och CEMENT INDUSTRY TECHNICAL CONFERENCE Rapid City, SD May 17 - 21, 1998 XL Conference RecordNew Materials & Process Developments for Preventative Gary R. Heath Director of Technology Eutectic Corporation, Charlotte, NC 28273 Abstract - In recent years the cement industry has been under increasing pressure to not only reduce operating costs but also increase operational output and. efficiency. The maintenance department can play a critical role (and become a profit centre) by reducing unplanned down-time and inventory and in selecting longer-lasting components to extend outage intervals. Component repair rather than replacement produces immediate cost saving and negates expensive down time waiting for part delivery. Further, the refurbished part may have its life extended if a wear resistant ‘coating is applied. Welding repair and surface coating have been the traditional routes for maintenance against wear and corrosion. However, new developments. in materials and coating processes have recently demonstrated successful and cost saving applications in the cement industry. One key to this success has been the correct analysis and interpretation of the observed ‘wear and matching of material and process to wear type. Advanced surface engineering technologies such as high velocity thermal spraying, plasma transferred arc welding and vacuum-fused coatings are also proving beneficial. With so many solution options, a computer- based maintenance application system has been developed to aid in wear analysis, solution diagnostic, cost-benefit and procedure. Index Terms: Maintenance, welding, materials, savings, protection, computer, coating repair, I, INTRODUCTION The manufacture of cement creates @ demanding environment for machinery related to the various ‘wearlstress/heat conditions that occur throughout the plant, in addition to the demands for continuous operation. The arising maintenance problems, however, become very plant specific due to widely differing designs, use of old and new equipment, wet and dry processes and varying local feed- ‘stocks, Currently the cement industry is running at very close to capacity, whilst also demanding the lowest possible ‘operating costs. Consequently, plants are running for longer periods, at higher production rates and with reduced periods Cf maintenance. This accentuates the maintenance demands tenance and Repair Cement Plants John Skora ‘Cement Industry Manager Eutectic Corporation, Charlotte, NC 28273 ‘and the need for careful selection of optimal procedures and materials as the premature scrapping of wom parts is a costly exercise, Substantial savings can be achieved by preventative Maintenance and Repair (MER), which can provide additional benefits based on reduced production downtime, reduced inventory and increased service life. Also, restoration rather than replacement also reinforces the ‘engineering efforts for conservation and the environment. A. M&R program based on welding or hardfacing protective coatings has enabled cement plants to meet. these challenges, sustain production and develop successful repair ‘and life extension techniques for key plant parts. ‘Some examples of successful MBR applications that have been developed and established by the Eutectic + Castotin Group are: ‘© Crack repairs in cast iron or cast steel castings, kiln tyres, Kiin sections, ball milis, etc. using speciality welding + Hammers with weld overlay in high wear areas, + Fan Blades spray-coated with hard-metal Chrome carbide containing wearplate for large areas. Epoxy-based composites against mild abrasion/erosion against With so many differing materials, processes, wear types, parts, designs, etc. 2 key to this success has been the ability to analyze the wear problem, understand the engineering and metallurgical demands and develop the best solution on a performance-cost benefit analysis. When a woin part Fequires hardfacing, it is essential that the wear mechanism is understood to avoid expensive mistakes. There are many common misconceptions in wear. Here the use of wear test laboratories and computer-based solution databases have proved invaluable by building up knowiedge and experience. Currently, major economic concerns of cement plants are ‘Reduction in operational costs (power and labor), + Increased production efficiency. + Reduction in the degree and impact of downtime. Consequently new demands in the M&R area are generated ‘© Increase component wear life and reliability. Increase cost efficiency of MER. © Reduce labor and labor skill + Improve healtn and safety related to M&R‘The M&R sector has recently developed new materials and deposition processes which address these demands and are already further enhancing the cost savings