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1125 |
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Wednesday, June 04, 2008, Room 08 9:20 AM Pre- and Post-Treatment Thermal sprayed coatings must be regarded as part of a production process, in order to produce superior quality and performance new possibilities in pre- and post-treatment have to be discussed |
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New LN2 cryogenic process to strip parts thermal spray coated |
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Maurice Ducos* / CONSULTANT, FRANCE Frederic Richard/ Air Liquide CTAS, France Olivier Matile/ Air Liquide CEPIA, France Ron Warnecke/ Nitrocision LLC, USA Howard Hume/ Nitrocision LLC, USA Thierry Debionne/ Nitrocision Europe SA, Luxembourg |
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Thermal spray coatings applied for aircraft gas turbine maintenance often needs to be stripped and removed. Various methods are used such as chemical or very high pressure water jet. None of them are environmentally friendly and they must be applied with care to prevent substrate damage. Also, these methods can produce a great deal of waste that has to be managed. As regulation gets tougher, a new technology using very high pressure liquid nitrogen could be the future for such needs. As the worldwide exclusive licensee, for several years Nitrocision LLC has developed and commercialized this technology, which initially conceived in the late 90s by the Idaho National Laboratory. The Nitrojet 6000 can pressurize Liquid Nitrogen up to 4000 bars at a temperature as low as -165°C. Various sets of tooling can provide single or multiple nozzles on a fixed, or alternatively, a rotary head that provides greater coverage and efficiency. This publication presents case studies of the technology applied to coating removal on aeronautical parts that belong to gas turbines and landing gears. |