Harber Coatings: Changed the game of coatings entirely!

With a tough economic climate, cost savings and efficiencies are paramount. Industry participants are seeking a superior solution that ultimately saves money over time and supports operational success. With this in mind, Ken Wang brought a lifetime of expertise to the coatings industry that changed the game entirely.

KEN WANG has over 30 years experience in engineering and Aero and Astronautical Sciences. He worked as a test engineer in China on civil products such as pressure vessels which sparked a passion for chemicals and coatings and how they inter-relate. Through his research and discovery, Ken developed a proprietary formula for Electroless Nickel Coatings that had astonishing industrial applications.

Harber Coatings Inc.

In 2002, Ken Wang founded Harber Industry Inc. (later transferred to Harber Coatings Inc.) in Calgary, Alberta. The goal was to improve the stability of the Electroless Nickel Coating (ENC) product with unique formulas and custom processing technologies – ultimately perfecting a superior coating solution compared to anything currently in the market.

Today, Harber Coatings Inc. is a high-tech research and development production company that has worked with ENC/ENP (Electroless Nickel Plating), transforming science findings into industrial applications. Harber Coatings Calgary facility offers large-scale production capability with over 20,000 square feet of production area and boasts some of the largest processing equipment in the world, including 45-feet coating tanks.

Ken’s inquiry into corrosion and abrasion challenges led to Harber’s intellectual properties solution, the InnoGUARDTM Flakeless ENC for industrial parts and tools which could be used by a grand spectrum of industrial sectors. Its claim to fame is providing coating solutions with lifetime guarantees against flaking and peeling, in corrosive environments.

Ken’s vision is inspiring.  He says, “Harber Coatings Inc. has developed a proven electroless nickel coating process of own Intellectual Property,  including unique chemical formulas that steadily work for a long time dealing with massive, different metal parts, and large scale production technology. Based on the lab and field test results for many years, and for many different countries, we have confirmed that our process does provide superior value for identified industrial needs. We plan to partner with local partners to branch out the same operations globe wide, using our Calgary headquarters as a global training and technical support center. Harber Coatings Inc. will surely build a great Canadian brand name worldwide. “

The InnoGUARDTM is a high phosphorous-nickel alloy, deposited on a metal substrate, excellent for many industrial and oil and gas applications. It is created by the intricate chemical reaction of nickel, phosphorus and other proprietary ingredients in a bath/dip process. The thickness is controlled by the length of time the substrate is left in the bath solution. Post treatments allow the coating to achieve a Vickers Hardness up to 900 Vickers (greater than 68Rc).

Unaffected by steam, H2S, CO2, oxygen, brine water and high chlorides InnoGUARD TM provides a commercial solution that is also eco-friendly. It does not contain toxic additives like previous generations of ENC, or as other coatings such as epoxy, polymers and chrome. In other words, the InnoGUARDTM system does not contaminate the environment or give off toxic fumes.

Ken says, “Any coating product consists of two parts: coating material itself, and the coating process. Coating material wise – a decorative coating makes the desired color, luster, feel, etc.. An industrial coating provides different functions, e.g., resistance to corrosion, erosion, abrasion. Surface friction change, surface magnetism, conductivity change etc. Coating process wise – we have had many in use, bake to melt, spray to dry, thermal spray, cladding, permeation, impregnation, electro reduction, arc oxidation, etc.. Look into the future 5 years in coating industries, I would say in the frontier people will still work hard to explore new materials, or the way to let the materials function better (nano is a good example). In the coating process, low temperature self-growing process will be very attractive, for coating performance and economy (electroless nickel coating process is a rare self-growing process that happens in low temperature aqueous environment. Phenomenon was noticed in 1844 by A. Wurtz. Lab explorations trying to develop the mechanism into a coating process started in 1950s. Industrialization of this process started in 1990s). For example, DLC (diamond like coating) is a very promising coating material, at this time there is not a successful immersion process that can apply this coating to all the exposed areas, also to overcome the high internal stress due to material hardness difference (over 2,000 HV of diamond like material and only 18 – 66 Rc of metal substrate), and due to the process itself.”       

19 Ways to integrate InnoGUARDTM into the oil and gas sector

Typical Oil and Gas applications include downhole tools, multi-stage frac tools, packers, pup joints, completion tools, wireline tools, slotted pipes, BOP’s, spools, ANSI & API valves, pumps, tubing, rods, pistons, cylinders, hangars, flanges, pump plungers and liners, pump housings, impellers/shafts, pressure vessels, strainers, pipes and fittings, fracing valve elements, sand screens, reciprocating pump barrels, rotors, gear boxes, and bearings.

Here are 19 tangible benefits that support the integration of Ken Wang’s coating innovation into your industrial infrastructure:

1. A cost-effective way to extend the working life of tools and parts by 20X or greater.

2. Superior bonding ensures it does not peel or flake when mechanically impacted. It does not require a secondary polymer dip to prevent peeling or flaking like other ENC coatings.

3. Provides supreme resistance to highly corrosive environments such as steam, H2S, CO2, high calories, oxygen, and brine water.

4. Can withstand temperatures up to 880 degrees Celsius.

5. Reduces surface friction by 2/3 and is self-lubricating.

6. Can withstand high torquing and compressive stress.

7. Consistent coating uniformity and thickness regardless of the part/tool geometry and cost efficient way to salvage mis-machined part and tools.

8. Available in varying thicknesses from 0.0005 inch to 0.004 inch, depending on application needs and specifications.

9. Coats the interior and exterior of the part or tool for the same cost.

10.Comparable in cost to epoxy or polymer coatings, with much better performance.

11. Effectively coats sharp edges, deep recesses, seams, threads and blind holes without impacting function.

12. Due to being a metallic coating, it has the same thermal co-efficient as the substrate and when the metal contracts or expands, no micro-cracking occurs as it does with epoxy or polymers.

13. Clean metals, such as new carbon steel, do not need to be sand-blasted prior to coating, therefore reducing costs and ensuring the substrate isn’t damaged.

14. Provides more durability for surface-on-surface friction abrasion than hard chrome, especially in lubricated conditions.

15. ”Electroless” means that no electrodes need to be attached for the coating process, therefore no areas are excluded in coating.

16. If the coating is damaged by excessive wrenching, corrosion remains localized to the damaged spot; corrosion will not extend between the coating and the substrate.

17. Maintains an identical surface profile prior to coating, ensuring the same smoothness is achieved as the substrate material used.

18. Metals that can be coated include carbon steel, stainless steel, aluminium, brass, copper, zinc and alloys.

19. No machining required after coating and no grinding of weld seams prior to coating saves time and cost.

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Tina Olivero

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