and plant productivity. II, BENEFITS OF REPAIR & PREVENTATIVE MAINTENANCE The decision to repair/coat rather than replace may be justified for a number of reasons: age of plant, availabilty of ‘spares, improved wear life requirements, etc. In addition are the cost savings. There are essentially two types of MER work; joining repair of @ cracked part to keep it in service and preventative hardfacing to extend the wear life. The following ‘examples of repair and coating jobs illustrate where cost savings have arisen and the degree of savings. A. Repair of Cracked Castings: Cracked Tires, Kins & Mils. Cracking in components can occur as a result of cyclic stresses, impact and heating (thermo-mechanical fatigue) together’ with loss of section from wear. Cracks are particularly problematic in large castings (iron and steel) particularly if they are production components. such as kiln tires, kiln shells, planetary coolers, ball mills, etc. Part replacement is usually extremely expensive, associated not conly with the high cost in lost production (component removal time, new part delivery and reinstallation) but also replacement | part cost. With older equipment, the replacement casting may not be in stock and may need to be recast adding to the expense and delay. An in-place weld repair with specialty welding consumables has provided dramatic cost saving, One example is a cracked kiln tre (Fig. 1). To fit a new tire including shell would have cost $250,000 with a 24 week delay, representing $7.5 million in lost production [1] whilst the total weld repair bill was only $50,000. These alloys have demonstrated such excellent properties [1,2,3] that repaired components actually appear to have improved reliability against further cracking over @ new part due to the higher level of ductility imparted to the tire by the presence of the weld. Further, there have been no recorded failures of these alloys in 20 years of usage in the industry. Fig. 1. Weld repaired kiln tire, previously cracked, B. Component Refurbishment with Wear Resistant Coating. OEM parts subjected to abrasion, erosion, corrosion, ete. are manufactured from alloys having properties which are balanced between enhanced wearicorrosion resistance (usually very hard or highly alloyed/heat-treated) and economic formability (casting, machining). This compromise leads to problems in component repair (due to brittleness) ‘and limits the ultimate wear performance options. Very wear Fesistant materials (Tungsten Carbide, Ceramics, complex carbides, borides) cannot be readily cast or machined into ‘complex’ shapes. In addition, manufacturing of large parts with” such materials would be prohibitively expensive. Component examples of wear resistant castings are hammers, clinker cooler plates, small diameter transport piping, elbows, separator blades, etc. Here, surface coating san ideal technical and economic solution offering the following benefits + Enables high wear-resistant material to be used economically in those areas subject to wear, + Readily enables repairs and replacements in the field ‘+ Provides opportunity to use low cost, tough and ‘machineable material for the main component body. ‘+ Gives greater wear resistance and thus service life, The greater reliability, reduced material loss and increased ‘cement process efficiency further increase the economies in plant operation in addition to the downtime cost savings associated with replacement of the part To understand the important factors controlling the cost savings, analysis of a simplified equation (1) describing the annual ‘cost savings of surface coating compared to replacement with a new component is enlightening: ‘Annual Cost Savings = Yearly Prod. Rate x 2Cy~PGR () OPy OPR Costot new pat (8) (New Par + Downtime) Cos hartacing reac) (Hratcing Cost + Downtime) Work output uring ite of new pat (8) Werk output during Me of repaired pat (8) Poy PCR Py PR ‘An example is the surface coating of grinding hammers. A ‘cast hammer has a cost of $140 and 24 are used in a mi with an average lifetime of 1 month. Downtime for removal and reinstallation is 1 shift (cost in labor taken as $600). ‘Advanced hardfacing adds $155 to the cost of the new hammer, which now costs $295. The wear life, however, is extended by § times, The annual saving purely in hammer ccost and labor savings is $29,088, 2 sum greater than the new annual expenditure on the coated hammers ($18,432), ‘The larger savings from lost production are not included here, but hardfacing requires 9 fewer shutdowns per year than the simple hammer replacement. In conclusion, the addition of hardfacing to an OEM part appears to increase the cost significantly, but the savings in downtime and extended wear life are