Stainless steel profiles in the chemical industry
Release date: 2020-9-13 8:48:18 Visits: 798
The choice of the right duplex alloy depends on the area of application and environmental factors.
Stainless steel has the property of withstanding attacks from highly corrosive chemicals and is, therefore, a favourable product for use in the chemical and petrochemical industries. The family includes austenitic and super-austenitic stainless steels as well as duplex, super-duplex stainless steels and nickel-based alloys, which are preferred in demanding areas of application.
High strength material
The consequences of corrosion are unplanned system failures, production losses, and high maintenance and repair costs. The high strength and greater resistance to chloride-induced stress corrosion cracking compared to classic austenitic steel have led to an increase in applications of, and demand for, duplex stainless steels.
Duplex is characterised by a structure of ferrite and austenite, offering improved resistance to pitting in harsh environmental conditions. It has good weldability and improved crack resistance, even in critical temperature ranges; and higher strength than classic austenitic steels.
Duplex offers an excellent strength-to-weight ratio, so that much weight can be avoided in structures. This is why duplex stainless steels are applied in the chemical industry, refineries, gas processing plants, paper and pulp factories and for seawater desalination.
They are also installed in environments and industries with the high corrosion resistance requirements found in the process industry (chemical, petrochemical, offshore, and desalination plants, seawater applications, etc.). In addition, duplex stainless steels are often used in chemical tankers and urea plants. The users of these industries require the production of components with tight manufacturing tolerances and high surface quality. Whole ship and bridge structures have already been consructed from duplex stainless steel.
Due to their special corrosion resistance, stainless steel profiles made of duplex are used for valves and measuring devices as well as for flow monitoring systems.
They are also often used in a highly corrosive environment (for example, seawater or road salt) and for the production of machine parts that are exposed to cavitation.
