We Design and Manufacture HVAF and HVOF Thermal Spray Coating Equipment
Our company was established in California, USA, in 2006 by Dr. Andrew Verstak, a passionate scientist and businessman. Kermetico started as a job shop with a custom-built HVAF system, but customers soon found that Kermetico HVAF provides better quality tungsten carbide coatings than any thermal spray competitor.
It was a customer’s request to sell them the same system we use that started our equipment manufacturing business.
A year of engineering resulted in our HVAF AK thermal spray system as a commercial product.
In subsequent years we followed our customers’ request and developed a compact AK5 gun for spraying small parts, an AK-ID system for depositing coatings on internal diameters as small as 80 mm (3.15”), a low melting point SL gun and so on.
And we have continued providing thermal spray coating services from the very beginning.
Our residence in high-tech Northern California brought us into contact with a number of technically sophisticated customers. This caused us to face the most challenging applications that required the development of highly specialized equipment and systems that were easy to use to meet their requirements.
Our international approach helped us to find customers everywhere in the world, from Australia to Mexico.
But what makes our HVAF process and equipment so special?
The Kermetico HVAF Process
The Kermetico HVAF process is energy efficient.
- Cooling air is being preheated on its way to the combustion chamber, returning most of the energy to the process.
- We use air as an oxidant, so we do not require our suppliers to waste energy separating oxygen from the air.
- Fuel combustion ends in the combustion chamber, so no energy is wasted in the jet.
The Kermetico HVAF thermal spray process could be cold enough to spray a range of unoxidized materials from Al to MoB-based powders:
- The combustion temperature of gas in air is between 1,950 to 2,100 °C which is much cooler than any other thermal spray process
- The design of our guns provide powder delivery options to a hotter or cooler zone in the combustion chamber and temperature regulation by an additional gas shroud option
The Kermetico HVAF thermal spray process is technologically stable. Once set up the process is highly repeatable.
- The ceramic insert and calculated gun design deliver stable combustion
- An axial powder delivery minimizes the wear of spare parts
- A wide choice of guns and systems provides a way to choose the best gun for a specific application
Kermetico designs and manufactures three families of HVAF and HVOF thermal spray equipment.
Convertible HVOF and HVAF equipment:
- C7 – an HVAF/HVOF gun for large parts
- C6 – a general purpose HVAF-HVOF gun
- CID – an HVOF system for internal surface coatings
Multi-purpose HVAF AK systems, with a variety of spray guns:
- AK7 – a high-power gun for the thermal spray of large parts
- AK6 – a gun to spray tungsten and chromium carbide onto a balanced mix of parts
- AK5 – a compact gun to spray smaller parts, thin walls and complex surfaces
- AK-ID – an 80 mm (3.15”) and larger internal diameter spray gun
- AK-IDR – a rotating ID gun to spray 4” (100 mm) and larger bores
- AK-HH – a handheld gun for on-site coating
Specialized equipment:
- SL – a specialized gun for spraying low melting point metals
- SP – a dedicated gun for the most efficient precious metals’ deposition
- STi – a specialized gun for the deposition of titanium and Ti-alloy coatings
Additional equipment:
- A Grit Feeder for the grit blast preparation of parts to reduce coating cost
- A Gas Permeability Tester for an instant check of a coating’s through porosity
- A Powder De-Duster to screen fine particles from a metallic powder
The Kermetico Thermal Spray Facility in Benicia, CA
Our facilities are located in the Benicia Industrial Park in the North-Eastern San Francisco Bay Area.
We are surrounded by major oil refineries, steelworks, and other industrial sites.
We make the jobs of plant managers and maintenance personnel easier by the timely delivery of quality coatings that improve the performance of machines, vessels, and structures. We are committed to providing the best quality coatings by using the most advanced technologies in high-velocity thermal spraying and surface engineering. Our facilities include:
- A soundproof spray booth, 32’L x 12’W x 10’H, equipped with a removable roof and 3.5-ton overhead crane
- Another soundproof spray booth, 50’L x 14’W x 12’H, its sections expanding over 96’ in length and equipped with a 10-ton overhead crane
- A 12,000 CFM Donaldson Torit dust collector and exhaust ventilation connected to our spray booths
- 100 HP Kaeser electric air compressor
- 40 HP Kaeser electric air compressor
- A six-axis robot, Motoman HP20
- A six-axis robot, Motoman HP50
- Multiple motorized linear traversing devices
- Multiple rotators and turntables, including a five-position multi-chuck part rotator
- Three stations for thermal spray coating application (Kermetico HVAF and HVOF equipment)
- A grit blast cabinet system, 6’L x 4’W x 3’H, with separate dust collector
- A vacuum grit blast system
- Turning lathe, milling machine, drill presses, ovens, welders, etc.
- Quality control instruments
Capacity for coatings application on parts:
- Rolls, shafts and rotors: max OD 48 inches, max face length 21 foot
- Pipes and vessels: max length 50 feet for external coating and 40 feet for internal diameter coating
- Vessels maximum inner diameter 10 feet, weight up to 10 tons
- Discs and impellers: maximum diameter 10 feet
With thirty plus years of experience in the thermal spray industry, we can either process your specific coating, or help you choose the right coating for your application, or at least refer you to the appropriate vendor and surface treatment process.
We are proud members of the International Thermal Spray Association.
Check our general terms and conditions of sale here and our privacy policy here.