dominant factors in the formula. Usually worn parts can be repaired in situ, which produces ‘even larger savings, IIL. WEAR MECHANISMS FOUND IN CEMENT PLANTS: In the selection of alloy and hardfacing technique, an understanding of the wear mechanism is crucial, Manydifferent types of wear in a cement plant occur explaining the very broad range of wear solutions that have evolved over the years. Two important wear mechanisms are abrasion and {erosion and each requires its own wear solutions. ‘A. Abrasion and Impact: Ball Mils, Crushers, Feeders ‘Abrasion involves the forced indentation of hard particles, ‘across the component surface, which then exhibits scratches (of grooves. Material removal depends on the ability of the ‘abrasive particle to indent or penetrate the surface (micro- machining, grooving and plastic fatigue). How the abrasive moves also affects the wear as illustrated in Fig. 2a for 2- ‘and 3-body abrasion. Fig. 2b is a 3-body abrasion example. (@) ©) Fig. 2. a). Schematic of 2-Body and 3-Body Abrasion. b) Worn hammers subjected to 3-body abrasion. Increasing metal hardness is the usual route to increase ‘wear resistance. However, hard metals tend to be brite, Which is not desirable under high stress abrasion as cracking land chipping can occur and accelerate wear. Consequently, hardness alone is misleading and other material ‘characteristics such as toughness, grain size and composite ratios become critical with severe wear. These are derived trom the alloy chemistry and usually thick coatings are ‘applied (1-2 em) to give the required lifetime and impact resistance, 8 Erosion: Fans, Transport Piping, Cyclones and Clinker Cooler Grates. Erosion involves the impingement onto the wearing surface of abrasive particles contained in a fluid (air stream fr slury) as illustrated in Fig. 3a Wear patterns typically show channels or waves resulting from the flow characteristics of the fluid. Erosion resistant materials ere similar to those for fine abrasion, Wear resistance is extremely sensitive to impingement angle, particle size, hardness, velocity and temperature [4,5]. For example, at low angles ceramics outperform metals and polymers, at high angles metals and polymers out-perform ceramics (Fig. 3b) @ Impingement [ceramic Wear Rate ey Metal ° 20 Fig. 3. 2), Schematic of Solid Particle Erosion Wear. b) Impingement angle affect on wear rate of different materials, IV. CURRENT SOLUTIONS AND LIMITATIONS The general approach in designing an alloy to combat wear is to have hard particles (harder than the abrasive) bonded together ina matrix. The temperature, hardness and size of the abrasive, etc. will determine the hard particle type, volume fraction in the matrix and the average particle size Typically the matrix is soft metallic (Fe, Ni, Co with Vickers hardness Hv;g= 400-700)) and the’ hard particles are Tungsten Carbide, Alumina, Chrome Carbide (with Vickers hardness HV g, = 1,000-3,060). There have evolved vast range of deposition techniques for these alloys over the years. These include weld overlay, Weld overlay wearplate, epoxy composites, ceramic tiles, Thermal Spray (TS) coatings and Plasma ‘Transfer Arc welding (PTA), Otten the desired alloy limits the number of deposition techniques available (pure hard particles can not be welded for example). However, it is normally a combination of requirements and limitations that determines the final choice. These include cost, wear life required, coating thickness, substrate temperature sensitivity, impact bond strength, etc By judicious selection of alloy and deposition technique, the cement and MER industries have developed a wide range of successful applications which have become standard Practices in many efficient cement piants. An overview is given in Table L TABLE (CURRENT RANGE OF HARDFACING SOLUTIONS IN THE ‘CEMENT INDUSTRY. Technique ‘Watrix | Hard | Applications Phase Wald Overlay Fe rc Hammers, Wear Pate Fe (ro | Sereene, Fane Plasma Tranefered Ate | Co_Fe, NE] WC, CrO | Hammers, Fans ‘Thermal Sprayed Go, Ni, Fe-| WE, CrC, | Giinker Cookers, Cie” | tans, ping ‘Chrome Pisin & cr ‘Shats. Epony-based Compesite | Epony | Aig03.5iC | Housings, pipes Glued on Ceramic Tes Fig0351 | Fans, pongFe. = tron, Co= Cobalt, Ni= Nickel, WC= Tungsten Carbide, Crc= Chrome Carbide, CrB= Chrome Borde, AljO3= Alumina, SiC=’Siicon carbide. The cement industry's pressing economic needs for longer hardfacing wearlife, reduced labor times, reduced labor skill and lower cost have highlighted some technology limitations of the current solutions which needed to be ‘addressed to take M&R technology to the next stage. Some specific technical and economic limitations were: + Composites Wear, ease of use, toxicity, + Ceramics