Improvements in total cost of ownership by the replacement of Spray and fuse protective coatings with high speed laser cladding option on key Oil and Gas components

Improvements in total cost of ownership by the replacement of Spray and fuse protective coatings with HSLC option on key Oil and Gas components

Frack Plungers and Sucker Rod couplings are essential components in well production for the Oil and Gas industry. To enhance the life of these components they have been generally coated for the last 25 to 30 years with NiCrBSi self-fluxing materials applied by Oxy-acetylene Flame Spray and then fused, either by flame torch, oven or induction heat treatment. High speed laser cladding (HSLC) is quickly becoming a favored option to apply thin, cost effective, protective clads on cylindrical components. In this study HSLC Ni-based and Fe-based materials were applied to Sucker Rod couplings and Frack Plungers and directly compared to those coatings applied by the standard application method of Spray and Fuse. Results showed that for equivalent thickness coatings, and using equivalent materials, a 30% reduction in processing time was observed. During physical characterization of the HSLC deposits an increase in the hardness values and decrease in volume loss from G65 testing were observed as well as a reduction in Coefficient of Friction when compared to equivalent materials applied by Spray and Fuse.