Thin coatings for pumping station mechanical components

Abstract

The pumping stations are key points of water treatment plants, their performance directly affecting the serviceability of the entire water treatment system. The excessive wear of mechanical components conducts to pumping station out of service state. The deposition of thin coatings on the elements subjected to wear can generally extend the operating time of the water treatment plants. The paper analyses the failure modes of the mechanical components of the pumping stations and the existing efficient solutions for thin coating deposition to protect them from excessive wear. Consequently, an effective coating is deposited on the raw metal by Atmospheric Plasma Spraying (APS) and tribological tests are developed for an initial assessment of the anti-wear properties of the coating. The worn contact surfaces are analysed by Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM) and the chemical composition is established by Energy-dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (EDS). The tests are still in development, revealing that the main failure modes of the coating are abrasive wear and delamination. Future research will be conducted to identify the best combination of powders for a multiple layer deposited coating with high wear resistance.