Having been involved in corrosion protection for more than 25 years, I read with interest your article on the protection system developed by the Pacific Northwest National Laboratory (
Production Engineering, 24 April).
It struck me as similar to the thermal spray coating method known as 'aluminising', where molten particles of aluminium, or an aluminium or nickel-chromium alloy, or a combination, are applied to a ferrous substrate and heat-treated. This creates a similar multi-layered surface structure, including a pseudo-alloy layer, to that described in the new method.
An established application method such as thermal spraying would be a simpler solution to generate the necessary amount of aluminium at the surface — and such a method is solvent free.
Justin Ruddock
Penfold Metallising Co
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The Engineer
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