Hardide plc (LON:HDD), the developer and provider of advanced surface coating technology, has announced that a major European manufacturer of steam and gas turbines for power generation has placed its first production order for the Hardide-A coating on gas turbine compressor blades. The blades are to be processed by Hardide before the end of 2021 and installed in a high efficiency, low emission, gas turbine in early 2022. This initial contract has a value of c. £200,000.
The ability to coat these components is only possible because of the investment made in the new Longlands Road site, where the larger coating reactor and pre-treatment line can accommodate these sizes of blades.
The Hardide-A coating has been proven to reduce wear, corrosion and erosion of the turbine blades, maintaining high efficiency for longer and reducing significant on-going maintenance costs. Hardide was granted a patent in November 2019 by the UK Intellectual Property Office for an erosion resistant coating for turbine blades, vanes and other components. Equivalent patent applications have been submitted to the Europatent organisation and a further nine countries worldwide. The Group believes there is significant potential for further developments in the gas and steam turbine sector.
Philip Kirkham, Hardide CEO, commented: “This is our first production order for power generation turbine blades and we are delighted to be working on this initial contract in a sector that we believe is ideally suited to our specialist coatings. This and similar applications in the future would not have been possible without the investment made at the new site. In particular, the larger coating reactor and pre-treatment line enables us to process this size of component. Hardide is looking forward to continuing work with this customer and others, including EDF Energy, and expects to receive further contracts for the coating of turbine compressor blades.”
