Oil and Gas Equipment

Sour gas environments containing hydrogen sulfide cause sulfide stress cracking and rapid corrosion on unprotected metals. Polymer coating provides a continuous barrier that prevents H2S contact with the metal substrate. The coating flexibility accommodates the pressure and temperature cycling inherent in production operations without cracking that would expose the substrate. This protection extends equipment service life and reduces failure risk in sour gas environments.

Vapor smoothing works only on specific polymer AM materials and offers no protective properties, just surface smoothing. Cerakote post-processing reduces surface roughness from Ra 8-15 micrometers to below 3 micrometers while simultaneously adding corrosion protection exceeding 3,000 hours salt spray, abrasion resistance of 4,000 cycles per mil, and chemical resistance. Cerakote also works on both polymer and metal AM substrates, making it a universal post-processing solution that vapor smoothing cannot match in scope or performance.

Metal additive manufactured parts in stainless steel and titanium often have surface porosity that makes them more susceptible to corrosion than wrought equivalents. ColoradoKote's passivation plus Cerakote stack seals this porosity and provides 3,000-hour salt spray protection, qualifying AM parts for corrosive industrial service. This post-processing capability is what makes the difference between AM prototypes and AM production parts.

Coating adhesion requires a chemically clean substrate free of oils, machining fluids, fingerprints, and particulate contamination. Even microscopic contamination creates weak spots where the coating fails to bond, leading to adhesion failure in service. Ultrasonic cavitation reaches contaminants in blind holes, threads, internal passages, and surface porosity that manual cleaning and spray methods miss. This is why ultrasonic cleaning is integrated into our pre-coating preparation for critical applications.

Yes. Multiple layers of marine paint, antifouling coatings, and zinc-rich primers create complex contamination that must be fully removed before applying new protective coatings. Ultrasonic cavitation assists chemical stripping by driving cleaning solution into the coating layer interfaces and substrate surface, ensuring complete removal of all old coating material. This thorough removal is critical because residual old coating prevents adhesion of the new Cerakote system and traps corrosion-initiating contaminants against the substrate.