The UK steel industries have been hit hard since 2008, with profitability down by 80% in 2012 from the pre-crisis peak reached in 2008. Production costs in 2014 and 2015 are still at one of the highest levels ever and UK mills find themselves squeezed competing in persistently tight global markets. Monitor Coatings has a patented technology licensed to TATA steel, marketed under the trade mark CASTCOAT which is able to increase the in-service life of continuous casting flat mould plates by up to 6 times in companies such as Port Talbot and Teesside steel plants. Based on this technology, a new coating system will be developed using a compact HVOF process which is capable of coating internal diameters of billet moulds. Three coating systems will be developed (replacing hard chrome plating) capable of withstanding the aggressive high temperature wear environment during continuous casting. It is estimated that the down selected coating will provide an extended service life of at least 2 times. The production costs for Billet Continuous Casting steel will drop substantially, measured as “a £ per tonne saving” against current production costs.

"Engineering components usually fail when the surface cannot adequately withstand the external forces or environment to which it is subjected. The choice of a surface material, with the appropriate thermal properties and sufficient resistance to wear, corrosion and degradation, is crucial to its functionality. Improving the functionality of an existing product is only one aim. The second is to develop a new class of reinforced coating materials with the aid of nanotechnology. This new coating system and application method can create opportunities for new products which could not otherwise exist. The primary target market of this project is the steel sector in the UK and abroad. More than 1.6 billion tonnes of steel are produced and used every year generating a market value of £300 billion. This project targets continuous casting products representing 25% of the global market. The main function of the mould is to establish a solidified steel shell that is sufficient in strength to contain the liquid metal core upon entry into the secondary spray cooling zone. The key challenge is how to provide a coating solution that can offer superior billet properties at high casting speeds (higher productivity-dynamic supply model), for a longer time and with consistent product quality throughout the steel production campaign. The steel producer, the user of these moulds, reports that the biggest issues, in terms of productivity and cost, are the high rate of wear and high temperature oxidation of the moulds. As an enabling technology, Surface Engineering has economic and societal impacts via reduction in capital investment, increased profitability, design changes, environmental benefits and technical innovation. The UK steel plants will benefit from the lower steel manufacturing costs and higher steel quality. The project will positively affect the steel supply chain such as recycling, energy and mining through increased productivity and will add value to downstream industries such as construction, mechanical equipment, automotive, metal products, shipbuilding and trains through steel product quality improvements and lower costs. Broader industry benefits are expected from the advancement of nanotechnology and this project, with its unique industry led views on nanotechnology use, will provide a significant contribution to a future UK Government Strategy. The secondary target market of this project is surface engineering for aggressive environments. The value of the UK coating market is approximately £21.3 billion, and those coatings critically affect products with a value greater than £143 billion."

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The need to reduce CO2 emissions is pushing thermal power plant to use higher operating temperatures and biomass/waste derived fuels, and these factors combine to create demanding environments for heat exchanger tubes. The ‘ER-Sealcoat’ project aims to develop a low cost method of producing customisable coatings that can coat 3D geometries (internal and external) and protect against aggressive high temperature environments. The process will use exothermic reaction synthesis to modify low cost sprayed metallic coatings. The seal coating is produced as a two-part slurry containing chemically active components, which reacts with the sprayed base coat exothermically. This reaction adds chemical energy that enhances diffusion and intermetallic formation with the basecoat, producing a sealed surface with a bespoke chemical gradient capable of resisting fireside corrosion and high temperature oxidation. The ER-Sealcoat would result in improved performance through its functional gradient design and ability to close surface breaking porosity and seal the coating. Direct and indirect process costs would also be reduced compared to current industrial coating methods.

End users in high value and other manufacturing sectors report low confidence in the long-term performance of both coatings and their processing as a barrier to the introduction of new products dependent on surface engineering and advanced coatings. Responding to this market need this project aims to shift the paradigm from "apply the material you have" to "engineer the material you need" developing significant global markets through increased confidence in surface engineering technology. High entropy alloys (HEAs) provide a transformative opportunity in this direction enabling high-performance manufactured goods that are competitive in the international marketplace through extraordinary material properties and unique property combinations. The new High Entropy Superalloys will be engineered around the Al-Co-Cr-Cu-Fe-Ni alloy system promoting both the face-centred cubic phase and the wear resistant nano-oxides phase. To achieve rapid material development, the consortium will devise a hybrid R&D approach combining high throughput experimentation and a neural network software that would allow a computer to sift through more than a million possibilities in search of promising mixtures tailored to the operating environment characteristics. The new approach aims to "discover, manufacture, and deploy advanced materials twice as fast, at a fraction of the cost. The new technology will be first demonstrated to the steel sector that is under ever increasing pressure. Steel mills in the UK will benefit from the project outcomes helping them to maintain and increase their workforce. A successful project outcome will result in jobs created and retained in the supply chain. The project will have a major environmental impact through the substitution of carcinogenic hexavalent chrome and the reduction of cobalt based materials excessively used in hard facing applications worldwide.