Coatings World - September 2011

mental targets in an effort to reduce CO2 emissions.
But, finding effective ways to meet these targets can be
a challenge, and that’s where Hempel’s complete fouling
control concept can help.”
“Minimizing maintenance, as well as maintaining a smooth
hull during the entire service period is vital for the efficient op-
eration of our vessels, and we believe the Hempasil X3 system
will help us to achieve this,” said Nelson Coelho, general man-
ager, Vale. “We’re also confident that the smoother topcoat will
help reduce fuel consumption and in turn reduce carbon emis-
sions. This will also help us reduce the amount of biocides re-
leased into the sea and make our operations even more
environmentally friendly.”
terpon Powder Coatings with the antimicrobial properties that
BioCote silver ion technology offers,” said Mark Reekie, market
segment manager – Europe West AkzoNobel Powder Coatings.
“The possibilities that antimicrobial coatings can deliver are ex-
citing and building hygiene protection into a coating provides a
further line of defence in many diverse environments.”
Interpon AM provides benefits not only in traditionally hygiene
sensitive areas such as medical and catering industries but also
areas where there is a high level of human contact, for example in
public transport, leisure facilities and self service technologies.

AkzoNobel Powder Coatings and BioCote team up for Interpon AM

AkzoNobel Powder Coatings has teamed up with BioCote, an antimicrobial specialist in Europe, to create Interpon AM. Interpon AM is a high quality powder coating product that incorporates BioCote antimicrobial technology to offer coating protection in hygiene sensitive environments.

“AkzoNobel Powder Coatings is a world leader in powder technology, and working with BioCote we are now able to offer a coating product that combines the protective qualities of In-

Nanoslide Iron Coating to be used in Mercedes-Benz diesel engines for lower consumption

After five years of use exclusively in AMG engines, twin-wire arc spraying technology will now also be used in the series production of Mercedes-Benz diesel engines. Mercedes-Benz was the developer of what is now known as Nanoslide technology, in which twin-wire arc spraying is used to melt iron/carbon wires and spray them onto the cylinder surfaces of the lightweight aluminium crankcase with the help of a gasflow.

Very fine finishing of the resulting nano-crystalline iron coating creates an almost mirror-like, smooth surface with fine pores, which reduces friction and wear between the piston assembly and the cylinder wall. Other advantages include lower engine weight, less fuel consumption and lower emissions. This innovation from Mercedes-Benz has been successfully used in the 6.3-liter AMG engines since 2006.

Mercedes-Benz uses the collective term “Blue Efficiency” to describe a whole range of different measures designed to reduce fuel consumption and emissions: sophisticated aerodynamics, weight-saving measures and intelligent control of ancillary units are a few examples. With Nanoslide technology, the world’s oldest automobile manufacturer is adding another innovation to this technology package. It sets new standards in the production of cylinder linings. These help to ensure that the piston moves up and down within the cylinder with the least possible friction losses. Comparatively heavy grey cast-iron liners with a thickness of up to five millimeters are the current state of the art.

The Nanoslide procedure takes a new approach. Wires of iron/carbon alloy are melted in an electric arc, and the melted material is “sprayed” onto the cylinder wall by a gasflow, where it is deposited as a layered, ultra-fine to nano-crystalline coating. The Nanoslide coating is then given an extremely smooth finish by a special honing process, after which it has a thickness of only 0.1 to 0.15 millimeters and has a mirror-like surface. The honing process also exposes pores in the material which are able to retain oil and thereby ensure optimal lubrication of the piston assembly. The result is not only low friction, and therefore greatly reduced mechanical friction losses compared to grey cast-iron cylinder liners (up to 50 percent), but also extremely high wear resistance. CW