In the oil and gas industry, from upstream to downstream, operators continually seek new ways to overcome challenges and improve efficiencies.
Whether for hydraulic and instrumentation or heat exchanger tubing, selecting the right materials is critical to boosting productivity and profitability. That means choosing the absolute best in advanced stainless steels and special alloys. It’s how Alleima supports customers to move the industry forward.
This year’s AMPP annual conference in New Orleans highlighted the challenges facing asset owners in oil and gas upstream and downstream sectors. It was also an opportunity to discuss how our advanced solutions can boost improvements to the bottom line.
AMPP covers a wide range of subjects and sectors. Three important questions discussed among the refinery community were:
- The recent performance of some duplex grades
- How to combat corrosion challenges from the varied and growing range of feedstocks
- What pushing the maintenance cycle to eight years would mean for material integrity
For these questions, the answer is the same. Go for quality. For the best performance, to avoid unplanned maintenance shutdowns, and to ensure total project cost savings, it’s essential to work with the right partner. A trusted, experienced, and established manufacturer will deliver quality assurance and understand what you need to be at your best.
Advancing heat exchanger tubing with SAF™ 3006 - our next-generation super-duplex
AMPP is our prime event in the Americas and has a strong connection to the downstream industry. This made it the right location to introduce our next-generation super-duplex, SAF™ 3006, which is tailored to enhance corrosion resistance in acid and caustic environments.
Designed specifically for heat exchangers within the chemical and petrochemical industries, it’s a cost-effective alternative to austenitic stainless steels and nickel-based alloys. SAF™ 3006 offers all the benefits you’d expect of a duplex steel, in terms of strength, corrosion properties, and cost-efficiency, but is designed to be more resistant to acids in heat exchangers than traditional super duplexes, with or without seawater cooling.
SAF™ 3006 was well received at AMPP. Early discussions with potential customers are already moving forward.
Technology Leader
At AMPP Alleima delivered a broad range of presentations focused on the challenges in the upstream and downstream sectors.
- Alleima is currently investigating the development of materials for hydrogen production and transport. Ulf Kivisakk, Senior Expert CRA, discussed deformation mechanisms for the SSRT testing of austenitic stainless steels in hydrogen gas.
- Oscar Öhlin, R&D Engineer, explored the excellent resistance of SAF™ 3006 to both acid and caustic general corrosion, making it suitable for use in heat exchangers or equipment in acid or caustic production plants in the chemical industry.
- Karen Picker, Technical Marketing Manager, Tube Americas, compared the life cycle cost of carbon steel, duplex stainless steels, super austenitic, and nickel-based alloys for crude unit overhead condensers. She highlighted an example where our austenitic stainless steel alloy Sanicro® 35 proved a suitable material in bridging the gap between stainless steels and costly nickel alloys for a refinery in the US Gulf Coast.
- Luiza Esteves, Technical Marketing Engineer, Tube Americas, examined the crevice corrosion resistance of Sanicro® 35 compared to Alleima® 254 SMO, UNS N08367, and Sanicro®
- Johan Salwén, Technical Marketing Specialist EMEA, looked at Sanicro® 35 as a cost-effective solution for hydraulic and instrumentation systems in marine environments.
Our booth, which featured SAF™ 3006 and Sanicro® 35, was well attended. Congratulations to Anthony Vlahos from Ram Alloys, who won the Alleima Tube Runner Challenge!
Alleima: from Sandviken since 1862
AMPP was a good opportunity to remind the industry of our heritage and our focus to continue to advance in the most demanding industries. Our roots date back to 1862 in Sandviken, Sweden, and the industrialization of the Bessemer process. Today, we are a world leader in advanced materials technology, with a portfolio of more than 900 active alloy compositions for processing into different niche applications – and over 850 patents.
At the exhibition and during our well-attended customer event, we continued to celebrate our new brand and remind our loyal customers that while everything is new, nothing has changed.
