Energy
Climate change is accelerating and prompting us to take the necessary measures to preserve our planet. In Europe for instance, in order to reduce greenhouse gases by 55% in 2030 and become the first climate-neutral continent by 2050, Europe must switch its energy system from fossil fuels to renewables. The energy transition will largely focus on energy efficiency, renewables and electrification.
Sichem Innovative coatings has different products to facilitate an energy efficient solution for our customers.
Much of the energy transition will focus on energy efficiency and electrification. Electrification is the most effective way to harness and consume renewable electricity and should remain the priority where technically feasible and economically realistic.
Sichem Innovative coatings has a variety of coatings in order to comply with the ever demanding requirements for alternative energy such as solar power, turbo machinery and industrial.
Is this section of our solutions we will focus on the energy efficiency.
To learn more about our solution electrification, see section Hydrogen.
SOLAR POWER
As the World is shifting from fossil fuels to renewable energy, higher shares of variable renewable energy appear every year and with it comes the need to manage them, as well as being able to generate green energy on demand: a need for dispatchability.
An answer to this challenge is Thermal Energy Storage (TES): the temporary storage of energy by heating or cooling a storage medium so that the stored energy can be used later for power generation or heating/cooling industrial needs.
To protect against corrosion, the inside of the tubes containing the molten salt, Sichem developped the product line NexTherma et to enhance the light to heat absorption, the solution lies on the product Sichem Solar System
How does it work?
The solar tower, which consists of an array of tracking flat mirrors (heliostats) that reflect and concentrate sunlight on a Solar Receiver: a high technology heat exchanger, allowing the heat-transfer medium (water, molten salt or solid particles) to reach the highest temperatures (and therefore the highest plant efficiencies) of all CSP technologies: currently 565°C for molten salts, soon more than 800°C thanks to solid particle technology. Sichem Innovative coatings is proud to become reference supplier for the coatings to be used in the Solar Receiver both for protection of the outer and inner tubes. Our coatings can withstand and operate with temperatures up to 850°C and hence will increase the durability of the Solar receiver and furthermore cost savings as we have to re-apply less (less interruption in operating hours).
Our coatings can be used for the inside tubes (Salt) to avoid corrosion of the tube as well on the outside of the tubes to optimize the absorbance of the light into heat.
TUrbo machinery
Turbomachines are used to transfer energy between a rotating assembly, called rotor, and a fluid. They have different designs according to their functions: turbines (energy from fluid to rotor), compressors (energy from rotor to fluid), jet aircraft engines, pumps, turbochargers, etc.
Manufactures and operators of Turbo Machinery equipment routinely rely on surface coatings to improve engine life and efficiency. The Sichem coatings used for this market will protect airfoil sections against corrosion and wear, limit compressor fouling and help to prevent failure in sensitive and vulnerable engine areas. Sichem coatings against high temperature will reduce the effects of hot corrosion and oxidation. Failure of unprotected components can trigger a chain of reaction within the turbine that could result in catastrophic failure.
TURBO MACHINERY WITH SICHEM COATINGS :
When an airfoil surface is provided with a Sichem coating and hence it is smooth and has minimal roughness, there is little aerodynamic drag, and the engine operates very efficiently. Studies have found that thermal barrier coatings can increase overall engine performance substantially by protecting airfoil surfaces.
TURBO MACHINERY WITHOUT SICHEM COATINGS :
Aerodynamic drag in a compressor is related to the roughness of the airfoil surface. The rougher the surface, the greater the drag. Drag increase with fouling, which can occur through a variety of mechanisms. Materials in the air can condense and dry on the blade surfaces. Fine particles in the air can be attracted and held by electrostatic forces. Turbulence occurs when deposits, cracks or other obstacles disrupt the smooth flow of air. When corrosion or fouling damage the airfoil surface, aerodynamic drag increases, and the engine’s overall efficiency and output decreases.
Sichem coatings used against anti-corrosion are : Endurocoat, NexTherma, ChemTech
Sichem coatings used against anti-wear and high temperature are : Endurocoat
INdustrial
For the industrial applications, such as industrial boilers, customers can benefit from Sichem Innovative coatings.
The inner linings of those boilers need to have a coating against corrosion and high temperature without the use of Chrome 6.
Another application of our Innovative coatings is in the aviation industry where the dilution rate is off utmost importance to improve and optimize the energy consumption.
The dilution rate is the ratio of the mass of the secondary stream to the primary stream. Commercial aviation is looking for engines with high bypass ratios, to obtain better efficiency, maximize fuel savings and minimize environmental drawbacks (gas pollution, noise). A possible solution is an increase the temperature of the engines and hence a appropriate coating is needed to withstand those high temperature without damage of the engine.