BHEL establishes fourth World-class Centre of Excellence; Aimed at Consolidating Strengths in Crucial Technology Areas

In a major step aimed at consolidating its strengths in crucial technology areas, engineering major Bharat Heavy Electricals Limited (BHEL) has established a world-class Centre of Excellence Surface Engineering (COE-SE) at its Corporate R&D Division in Hyderabad. The COE-SE will further enhance BHEL’s capability in the highly specialised area of surface coatings and treatment and develop state-of-the-art technologies for products like hydro turbines, steam turbines, gas turbines and boilers.

The Centre of Excellence was formally inaugurated by Mr. Ashok K. Puri, Chairman and Managing Director of BHEL, today.

Set up with an investment of Rs.84 Million, the centre will further augment BHEL’s predominant position as a pioneer in carrying out R&D in surface engineering which has been successfully implemented for power stations, industrial establishments and space programmes, in addition to other important applications.

The fourth in the series of Centres of Excellence, set up by BHEL, the COE-SE is equipped with state-of-the-art equipment for surface treatment and coating like the latest robot-controlled laser hardening and cladding system, which is one of the unique facilities in Asia. The COE-SE will act as a major facility for BHEL’s frontier research projects for exploring the use of nano materials for surface engineering applications.

Notably, the centre will explore new applications for BHEL and non-BHEL products and facilitate transfer of technology to BHEL’s units in respective areas, besides networking with leading organisations and experts both in India and abroad and providing a platform for knowledge sharing.

BHEL’s surface engineering expertise has been used by the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO), by way of application of non-corrosive coating on the secondary injection thrust vector control (SITVC) tanks of their Polar Satellite Launch Vehicle (PSLV) and Geosynchronous Satellite Launch Vehicle (GSLV) missions.

Surface engineering techniques developed by BHEL have played a major role in reducing damage to underwater components of hydroelectric power stations due to silt erosion, especially in the Himalayan region. BHEL applied a high velocity oxy-fuel (HVOF) coating on the components of Baira Suil Hydro Power Station resulting in enhanced service life. Following this success, Uttaranchal Jal Vidyut Nigam placed an for coating of underwater parts of their 4x76 MW Maneri Bhali Hydro Power Station. Many more power stations in the country have expressed interest in the coating processes developed by BHEL. Besides, treatment of components like boilers and blades in thermal power stations and industrial establishments has significantly minimised erosion and corrosion caused by presence of fly ash in Indian coal and water droplets in steam.

With the establishment of the COE-SE, BHEL is fully equipped to take up complex research assignments for broadening the scope of surface treatment technologies and for finding applications in a wide range of products and infrastructural systems.