Loading a new larger capacity coating reactor at Hardide Coatings

Bicester-based Hardide Coatings is providing its advanced Hardide-T coating for well-construction specialist DeltaTek Global’s SeaCure technology.

The coating was selected to provide a hard-wearing surface within DeltaTek’s SeaCure ball-drop subsea cementing system which delivers stabbed-in, inner string cementing for subsea wells. When compared to traditional methods, the system significantly reduces cement wastage, delivering substantial reduction in CO₂ emissions.

The ball-drop system requires a bespoke seat to be positioned at the bottom of the inner string within the latch in the adaptor which requires a hard-wearing surface to ensure no erosion or corrosion damage occurs while pumping cement.

Impact resistance
The internal profiles of the low alloy steel seats were coated with Hardide-T, nanostructured tungsten/tungsten carbide chemical vapour deposition (CVD) coating. It has been developed specifically for heavy duty applications in extremely abrasive, erosive or corrosive environments or in applications involving shock loads where impact resistance is required.

The tested seats showed no signs of erosion or corrosion and the Hardide-T coating is now specified on the SeaCure seat. It has now been used successfully on all SeaCure jobs using the ball-drop system on projects in the North Sea, West of Shetland and the Arctic Circle.

David Shand, DeltaTek COO, said: “The coating has already been deployed in harsh operating conditions where the system has successfully been pumping up to 3,000 barrels of cement at eight barrels per min for up to 10hr with no erosion or corrosion noted during post-job inspection.”

Philip Kirkham, CEO of Hardide Coatings, said: “Hardide’s coatings are proven to optimise component performance and extend operating times safely and reliably. Our Hardide-T coating has already been deployed across 16 SeaCure projects from the North Sea to the Arctic Circle.

“We are excited to work with DeltaTek who share our performance enhancing, time-saving ethos in the innovative well-construction technologies that they develop.”