French anti-wear materials developer and manufacturer Technogenia announced its attendance at next month’s ADIPEC exhibition and conference and that it is also considering opening a service centre in the Middle East.
The company supplies and services major well service companies around the world.
“Technogenia has developed high quality tungsten carbide which comes in the form of spherical beads of exceptional hardness: 3000 +/- 500 Hv,” the company said in a statement. “Their spherical shape enhances impact strength and density of the deposits. The primary hardfacing process consists of welding this product onto the tools. This is achieved using a flexible welding rope (Technosphère) made up of a nickel wire coated with a blend of carbide grains. Easy and inexpensive welding provides exceptional resistance to abrasion and great durability. This technique has proven its worth and lasts almost 10 times longer than conventional chrome carbide.”
In order to optimise the performance of this material, the company has developed a fully-automated technique: the Lasercarb process. It uses the energy of a laser beam to melt a tungsten carbide powder mixed with a filler metal.
Moreover, deposits can also be made on non-magnetic steels, which are very difficult to weld using conventional methods. This technique is numerically controlled to ensure accurate and smooth deposits.
Following the success of its hardfacing centres in the United Kingdom, the United States and Singapore, Technogenia is considering installing a Lasercarb service centre in the Middle East.
Applications in the oil and gas industry are very varied and vital for the viability of wells. Without protection, tools would wear very quickly, meaning interrupted drilling operations. Anti-wear coatings are also applied to a large number of parts in various industrial fields, such as brick and tile industry, foundries, dredging and mining, iron and steel, agri-food industry as well as waste recycling.
