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6366 |
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Techno-Economic implications of utilization of cold spraying process for fabrication of resistive heating elements for temperature protection of steel pipes |
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Milad Rezvani-Rad* / University of Alberta, Canada André McDonald / University of Alberta, Canada Kingsley Ngaokere/ University of Alberta, Canada Morvarid Mohammadian Bajgiran/ Concordia University, Canada Christian Moreau/ Concordia University, Canada |
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Utilization of proper heating systems for pipelines and closed pressure equipment is necessary in cold regions to compensate for the heat loss and prevent damages that are caused by freezing of the enclosed liquid. Given large-scale financial losses that stem from failure and bursting of the pipes, fabrication of efficient and affordable heaters is necessary. Heating systems have already been produced via different high-temperature thermal spraying techniques to achieve higher efficiency compared to conventional heating cables. However, the feasibility of fabrication of the heating elements for steel pipes by using a cold spraying process has not been investigated yet. In this study, tin, as the heating element, was deposited by using cold spray process onto two different alumina coatings that were fabricated by flame spraying and suspension plasma spraying to provide electrical insulation. Techno-economic assessment of fabrication and utilization of the cold-sprayed heater coating was conducted. It was found that cold-sprayed heater coatings exhibit improved performance compared to thermally-sprayed heater coatings and conventional heater cables. Further, their fabrication and utilization were more economically feasible. The results suggest that cold-sprayed heater coatings may compete with conventional heat tracers that are widely used in industry. Keywords: Cold spray, Economic feasibility, Hybrid fabrication process, Joule heating, Optimal design |