Nano-Structured CVD Coating HARDIDE protects against wear and corrosion

Drilling tools operate in extremely abrasive, erosive and corrosive environments which reduce tool life, especially in case of sour well applications. Hardide™ is a new family of CVD (Chemical Vapour Deposition) Tungsten Carbide coatings proven to increase tool life and thus reduce expensive down time and drilling operation costs particularly in new frontier, harsh and difficult drilling conditions.  
The Hardide-T type coating consists of Tungsten Carbide nano-particles dispersed in a metal Tungsten matrix, shows enhanced hardness in excess 1100 Hv, and abrasion resistance up to 12 times better than Hard Chrome (ASTM G65 testing).  The coating can be produced on stainless steel, low alloy and some tool steels, Ni-, Co- and Cu-based alloys with a coating thickness up to 100 microns, which is unique for hard CVD coatings. As a nano-structured material, it demonstrates outstanding toughness, crack and impact resistance by withstanding 3000 microstrain deformations without any damage; this deformation will crack or chip any other thick hard coating.
The gas-phase CVD process enables the coating of internal surfaces and complex designs such as valves, hydraulic components and pump cylinders. The pore-free coating is resistant to acids and aggressive media; its resistance to H₂S is proven by NACE TM0177-2005 / ASTM G39 testing. After 30-day exposure to H₂S, salt and acetic acid solution Hardide-coated samples made of 17-4PH and 316 steels did not exhibit evidence of coating cracking, degradation or de-lamination. The samples were strained to the stress levels of 2000 µε, 2500 µε and 3000 µε.

ASTM B117-07a Neutral Salt Spray testing was performed with Hardide coated samples, as well as samples of commercially available hard Chrome plating and HVOF spray coatings produced on the same substrates. The Hardide samples passed the test with very little staining observed, while all the HVOF samples shown heavy or very heavy rust stains at the end of the 480 hours testing. The Hard Chrome samples had to be removed from the test earlier after just 288 hours when very heavy rust stains shown coating lifting in some areas due to severe corrosion developing beneath the coating.Hardide-T is applied to coat critical components in high wear and/or aggressive media environments including downhole tools for the oil and gas industry, mud-driven hydraulic systems, pumps for abrasive and viscous fluids, valves and aerospace applications.  Typically, the coating triples the life of precipitation hardened stainless steel parts in abrasive conditions.
In several cases Hardide enabled improved design of systems operating in extreme wear and erosion conditions. For example, Hardide proved to be the only material withstanding a shaped valve seat deformation during closing and protecting the seat from wear and erosion.  The technology is in use by some of the leading oilfield service companies in applications around the world.  Hardide is an attractive replacement for Hard Chrome, which is to be phased-out due to environmental and health and safety considerations.