Abakan Incorporates Subsidiary, MesoCoat

New subsidiary to provide advanced wear- and corrosion-resistant coating services for components used in the oil and gas, mining, aerospace and metal finishing industries

Abakan Inc., a company in the advanced coatings and metal formulations markets, announced the incorporation of a new subsidiary, MesoCoat Coating Services Inc. (MCS), to provide thermal spray coating services using its multiple award-winning nanocomposite PComP coating materials to improve component longevity and to combat corrosion and wear in the oil and gas, mining, aerospace, chemicals, metal processing and metal finishing industries.

MCS will provide wear- and corrosion-resistant coating application services utilizing conventional thermal spray powders, as well as proprietary PComP(TM) nanostructured coating materials. MCS already has a fully functional thermal spray coating facility with one coating cell in Euclid, Ohio, and plans to expand operations with the addition of two thermal spray coating cells and other surface preparation and finishing equipment for larger components that will be capable of handling 40-foot components. MesoCoat is currently expanding its PComP(TM) powder production capacity six fold to 30 tons per year, and expects to expand it further in early 2014 to 160 tons per year; spearheaded by increasing demand from oilfield equipment manufacturers and other original equipment manufacturers (OEMs). The significant interest in PComP materials has led to more than six months' worth of back orders.

"With the increased development of the Utica and Marcellus shales; Pennsylvania, Ohio and other mid-western states have become key epicenters of oil and gas exploration and production," said Andrew Sherman, CEO of MCS. "The companies operating in these plays need a regional partner for timely repair and refurbishment of critical equipment. Currently, drills and other exploration components in need of replacement need to be shipped to Houston, creating delays that lead to expensive downtime."

"The global $32 billion inorganic metal finishing market is in dire need of transformative materials and processes," said Curtis Glasgow, MesoCoat's GM of Component Manufacturing. "MCS will provide a local hub for longer-lasting coatings leading to reduced inventory and coating times, increased operational productivity, reduced losses, and additional local jobs."

Abakan's PComP family of nanocomposite materials is the foundation for coatings that offer 3-80 times higher performance than current coatings for wear and corrosion resistance, such as conventional thermal spray coating, chrome plating, physical vapor deposition and other applications. The coatings combine very fine, near nano-scale ceramic particles with metal binders in a specific, hierarchical structure that provides the extreme hardness of a ceramic such as diamond or glass, but also the toughness of steel or similar metals. PComP has won multiple trade and industry awards, and in 2012, PComP's received an R&D 100 award recognizing it as the most significant materials science innovation of the year.

The PComP family of coatings is used for OEM components in mechanical, pumping and fluid control systems, as well as for dimensional restoration and life extension of worn components, making them "better than new." In the near future, MCS plans to expand operations into Houston and into other key markets in North America and abroad.