EDF Energy, one of the United Kingdom’s largest energy companies, has selected Hardide Coatings to provide a hardface coating that will extend the life of boiler feed steam valves at its Somerset, U.K., nuclear power station.

The coating will extend the life of 15 MW boiler feed pump steam valves at the Hinckley Point B plant. The coating can coat internal surfaces evenly, allowing the power plant to continue to use existing equipment instead of replacing the existing valves.

 Hardide coatings are applied by the gas-phase deposition of nanoparticulate tungsten carbide/tungsten. The binder-free coatings offer a combination of hardness, toughness and ductility. They can be precision applied to interior and complex geometries.