Our cryogenic spray nozzle installs easily on any thermal spray gun to cool parts twice as fast as air alone, allowing you to work faster and more efficiently, with less wasted powder, process gas and booth time. Plus, it allows temperature control within a range of +/–11°C.
The Innovation: The Thermal Spray Cooling Technology
Thermal management of coated parts is a critical issue in thermal spray operations. Improper temperature control during the spray deposition process can result in overheated coating, thermal deformation and degradation of the substrate material and damaging stresses that can lead to the lamination of the coating material. Compressed air cooling, widely used in the industry, is often insufficient and the residual moisture, oxygen and hydrocarbons are often detrimental to coating quality.
Patented Technology
The technology uses cryogenic nitrogen vapor to cool parts quickly and efficiently. The cooling intensity scales with heat input, based on temperature feedback. The temperature feedback system can use a variety of inputs, including single-point IR sensors, 2-D IR cameras and contact thermocouples. Use of the nitrogen cooling system has enabled elimination of inter-pass cooling breaks and has significantly reduced powder and gas wastage, compared to compressed air cooling.
Authentic Results and Benefits
The new Air Products’ patent-pending cooling technology has provided productivity and quality benefits in a range of thermal spray applications involving aerospace parts, construction equipment and rolls. The technology allowed a major aircraft parts service facility to halve the spraying time and significantly reduce the amount of powder and process gases consumed in the coating of its landing gear parts. The process involved spraying of tungsten carbide cobalt chrome (WC-Co-Cr) powder using high velocity oxy-fuel (HVOF) process. The cryogenic vapor cooling system has also provided important part quality benefits, including preservation of substrate properties, minimization of coating oxidation and reduction in residual stress gradient.
Further information is also available on our range of supply methods for Gases, and on our related Services.
