Sanicro® 35 breaks new ground - bridges the gap between stainless steels and higher-cost nickel alloys
Sanicro® 35 combines the best features of a super austenitic alloy to bridge the gap between stainless steels and higher-cost nickel alloys. Designed for extremely corrosive environments and seawater applications, it’s ideal for heat exchangers due to its ability to balance out performance fluctuations.
The super austenitic grade has superior corrosion resistance, high mechanical yield strength, and excellent structural stability.
Extending the life of Evaporators
Phosphoric acid plants have traditionally been designed with graphite heat exchangers to combat the highly corrosive concentration process. However, graphite is very brittle and frequent tube fractures force unplanned maintenance stops. In some cases, this means heat exchangers must be replaced every three to four years.
As graphite heat exchangers are very expensive and a typical phosphoric acid plant has at least three, plus one or two spares, the long-term cost of these units is high.
Metallic heat exchangers are a good alternative. Although not as corrosion resistant as graphite, they are less expensive, don’t crack, and normally last at least twice as long as graphite. Over the last 30 years, Alleima, formerly Sandvik Materials Technology, has supplied hundreds of tons of Sanicro® 28 tubes for heat exchangers.
However, as an addition to our growing Sanicro® portfolio of nickel alloys and austenitic stainless steels, the versatile properties and lower corrosion rate of Sanicro® 35 can extend the life of phosphoric acid evaporators.
After significant research, trials, and support, including discussions on the best way of welding the alloy to the tube sheet, our customer replaced tubing on a heat exchanger with Sanicro® 35.
Reducing corrosion in condensers
One of our long-time customers, an ethylene oxide producer, was searching for ways to extend the life of their critical recycled column condensers using seawater. These condensers typically suffer from corrosion problems such as pitting, crevice, and erosion-corrosion.
Recognizing the possibilities to extend production lifecycles, our customer upgraded its condenser tubes and plates with Sanicro® 35.
With a long tradition in R&D for some of the most demanding industries around the world, we’re committed to continually discovering and innovating material solutions to meet our customer’s needs.
The benefits of Sanicro® 35, now available globally, combined with our focus on R&D, continuous customer support, excellent relationships with end-users, and technical teamwork have resulted in these orders.
We’re delighted to announce two new European orders for Sanicro® 35. Each project replaces heat exchanger tubing in different applications, one in a phosphoric acid plant and the other for a recycled column condenser at an ethylene oxide plant.
By Jane Eriksson- Sales & Marketing Manager, Application Products, Tube EMEA & Barinder Ghai - Director Technical Marketing and New Business Development, EMEA, Tube EMEA