Press Releases Conforma Clad Introduces Wear Protection for Low NOx Burner Components Denver, Colorado – (November 12, 2002) Conforma Clad, a leading provider of severe wear solutions for fabricated metal components, introduces wear protection specially designed for low NOx burner components used in coal-fired power plants. The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and the Clean Air Act have introduced stringent laws regarding the reduction of emissions of nitrogen oxides by power plants. Nitrogen oxides (NOx) are pollutant gases produced by burning fossil fuels, vehicle emissions, and many industries. High levels of NOx can be harmful to the health of humans, as well as producing ozone and contributing to acid rain. In response to these regulations, most coal-fired power plants have installed low NOx burners, which can yield up to a 70% reduction in NOx emissions. Prior to the introduction of low NOx burners in the early 1980s, burners typically had short, highly turbulent, actively mixed coal flames resulting in high NOx emissions. Modern low NOx burners are designed to produce a less turbulent, slower-mixing flame, indicative of gradual coal and air mixing, resulting in lower NOx emissions. Design features of low NOx burners include internal components that enable the burner to operate at a lower temperature while still maintaining flame stability and efficient combustion. These burner components must operate in an extremely abrasive-erosive environment that has proven too severe for many traditional wear protection materials. The effects of this wear causes the components to lose their critical geometries, resulting in a loss of NOx reduction efficiencies in as little as 18-24 months. This situation creates a formidable obstacle to the power plant in meeting increasing outage-to-outage goals while maintaining the NOx reduction benefits of these burners. Conforma Clad’s revolutionary process uses infiltration brazing to bond tungsten carbide to the base material of a component forming a hard, uniform protective cladding that provides superior wear against abrasion, erosion, and corrosion, even under high temperature conditions. The cladding is fourteen times (14X) more abrasion resistant and two times (2X) more erosion resistant than nickel chromium alloy castings alone. Conforma Clad’s severe wear protection can extend the life of the critical geometries of burner components, which means that coal nozzles, spreaders, diffusers, support tubes and flame stabilizer rings can maintain efficiencies until the plant’s next scheduled outage. Conforma Clad’s wear protection is already in use with low NOx burner components installed throughout the U.S. This same technology can be applied to all burner types, including roof-fired, wall-fired, corner-fired, and cyclone-fired burners. Conforma Clad’s proprietary technology has been used in coal-fired power plants for 15 years, extending the life of fan blades, liners, ash conveyance equipment and pulverizers. For more information regarding Conforma Clad for the power generation industry, please contact Chris Harley, Sr. Application Engineer, at (812) 948-2118. Conforma Clad Inc. is a leading provider of severe wear solutions for industrial applications involving extreme abrasion, corrosion and erosion, or a combination thereof. It is the major supplier of radial bearings used in directional drilling for oil and gas. For the plastic and food industries, Conforma Clad provides wear resistant extruder barrels, liners and screw flights. Among the products provided for coal-fired power plants are fan blades, liners, ash conveyance, and components for burners and pulverizers. Conforma Clad, which dates back to 1968, is headquartered in New Albany, Indiana.