Innovative coatings for energy-intensive industries
The equipment used in energy-intensive industries is being pushed to the limit, therefore improving current and future equipment is essential in order to increase production efficiency and component lifespan, and reduce environmental impact. Innovation of materials is key to this.
The EU-funded FORGE project aims to develop cost-effective, protective coatings that have the necessary chemical stability, hardness and gas barrier properties to make them suitable for use in a range of challenging applications. The proposed coatings will be based on novel, compositionally complex materials (CCMs), including both metal alloys (CCAs) and ceramics (CCCs), and should meet the needs of industry to improve the tolerance capabilities of base structural materials, to damage mechanisms such as erosion, corrosion, surface oxidation and hydrogen embrittlement. Machine learning models, thermodynamic calculations and high-throughput experiments will be incorporated into the project.
FORGE will demonstrate the new coatings on processes such as CO2 capture, waste heat recovery, and components undergoing wear and tear in kilns, thereby defying the acting forces of degradation, and assuring the effectiveness of coatings with smart monitoring of deterioration.
Overall, the project should improve processes such as waste heat recovery, carbon capture, alternative process chemistries and high-energy processes, increasing output and efficiency while reducing greenhouse gas emissions for industries such as steel, aluminium, cement and ceramics, as well as contributing to the minimisation of overall capital and operative expenses
Partners: AeonX, ASAS, CIMSA, EMPA, Fraunhofer, ITC-AICE, Max Planck Institut, MBN Nanomaterialia SpA., Tailorlux GmbH, Ocas, Technovative Solutions Ltd and the Materials Innovation Centre (MatIC).
FORGE is funded by the EU’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme under grant agreement No. 958457.