Bonding, fracture on impact. = Wear Plate Wear life, weight, corrosion ‘= TS Coatings Bond strength, wear life, + PTA Cost, size of components. ‘There have been significant developments from the MER industry in recent years in these areas which are starting to be applied in the cement industry with significant impact. \V. NEW MATERIAL AND PROCESS DEVELOPMENTS The developments in the M&R industry have been both in ‘new materials and new equipment. These developments have been used in combination with each other and Separately. In describing them, the new solution to the ‘cement industry that evolved is presented. ‘A. Advanced Non-Metalic Composites ‘A new development in wear-resistant materials is @ range ‘of environmentally safe, user friendly, “cold-repair" epoxy- based composites having breakthrough wear properties for ‘cement related applications. Composites have long offered a simple, cold process to patch repairs where heat sensitive substrate, equipment restrictions and low skill level are issues. However, previously available composites were often {quite toxic and had irritating fumes and very offensive odors, which made them difficult to use without special precautions ‘Many also had long set up times and were difficult to use out ‘of position or in applications requiring rapid start up (during ‘an unplanned outage). In addition, to these limitations, the ‘wear performance was also limited. ‘The new composites are completely non-toxic, contain no VOCs, have no offensive odors and can be cleaned up with ‘soapy water before they set up, which makes them very user friendly and safe to use. As an example, they were used to reline a badly abraded feed scroll of a large raw mill without the necessity for special ventilation or special breathing ‘equipment. Although intended as a temporary repair, (to ‘maintain production until a new mill end installation could be ‘scheduled), this repair was accomplished in less than one full work day, but has been in use for over 20 months with only ‘minor touch up required. {In addition to the dramatic improvements in the handling, this example illustrates the breakthrough in microstructural design which is giving new of levels of wear resistance for this class of materials. ‘The wear mechanism in normal epoxy composites is one of wearing away of the softer epoxy matrix and subsequent {all out of the ceramic wear media before they have served their full life. One simplistic route to improve wear resistance Is to increase the volume fraction of hard particles. However, this can have the effect of making the composite too viscous, ‘to work with and too brittle once set. Cracks formed at the surface due to erosive impact wear can easily extend deep into the britle composite and allow whole chunks to fall out, fan even higher material loss mechanism that individual particle loss. The new composites employ a combination of bimodal grain size distribution, bimodal hard phase distribution (Fig.4) and the use of Kevlar® fibers to enhance not only the wear resistance but increase inter-granular binding and crack resistance, Fig. 4. Scanning Electron Microscope micrograph of polished ‘composite Microstructure, Mag. = 100x. The epoxy is also stoichiometrically balanced for cross- linking density optimization, with the consequential elimination of non-reacted components and improved particle bonding, ‘An example of the wear resistance is a coal mill elbow which required repair every 3-4 months with the previous composite solution. Repair with the new composite has already given 14 months service with little sign of wear. Cement transport pipes which propel the finished cement from the finish mills to the separators have now been in use for 2 years with no measurable wear. Fig. 5. New composite applied on worn piping.A technique was developed for repairing these transport piping in-place without shutting down production (Fig. 5) This Is @ major economic benefit in addition to the savings in replacement parts and extended wear life. Further, ‘considering that dust collector and transport systems operate ‘more efficiently without leaks, it becomes apparent that these Rew composites can have a positive impact on both the ‘operating costs and production. B. Highest Wear Resistance Weld Overfay. More Economic. Plasma Transfer Arc (PTA) welding can be regarded as 2 wweld/spray process, with metalic powder as the consumable Consequently it possesses the features of welding (100% dense, metallurgical bonded, thick coatings) but also those of thermal spray. These include its low dilution with the Substrate, smoother surface, less cracks than weld overlay ‘and flexible alloy compositions. its ability to deposit super hard WC containing overlay without damaging