Reducing the mechanical wear of elbows and pipes due to solid particles flow by using nano coating technique

This work investigated reasons and factors that cause the failure due to mechanical wear (Erosion) for the inside surface of elbows and pipes used in cement transportation which manufactures from low carbon steel and finds out a method for reducing this failure. The technique of Nano-coating layers is used to coat the surface of samples with layers of nanoparticles of tungsten carbides of different thicknesses of (30, 40, and 50 μm). The test was done for these samples by placing them inside the elbow under the same operating conditions, pin on disc test. The results of the test under the same operation condition showed a decrease in erosion rate by 71% for the sample coated with 50 μm of layer, while the results of the pin on disc test showed a decrease in erosion rate by 97% for the thickness of 50 μm as this test is done under ideal testing conditions. The decrease in wear rate for elbow and pipes will increase their life work two times at least and that reduces the cost of maintenance by about 75%. The numerical simulation was also implemented to simulate the erosion profile inside the elbow, and the agreement with experimental results was 90%.