Erosion and Corrosion Resistance Performance of Laser Metal Deposited High-Entropy Alloy Coatings at Hellisheidi Geothermal Site

Abstract

Geothermal process equipment and accessories are usually manufactured from low-alloy steels which offer affordability but increase the susceptibility of the materials to corrosion. Applying erosion-corrosion-resistant coatings to these components could represent an economical solution to the problem. In this work, testing of two newly developed laser metal deposited high-entropy alloy (LMD-HEA) coatings—CoCrFeNiMo0.85 and Al0.5CoCrFeNi, applied to carbon and stainless steels—was carried out at the Hellisheidi geothermal power plant. Tests in three different geothermal environments were performed at the Hellisheidi site: wellhead test at 194 °C and 14 bar, erosion test at 198 °C and 15 bar, and aerated test at 90 °C and 1 bar. Post-test microstructural characterization was performed via Scanning Eletron Microscope (SEM), Back-Scattered Electrons analysis (BSE), Energy Dispersive X-ray Spectroscopy (EDS), optical microscopy, and optical profilometry while erosion assessment was carried out using an image and chemical analysis. Both the CoCrFeNiMo0.85 and Al0.5CoCrFeNi coatings showed manufacturing defects (cracks) and were prone to corrosion damage. Results show that damage in the CoCrFeNiMo0.85-coated carbon steel can be induced by manufacturing defects in the coating. This was further confirmed by the excellent corrosion resistance performance of the CoCrFeNiMo0.85 coating deposited onto stainless steel, where no manufacturing cracks were observed.