Sealing of thermally sprayed coatings

The use of coatings in fluidised bed boilers is increasing owing to the harsh conditions that modern boilers meet. High temperatures, combined with inhomogeneous, high chlorine and alkali containing fuels such as biomass, cause severe material wastage to metallic parts in boilers. Thermally sprayed coatings have been reported to provide protection to boiler tubes. However, thermally sprayed coatings have encountered serious problems, such as corrosion on the substrate material owing to voids and oxides in lamella boundaries. Sealing of the coatings can solve these problems. This paper investigates the sealing of coatings. Thermally sprayed metallic coatings were sealed with different commercial sealing agents and laser treatment. The coatings were tested after sealing by simulating fluidised bed boiler superheater conditions. Specimens were examined by optical microscopy and SEM and analysed by energy dispersive X-ray analysis. Some of the tested sealants protected the coatings adequately in a short term alkali chloride– alkali sulphate exposure test. The best sealant contained aluminium oxide and aluminium phosphate. Laser treated coatings had good corrosion resistance in a short term test.