Jun 25 2013
Abakan Inc. (“Abakan”), an emerging leader in the advanced coatings and metal formulations markets, today announced that its CermaClad™ high-speed large-area metal cladding technology has received the Steel Excellence Award from American Metal Market (AMM) under the ‘Best Process Innovation category’; where other notable winners in other categories included the number one steel manufacturer ArcelorMittal, Nucor Corporation, and AK Steel Holding Corporation.
Abakan’s CermaClad™ clad pipe manufacturing technology won this highly prestigious award as it delivers up to two orders of magnitude higher productivity, outstanding mechanical and metallurgical properties in the final product, and a host of other high value benefits such as ease in inspection, reeling, and installation of clad pipes. CermaClad™ technology uses a high intensity plasma arc lamp to rapidly melt, fuse, and metallurgically bond corrosion-resistant (CRA) and wear-resistant materials to metal substrates, including pipes. The technology addresses the large and increasing demand-supply gap for corrosion resistant alloy (CRA) clad pipes in general, and more importantly, it addresses the huge demand for large-diameter and thick-walled CRA clad pipes, which are extremely difficult to manufacture, inspect, reel, and install using existing technologies.
“This latest award further validates the significant impact that our CermaCladTM technology can have on improving production times, quality, cost efficiencies, and deepwater installation of clad pipes, greatly benefiting the rapidly growing $4 billion metal cladding industry,” said Robert Miller, CEO of Abakan. “The global oil and gas capital expenditure is increasing at the rate of 15-20% a year, expected to be $1.2 trillion in 2013. The trend of increasing capital expenditure is expected to continue for the foreseeable future, especially driven by reserves that are more corrosive, hotter, deeper, and farther away from the shore. Almost 40% of the $1.2 trillion capital expenditure will be directed towards deepwater pipelines of which clad pipes for risers and flowlines constitute a significant portion; and that makes our CermaClad™ CRA clad pipe vital for production from these reserves.”
This April, MesoCoat commissioned its first large-scale CermaCladTM manufacturing facility in Euclid, Ohio. This plant will serve as a critical pathfinder for full qualification and market entry of 12-meter CermaCladTM seamless clad pipes. In addition to the Euclid plant, MesoCoat is currently planning to build an additional four-line facility in Brazil.
In its fourth year, the American Metals Market (AMM) Awards for Steel Excellence recognize processes, products and business developments that have made a profound impact on the steel industry. Each year, an independent panel of industry experts submits nominations, and this year there were a record number of nominations for this highly prestigious award. AMM has provided subscribers with the latest metal industry information, news and pricing since 1882 and is a sister publication to London-based Metal Bulletin and a subsidiary of international publishing group Euromoney Institutional Investor.