3. Applications in the oil and gas industry

The oil industry has been an excellent testing ground for electroless nickel for many years. It now represents [19] 15% of the total electroless nickel market in North America.

The properties most appreciated for these applications are: uniformity of deposit thickness, excellent corrosion resistance (particularly with "high phosphorus" nickel), abrasion and erosion resistance.

Electroless nickel has :

• greatly improved the performance of materials traditionally used in the past;

• lower manufacturing costs;

• extended equipment life (this last point is very important, as the cost of downtime to replace worn spare parts is particularly high in this industry)....