Erosion, abrasion and corrosion cause many of the highest-cost component failures and unscheduled downtime in high-value industries such as oil and gas drilling, power generation and chemical processing.

But Oxfordshire surface engineering technology company Hardide Coatings is solving this problem with an innovative nano-technology tungsten carbide-based coating originally developed in Cold War Russia.

There was nothing stone age about the vision of UK venture capital firm Flintstone Technologies when it embraced a process developed in Soviet Russia to coat metals used in extreme wear environments.

It set up Hardide Coatings to commercialise the process which was devised by a team of scientists at Moscow State University and the Frumkin Institute of Electrochemistry, Moscow.

The company moved to Begbroke Science Park in 2001 where it attracted local venture capital and private investment to develop a pilot coating plant.

By 2003, Hardide had attracted more investment which enabled it to develop its present manufacturing site and headquarters in Bicester.

The company floated on AIM in 2005, and now develops and manufactures coatings for blue chip customers around the world in oil and gas, aerospace and other industries where part failure and equipment downtime can be catastrophic and/or extremely expensive.

Hardide’s technical director, Dr Yuri Zhuk, was instrumental in bringing the technology to the UK and remains in charge of technical product innovation.

New coating variants, the coating of industrial diamonds and the continual development of new applications are just some of the areas currently exercising his mind.

He said: “Because this is a new technology it brings unique challenges — we are walking an untravelled path in many respects.

“One of our major challenges is the need to be selective about the projects we take on.”

The technology has generated a lot of interest from a range of industries that can see value in having their parts resist wear and corrosion for significantly longer periods of time, such as the aerospace, cryogenics, x-ray and packaging sectors.

Dr Zhuk added: “We are still a small company, so we need to focus our resources on the industries and applications where we believe we have the highest chance of success and that are most likely to yield the greatest returns.

“Hardide is often used in applications where traditional alternatives have failed or are not suitable. It is produced in custom-built coating chambers by a chemical vapour deposition process, which means it can coat internal surfaces and areas on complex shapes that other coatings cannot reach — this is one of our unique selling points.

“Our main market is currently the oil and gas drilling industry and like many small manufacturing companies we were hit hard when worldwide oil and gas drilling activity took a huge dive during the economic downturn.

“However, our coating is designed into some of the most state-of-the-art drilling tools that are deployed on a global scale, so when the oil price picked up and drilling activity resumed we saw a steady recovery in our core market.”

As hydrocarbon reserves diminish and technology advances, drilling is taking place in increasingly challenging areas such as deepwater, high-pressure/high-temperature or sour oil reservoirs.

The cost of pulling a tool literally miles out of the ground due to part failure can make or break the economics of a well. Hardide is proven to protect against that risk by optimising the performance of customers’ drilling tools.

However, diversification is key to a strong business, and the team is working hard to embed the coating in new markets and new applications.

As the Hardide coating is used in situations where the cost of failure is high, the testing process can take months and often years — particularly the case with the aerospace industry.

But Dr Zhuk added: “We are making good progress with the three year coatings approval test program with Airbus, are producing parts for BAE Systems’ Eurofighter Typhoon and have attained AS9100 aerospace standard quality certification.

“The markets for our coatings are large, high-value and diverse and we have only just scratched the surface of their potential.

“Commercialising and embedding a new technology in conservative and risk-averse industries requires perseverance, and Hardide has shown that it can deliver significant rewards to users. Once we secure a customer, they are extremely loyal.

“So, while times have undoubtedly been tough over the last 18 months, I am optimistic that we have weathered the worst and can look forward to resuming growth.”

o Contact: Hardide Coatings, 01869 353830 Web: www.hardide.com o This page is co-ordinated by Oxford Innovation www.oxin.co.uk