Sealcoat’ project aims to develop a low cost method of producing customisable coatings that can coat 3D geometries (internal and external) and protect against aggressive high temperature environments. The process will use exothermic reaction synthesis to modify low cost sprayed metallic coatings. The seal coating is produced as a two-part slurry containing chemically active components, which reacts with the sprayed base coat exothermically. This reaction adds chemical energy that enhances diffusion and intermetallic formation with the basecoat, producing a sealed surface with a bespoke chemical gradient capable of resisting fireside corrosion and high temperature oxidation. The ER-Sealcoat would result in improved performance through its functional gradient design and ability to close surface breaking porosity and seal the coating. Direct and indirect process costs would also be reduced compared to current industrial coating methods.