Belzona Polymerics (Harrogate, United Kingdom), one of the world’s leading providers of high-performance polymeric repair composites and protective coatings, recently announced the launch of a new product to add to their portfolio of industrial maintenance solutions.
This new product, Belzona 1818, is specially formulated for emergency patch repairs in highly abrasive environments typically found in industries such as mining, cement, pulp and paper, biomass, and others where equipment is commonly exposed to extensive erosion and abrasion from excavated or processed materials of varying type, size, and shape.
What is easily identifiable about this new product is its distinctive blue color. This vivid blue serves as a good mixing indicator and provides contrast where an application is carried out in poorly lit conditions, or against dark background surfaces where the repair area should be easily identifiable, according to the company. These conditions can be common in typical industrial applications.
Belzona 1818 is the newest addition to the erosion-resistant Belzona 1800 series product range and bridges the gap between surface tolerance, fast cure, and high abrasion resistance. The fast-curing properties mean minimal downtime for damaged equipment, with the product allowing for full mechanical loading and heavy abrasion just two hours after application, depending on cure temperatures.
In these abrasive environments, surface preparation can also be an issue and contamination is common, Belzona explains. Therefore, the equipment cannot always be fully cleaned or ideally profiled, as required for many repair materials. The desire to deal with adverse application conditions creates a need for a not only fast-curing, but also a surface-tolerant material.
As a result, Belzona 1818 has built in surface tolerant technology, enabling it to bond tenaciously onto steel substrates even when surface preparation is minimal or if the substrate is heavily contaminated with oil or water. The product can also be applied and cured underwater.
“Belzona 1818 builds on our knowledge and experience of producing highly abrasion resistant systems, and combines this technology with our know-how and expertise in producing fast-cure and surface-tolerant products for application in non-ideal conditions,” says Kristine Savicka, a research and development technician.
The new product is supplied in convenient 1 kg units, allowing the base and solidifier to be easily combined on a work surface. According to the company, the product is easy to mix and apply and offers a good working life (16 minutes at 20 °C, or 68 °F), all while still providing a fast cure and a rapid return to service. The product is suitable for emergency repairs where downtime must be kept to a minimum and optimal surface preparation cannot be achieved due to accessibility or environmental and application constraints.
According to the company, the product is user friendly and can applied without the need for hot work or specialist tools. In addition, it is formulated without solvents and is free from CMR (carcinogenic, mutagenic, reprotoxic) classification and labeling, all while maintaining cure speed and performance to give a durable and long-lasting repair.
Based on initial research and feedback from field engineers, it is envisioned that this product will be used on various types of equipment within abrasive environments such as slurry pumps, grinding mills, screw conveyors, chutes and hoppers, hydrocyclones, wear plates, dust extraction pipe work, agitator shafts, hubs, and blades.
Source: Belzona, www.belzona.com/1818.