Corrosion and Wear Resistant Coatings from Recycled Industry Waste

Environmental Abrasives, LLC (EA) proposes to improve the environment by recycling ceramic industrial waste and using the resulting product to reduce the impact of corroded and worn-out parts, equipment, pipelines, and structures. EA will develop, characterize, and test an innovative comminuted alumina powder as a cost-effective, environmentally friendly corrosion and wear resistant coating for ferrous and aluminum-based materials. This Phase I research project will determine the applicability and efficacy of this unique ceramic substance using typical industrial coating processes such as plasma thermal spray and adhesive bonding. Comparable industry standard alumina powders will be used as controls or benchmarks in the coating and testing processes. Equivalent or improved coating characteristics and testing results for EA alumina powders versus industry standard powders will be construed as positive results. The cost of the coatings is expected to be the major difference between coatings using the EA alumina powder and comparable commercial alumina powders. In addition to the recycling of industrial waste, EA's pioneering process does not require sintering the previously manufactured material. Eliminating this manufacturing process step gives an immediate production cost and energy consumption advantage to the EA alumina powder. Thus, in addition to the environmental benefits of diverting tons of material from the waste stream, the EA process has the potential to greatly reduce costs for companies in the infrastructure business, such as building and maintaining highway bridges, railroads, shipyards, and gas pipelines. According to a report by CC Technologies Laboratories, current U.S. infrastructure industries estimate corrosion costs of $22.6 billion per year in maintenance and replacements. EA alumina powder has a broad application potential for coating industrial components and products.