their structure, in thick (2 cm) 2 layer deposits with less than 10% total dilution gives order of magnitude wear lifetimes under severe abrasive wear over traditional weld overtay. However, the inherently slow deposition rate (Bkgihr) demanded a premium for this solution and limited. its excellent Characteristics to only the severest and smallest of cement applications, Recently @ company called Implantechnik In Germany eveloped the frst large scale PTA unit capable of depositing ‘7kgihr [6]. With this development, large parts can be hardfaced with thick, WC-containing coatings with less heat input distortion and a smoother finish. Parts in the cement industry which have recently been coated include roller ‘rushers, hammers, dump plates and general crushers (Fig. Plasma Transferred Arc coated crusher by Implantechnik device. ©. Superior Performance Thermal Spray Coatings ‘Thermal sprayed (TS) metal and ceramic coatings have been successfully used for wear and corrosion {7] in cement plants. The advantages are large coverage, controllable ‘coatings thickness, @ wide range of alloys and minimat interference with the substrate. Significant enhancements in both the quality and cost effectiveness have occurred through recent TS process developments. Improved quality of ‘combustion sprayings has occurred by increasing motten particle velocities from 300m/s (for typical combustion spraying) to 1000m/s for the new High Velocity Oxygen Fuel (HVOF) process. This dramatically increases coating density (Fig. 7), bond strength and coating properties. (2) (b) Fig. 7. Optical micrographs of polished coatings of Alloy 625 sprayed with a) Standard thermal spray and b) HVOF. Significant cost efficiencies have been achieved by hight deposition rates, deposition efficiencies and _ lower investmentioperating costs. The Twin Wire Electric Arc spraying process has been developed to operate without expensive combustion gases. The production of the heat to ‘mett the particles and particle acceleration is by electrically arcing two wire consumables. Arc wire spraying has one of the lowest costs and highest deposition rates at 12 kg/h. ‘One growing application area is to replace chrome plating being used for wear and corrosion resistance. The well publicized environmental concems associated with its processing continue to increase costs dramatically. Thermal spray can be an alternative, benign process, particularly with HVOF thermal spray technologies [8,9] for certain applications, Table I! compares properties and shows the § ‘times superior weer life from ASTM G65 Procedure A (Dry ‘Sand Rubber Wheel) abrasion wear tests, TABLE HL PROPERTIES OF HVOF COATING ANO HARD CHROME PLATING. ‘Composition We-aGe | Hard HVOF | Chrome plating Vickers Micro Raraness 7160-750 | 00-1000. [As-sprayed or as;plaied surface thigh Ra [140170 | 4050 (Ground finish, Ra 70, 1622) ‘Serice Temperature °C 5a ae (G65 Wear Rate oz 10. HVOF coatings are cost competitive with chrome plating for wear resistant coats (50-125um) and have the advantages of speed and larger component size. Local manual refurbishment or repair in the field is now possible with the recent development of portable, HVOF units [10,11]. ‘This option eliminates the need for a complete machine strip- down and complex masking. The ability to touch up severelyworn local areas also leads to considerable saving on down time. Applications include shafts, housings, fans, valves, et. ‘Are wire spraying has found @ good application in coating linker cooler grates. The outer surfaces are subjected to high temperature abrasion/oxidation, leading to metal loss land enlargement of the cooling holes (which reduces cooling efficiency and allows clinker to fall through). The cast metal cooler plate has a balance of wear resistance, oxidation and Castabilty properties that do not allow further wear protection enhancement. By using a specially developed cored wire with the arc wire process (Fig. 8), @ highly alloyed high temperature coating was produced having high levels of chrome and titanium and a hardness of Hv, = 950. Coated arate lifetimes have been extended by up to factors of 3-4 Fig. 8. Cooler plates being coated by arc-wire spraying. D. Lightweight, Smooth Wear Plates Weld overlay wear plates are becoming popular for protection of large surfaces against wear, where hand welding in the field would not produce such uniform results or bbe as economical. However, their usefulness in @ cement plant can be restricted in some applications by the minimum plate thickness and surface roughness/cracks (imposed by the welding process). A new technique has been developed which marries the quality of vacuum fusion and WC containing selffluxing alloys to produce a new generation