Polymer Steel 1

[bonzoboy]

There's a company in California (started by a Cal Tech professor I think), they produce a kind of steel they basically call "polymer steel". Minimal edge defects, etc, so chemical attack is hard to initiate. I heard they put a coating of this on some boiler tubes, and got some really good results (corrosion, ash adhesion). Does anybody in the boiler / HRSG industry (using coal as a fuel) have experience with this material? How much did it cost to install, and what savings might have been realized?

Thanks

 

[kenvlach]

“Polymer steel” is a misnomer -- it's not polymer, not steel. You are referring to ArmacorTM Coatings

http://coatings.liquidmetal.com

from Liquidmetal®.

The material is (probably) a metallic glass. Professor William E. Johnson of CalTech was an early co-discoverer of an important method for producing metallic glasses (having a liquid-like, amorphous microstructure). His webpage & publications at

http://www.its.caltech.edu/~vitreloy/index.htm

don't mention steels.
He co-founded Liquidmetal® Technologies.

“Revolutionary Liquidmetal®-ArmacorTM Coatings is a complete line of alloy coatings for industrial equipment and machinery that provide the benefits of an amorphous surface in tough environments of high wear, temperature and corrosion. Liquidmetal-Armacor Coatings will significantly extend part life. From the wall of a refinery coker to the firebox of a 1500MW utility boiler, to drill pipe exploring for oil thousands of feet beneath the earth's surface, industry relies on Liquidmetal Coatings to provide long-lasting, economical solutions to equipment wear. Our products will significantly extend part life, resulting in reduced lifecycle costs.”

I don't know whether it's in commercial use yet. A few coating test results are given at

http://coatings.liquidmetal.com/industrial.applications.power.asp

Liquidmetal doesn't say what the proprietary alloy is, but I'm sure it's not steel. Steel would be extremely difficult to produce in metallic glass form due to the presence of carbon (readily forms carbides during solidification) and other alloying elements. Pure Fe can be done, and also some Ni-based alloys. Maybe a Ni-Zr alloy?