Introducing Applications of Chromium Oxide Coatings: Paper Industry

In the paper industry, materials are subdued to extreme environments with high wear conditions, aqueous corrosion and surface finish requirements.

The cost of maintenance stoppages is extremely high and long lifetime is essential for profitability. Chemically, chromium oxide coatings are extremely stable and can be used in the paper industry to protect equipment from wear.

Application Concerns in the Paper Industry

In paper production, demands for increased machine efficiency have pushed the limits of traditional materials used in paper machines. The components are subjected to sliding wear from the wire and lignin fibers, as well as mild corrosion from water removed from the paper stock. This is where chromium oxide coatings can help.

• In the wet section, dewatering elements are in constant contact with the wire that is used to remove water from the paper.
• In the press section, the center roll needs to have appropriate chemistry and release properties to prevent electrostatic sticking of the paper, leading to breaks.
• In cardboard making, the creping blade needs to have a good surface quality and high hardness and wear resistance to maintain its dimensions and the proper creping angle, all the while, insulating the heat load subjected to the metallic blade to prevent warping.

Chromium oxide coatings also add value to anilox rolls which are laser-engraved to transfer ink onto the printing roll. In order to have the exact dimensions of the engraved cells, the chromium oxide coating needs to be optimized, and metallic chromium should be avoided. Additionally, chromium oxide coatings increase the roll lifetime against the rubbing of doctor blades.

Using Chromium Oxide Ceramic Coatings

Chromium oxide ceramic coatings are a form of an industrial coating that can be applied with flame spray or plasma spray coating processes. These coatings are particularly well suited for sliding wear resistance where good chemical stability is required. Chrome oxide (Cr2O3) is an inorganic compound of chromium and oxygen. It occurs naturally as the rare mineral eskolaïte and is the primary oxide of chromium. Many of the material’s beneficial characteristics are found in chromium oxide coating (Cr2O3 coatings) coated substrates such as high chemical stability, release, and excellent sliding and abrasion wear resistance.

Chromium Oxide Coatings from Saint-Gobain

At Saint-Gobain Coating Solutions, we supply a broad range of chromium oxide powders and rods that possess formulations designed to meet exact process demands for the best possible resistance to corrosion and wear from abrasion, friction, erosion, and fretting.

We provide numerous sizes of rounded pure chromium oxide for the highest wear resistance and stability as well as fused and crushed powders of chromium oxide with titania additions (Cr2O3-3TiO2 and Cr2O3-4SiO2-3TiO2), which increase deposition at the expense of chemical stability.  Our unique and proprietary spherical “Ruby”, achieves equal levels of wear resistance as pure Cr2O3 with a higher deposition efficiency and lower amounts of hexavalent chromium. (Cr2O3-25Al2O3). Additionally, our Rokide® C rods are known to produce high-quality chromium oxide coatings exhibiting outstanding structure and properties.

We control the production process for our materials from the raw state all the way through to the finished powders or rods. This allows us to customize key powder characteristics such as particle size distribution, density, flowability, chemistry, and so on, as needed.

These powders are free from chromium metal and are well-suited for rolls, blades, dewatering elements used in the manufacturing of paper, as well as other common applications such as pumps, shafts, pistons, and seals.

We also provide a state-of-the-art plasma spray system, the ProPlasma, that with our powders is optimized for high-throughput, high-efficiency spraying of supreme quality chromium oxide coatings.

If you would like to find out more about our chromium oxide coating solutions and how they can work for your business, contact us today.