What was failing
BHI Coatings performs Blower Housing and Impeller Erosion Lining for industrial plants in Alvin and across the Texas Gulf Coast.
A process blower handled a dust-laden stream that slowly wore its parts down. The impeller vanes lost profile and the housing scroll grooved out where the dust scoured it, so the flow path turned rough and the running clearances opened up.
As that geometry went, the blower moved less air for the same input, and the plant felt it as lost airflow on the process it served. Left alone, the wear keeps eating into the metal until the impeller and the scroll have to be replaced, which is costly and pulls the unit out of service.
How BHI Coatings approaches Blower Housing and Impeller Erosion Lining
We take the blower down and look at where the dust has taken the metal, both on the impeller and along the scroll. We strip the housing and the impeller to clean metal so the repair bonds, then rebuild the worn vanes and the grooved scroll back to profile with a cold-applied composite. From there we line the whole flow path with an erosion-resistant coating, so the rebuilt geometry is sitting under a surface that takes the dust instead of being ground out again. We finish the line smooth so the air moves the way it should, then balance and return the unit.
Assess the wear
We inspect the impeller and the housing scroll to map where the dust-laden stream has worn the vanes and grooved the flow path.
Strip to clean metal
We blast the housing and the impeller back to a clean, profiled surface so both the rebuild composite and the lining bond to bare metal.
Rebuild vanes and scroll
We rebuild the worn impeller vanes and the grooved scroll back to profile with a cold-applied composite, working cold so the parts see no heat distortion.
Line the flow path
We line the rebuilt impeller and scroll with an erosion-resistant coating and finish the surface smooth so the air moves cleanly through the unit.
Balance and return to service
We balance the rebuilt impeller, check the finished lining, and turn the blower back over to the plant.
The result
What Blower Housing and Impeller Erosion Lining looks like
Repair and protection work of this kind, performed by BHI Coatings crews across the Texas Gulf Coast.
