Role of Thermal Spray Additive Manufacturing in Combating Climate Changes

Thermal spray coating processes are commonly employed to manufacture surfaces for distinct harsh industrial applications including power generation and aerospace. Application of various thermal spray techniques is significant for diverse applications, which can affect the mining of critical raw materials (titanium, nickel, cobalt, tungsten, yttrium etc.). As a result, thermal spraying alone has contributed to reducing mining through reuse, reduction and recycling of coated base materials. Thermal spraying also prevents the need to discard costly superalloys by enabling selective repair of gas turbine and aero engine parts, which would otherwise donate to increased greenhouse gas emissions from casting, remelting and additional downstream operations like machining. Recently, cold spray additive manufacturing (CSAM) has played a significant role in manufacturing industries owing to many benefits such as high process flexibility, less production time, high accuracy and quality reduced power consumption, and powder and gas requirement than traditional manufacturing processes. This advanced manufacturing process can build 3D parts and has the potential to alter the future of the manufacturing world with significant sustainable merits. Thus, the aim of this chapter is to offer an overview of CSAM including their advantages for sustainable manufacturing in terms of environmental concerns. Thereafter, the share of various processes and industries to greenhouse gas emissions has been studied. Finally, the challenges associated with cold spray additive manufacturing have been discussed.

Keywords: Additive manufacturing, Boilers, Climate change, Coatings material, Component restoration, Cold spray, Cold spray additive manufacturing, Challenges, Environmental concerns, Emissions reduction, Greenhouse gas emissions, Industrial applications, Nuclear plant, Preventive measure, Renewable energy, Sustainable coatings, Sustainable manufacturing, Superalloys, Turbine, Thermal spray.