Regeneración de Componentes Deteriorados de Motores de Combustión Interna Utilizados en Centrales Térmicas

The generation of electrical energy through internal combustion engines plays an important role in the world economy. Exhaust valves and boxes are critical engine components and are subjected to high pressures and temperatures. The additive remanufacturing technology of mechanical components that have reached the end of their useful life due to wear, through the laser-directed energy deposition method L-DED, turns out to be an effective method to obtain spare parts with similar and even superior characteristics to a new spare part, extending the life cycle of the product in the circular economy. The process consists of obtaining 3D models through reverse engineering, additive remanufacturing by L-DED and final machining. It was determined through the study that this methodology can be successfully applied to the exhaust valves and boxes of internal combustion engines for electrical generation. The results obtained have demonstrated that this remanufacturing method is an effective solution for the recovery of exhaust valves and boxes that have reached the end of their useful life and can be applied to other engine elements, reducing the cost of the spare part compared to a new one and bringing with it significant environmental benefits. In reference to the remanufacturing time, it has been determined that the application of the L-DED process in exhaust valves and boxes is 3943 and 3677 s respectively. In addition to this time, the time used in the initial preparation and final machining must be added. However, the time is substantially less than the manufacture of a new spare part, which brings with it an increase in the availability of these spare parts to carry out scheduled maintenance on engines for power generation, contributing to improving the efficiency of the national electrical system.