of lightweight, corrosion resistance wear plates with wear resistance up to 9 times that of traditional weld overtay piate These plates have dimensions of 1250 x 850 mm, with thickness of 2 mm coating on a substrate of 4 mm (6mm total thickness). This thickness allows for extreme bending of the plate to produce tubes of 15 cm diameter (Fig. 9). They fare especially good in erosion due to the smooth surface, fine sizelvolume fraction of WC and lack of cracks. This lack of cracking, dense coating, metallurgical bonding ‘and nickel-chrome chemistry combine to also give the first Corrosion resistant wear plate. The lightness means it can be cout with an air plasma torch at the location and manually transported to difficult-to-access plant equipment. Applications include housings, fans, transport piping, ete ig. ©. Fused wear plate bent into tube of 15 om diameter. VI. THE USE OF COMPUTERS The choice of wear solutions for the variety of cement plant wear problems becomes increasingly complex when there exists a large range of techniques and consumables available. In addition, every plant is different so there is also 2 variation in degree and type of wear and consequently the performance of a recommended wear solution. This demands an individual tailoring of the identified solution as various repair solutions seldom require the same approach and procedure. Here, the collective assembly of previous plant experience is used as a tool in the provision of the total solution. Applications usually require a combination of techniques and consequently procedures are created and documented in Method Statements for the application solution, The value and knowledge in meeting new challenges ‘quickly and efficiently has been enhanced by the development of a comprehensive database of solutions. In order to choose the best economic and technical solution for problem at the cement plant, the search can be aided by a dedicated user-friendly computer program (Fig. 10) and run ff a laptop in the cement plant for on-the-spot diagnostic. In adcition to information on a specific plant part, searches can be made for applications based on an area in @ plant, on the type of wear or material type. When a particularly effective ‘materialiprocess has been developed and applied, other applications using a similar approach can be identified. Fig. 10. Cement application database program screen.‘The multilingual program and the advent of the Internet has allowed the transfer and update of international applications from cement plants in France, Germany, UK, Japan, ‘Switzerland, Mexico, etc. to the US. ‘VIL. Conctusions: © As coment plants are forced to focus on reducing operating costs, downtime and improve efficiencies, maintenance repair and prevention will play an Increasingly significant role in helping plant engineers, ‘meet their objectives. The M8R industry has made major developments in recent years which have already significantly impacted the cement industry. + Repair, wear and corrosion issues are complex, but highly ‘cost-effective solutions can be tailor made based ‘on global experience in the cement industry and advanced technology. ‘* New materials such as epoxy-composites, high temperature wear resistant coatings and vacuum-fused wear plates have demonstrated new levels of wear protection and cost savings. ‘+ New processes such as PTA, HVOF and twin wire arc thermal spraying are reducing application costs and delivering the highest coating quailty levels. '* Computer systems are being used to store global application experience and solutions, with laptops bringing them to the cement plant. ACKNOWLEDGMENTS ‘The support of the Eutectic + Castolin Group Research & Technology Center, in Lausanne, Switzerland is ‘acknowledged in the supply of wear test results and micrographs. Also, Hercules Cement Allentown, PA and Implantechnik for piant and application photographs. REFERENCES [1] G. Davies and D. Wiggins, “Cost savings using preventative welding repair” Cement Word, (Feb 1996) [2] 5. Leake, "Weiding kin tyres, Consistently successful weld repairs to fractured and spalled kin tyres," International Cement Review, pp. 81-86, (Sept 1997). [8] 0. Wiggins, “Method case’ study for the welding of replacement kiln sections," pp. 27-35, International Cement Journal, Issue 1,1997 [4] GR Heath, PAA Kammer, MM. Stack and M. Rehberg, “The high temperature erosion/corrosion behaviour of ‘advanced multi-layer coatings,” FGM'94, Lausanne, Switzerland (1995), 5] GR. Heath, PA. Kammer, M. M. Stack, “The high temperature erosion/eorrosion behaviour of industria thermal sprayed coatings,” 9” National Thermal Spray Conference, Cincinnati, USA (1996). {6} GR. 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