OREANDA-NEWS. January 30, 2012. RUSNANO project company Plackart has launched a new process line for plasma welding in Scherbinka, Moscow Oblast. This line complements already operating equipment for gas-thermal and high-speed deposition. As a result, the company now offers virtually all currently known solutions for protecting metal structures from deterioration and corrosion. The total budget of the project amounts to 4,018 million rubles of which RUSNANO will cofinance 1,220 million rubles.

The line comprises two units

An automated unit for plasma welding that deposits a specifically structured nanolayer in one pass, extending the service life of a treated part by three to ten times. In comparison with other methods of applying nanostructured coatings, Plackart’s deposition process is significantly more effective and consumes much less powder. The plasma-powder welding technology is applicable for increasing the reliability and durability of a broad range of parts, for example, valves and fittings for power engineering, shipbuilding, petrochemical and general engineering.

A Delta triple-anode plasma deposition unit that can be used to apply a wide array of nanostructured coatings on various surfaces ranging from metals and alloys to heat-resistant ceramics. The Delta unit is mainly used for depositing ceramic coatings on turbine parts (combustion chambers, blades, and parts in the heat path), and on parts for the printing industry (ceramic rollers) and metallurgy (shafts for zinc-coating lines and furnace rollers).

“The Scherbinka plant is among the best equipped for applying nanostructured coatings in all of Russia,” says RUSNANO Managing Director Alexander Kondrashov. “But it is not the only Plackart’s production site. The company has branches that are working successfully in Perm and Tyumen. Management plans to open facilities soon in St. Petersburg, Nizhny Novgorod, and Almetyevsk. Thanks to Plackart’s large network, advanced equipment, and proprietary know-how, we are confident that Plackart will take increasingly strong positions in the Russian market for nanocoating deposition.”

“We are continuously developing new technologies for surface treatment—gas-thermal spraying and welding,” says Plackart Director General Vitaly Geraskin. “The introduction of the plasma welding unit broadens the scope of wear-resistant coatings we offer. The triple-anode unit for plasma deposition improves the efficiency and quality of ceramic coatings application.”

Technical information

The technology of plasma deposition may be used to deposit a broad range of coatings. It is applicable to metals, alloys and heat-resistant ceramics. Specified particles in the form of powder are introduced into a plasma flow whose temperature at the exit of the plasma gun is around 15,000 K. The speed of the flow is around 300 meters per second. Plasma flow is formed by plasma guns or plasma torches consisting of a cone-shaped tungsten cathode and a hollow copper cylindrical anode, with a spray jet set behind the anode. The gas moving between the cathode and the anode is heated by a moving electric arc forming a fiery flow.

Gas-thermal spraying is one of the most rapidly developing methods for depositing coatings. It utilizes the generation of a high-speed gas flow by passing gas through a heat source. Solid-state matter, usually in the form of powder, is introduced into the gas flow melting partially or fully and forming a scaly structure on the base material.

As a heat source, it is possible to use energy from the combustion of a liquid propellant in oxygen (in the High Velocity Oxygen Fuel, or HVOF, method) or energy from an electric arc (in the Air Plasma Spray, or APS, method). Particles in the gas flow obtained by this method have various temperatures and speeds which determine their use in various industries.