Abstract
The capability to withstand high velocity, low angle impingement by hard, fine solids is one of the critical requirements for materials used in slurry handling equipment commonly employed in oil sands operations.
The Coriolis rig has been shown to provide a convenient and reproducible technique for scouring erosion evaluation. Data obtained have correlated well with service performance. The system has been steadily gaining acceptance as a suitable method for assessing materials for such service, particularly for hard iron alloys for slurry pump impeller and casing applications.
To expand the fairly limited amount of available knowledge on the comparative behaviour and degradation mechanisms occurring under such conditions, Coriolis erosion evaluation has been carried out on a range of materials of different wear protection classes. These represent many products being used currently and include carbon, low alloy and stainless steels, chrome white irons, cobalt-based alloys, cermets and ceramics.
Results are used to provide a discriminatory assessment of materials and demonstrated the vastly superior performance of a tungsten-carbide cermet. SEM examination of its wear scar revealed minimal material removal, primarily due to the protection afforded to the relatively soft matrix by the dense distribution of hard carbides. Understandably less resistant and cheaper materials, such as carbon steels, exhibited more extensive wastage by a combination of micro-ploughing and cutting.
