Initial Situation
An internationally operating manufacturer was repeatedly confronted with the same issue: recuperator tubes made from material 1.4828 in the production lines suffered severe abrasion from dust particles at temperatures above 650°C.
The consequence: regular tube replacement – expensive, labour‑intensive and associated with long downtime.
The Challenge
The task was to provide effective abrasion protection under extreme operating conditions, without modifying the existing plant design. The solution needed to offer long service life and be suitable for complex tube geometries.
The Solution
Our specialists recommended a plasma-sprayed coating with zirconium oxide, applied using a specially adapted torch system. This ceramic material offers excellent abrasion resistance at high temperatures and forms a durable bond with the 1.4828 substrate.
The Result
The service life of the coated tubes increased from less than 1 year to over 3 years – under unchanged, high process loads.
On the strength of these results, the customer decided to convert all 6 production lines to plasma‑coated recuperator tubes.
Outlook
With this solution, the customer has drastically reduced maintenance costs and downtime while significantly improving long‑term production reliability. Additional sites are already evaluating similar retrofit projects.
