The chemical vapor deposition is a process which allows the creation of a deposit on the surface of mechanical pieces to protect them from oxidation and corrosion.
This protective coating is frequently used in the aeronautics industry, especially on the turbines blades of the reactors which run at very high temperatures and in a very oxidizing atmosphere.
This process, also called CVD, is usually realized at temperatures around 1000 and 1160°C under neutral Argon gas and consists in creating a sealed enclosure on which the mechanical parts will be placed.
They are either created manually or in a totally automated way to optimize cycles.
At Serthel Industrie, our CVD installation can work with all kind of surface treatment processes:
- VPA: Vapor Phase Aluminizing
- VPC: Vapor Phase Chromizing
- FIC: Fluoride Ion Cleaning
Our Chemical Vapor Deposition treatment lines VPA, VPC and industrial FIC are either manual or fully automated to optimize cycles:
- 1 high temperature heating furnace
- 2 mobile units for treatment under bell-cover
- 1 cooling cell
These furnaces are particularly dedicated for the Vapor Phase Aluminizing processes (VPA) of turbines blades but they can also be used as well for Vapor Phase Chromizing processes (VPC) as for pickling processes under HF gas (Hydrogen Fluoride), in the case of corrosion repairs and treatments (FIC Process – Fluoride Ion Cleaning).
In the aluminizing process, mechanical parts are firstly placed in boxes containing reactive powder, and then, moved under a sealed bell-cover. The protective gas is sent to the boxes and the bell-cover with the appropriate flow rate.
As soon as the treatment is over, the mechanical part is sent to the cooling cell, and the furnace can be charged with another piece to treat. Our Chemical Vapor Deposit furnaces (CVD) work in alternating cycles (one piece heating –one piece cooling), in order to guarantee the optimal production cycle of the turbines blades aluminizing process.
