Many industries today use old systems that have been in operation for the last 20 years. It makes the plants’ machinery and equipment susceptible to wear and tear, which can cause interruptions of operations. There are costly financial implications of constant maintenance and downtime. Also, industries struggle to provide quality products and services to customers.
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Additionally, there have regulations focusing on how contaminants are managed in industries. These factors can impact your choice of custom tank liners. In this article, we’ll be looking at how hard chrome plating can be beneficial to plants today.
Applied to a Wide Range of Metal
Hard chromium plating is a process where an electrical current is passed through chromium acid. A catalytic effect produces the metal from an acid bath. The electroplating process aims to deposit metallic chrome onto the target surface.
The process makes it possible to control the chemical composition and the electrical flow to find the right thickness for your applications. Different types of catalysts may be added to achieve higher corrosion resistance or hardness.
One advantage of plating with chromium is that you can use it on a wide range of metals. Today, the process is applied to copper, brass, steel, among others. Steel has a favorable mechanical strength and can withstand high temperatures. But the material cannot withstand corrosive chemicals unless it is coated with a suitable material.
Even stainless steel can be susceptible to corrosion, especially if exposed to harsh chemicals at high temperatures. In other words, plating tanks with chromium allows plants to take advantage of the properties of metals. The metallic materials would, otherwise, not be used for such applications.
Suitable for Irregular Shapes and Surfaces
One advantage that chromium plating has over other corrosion-resistant tank lining is that it can adhere to surfaces with irregular shapes and geometries. That is because the process of electroplating allows for measured amounts of chromium to be deposited on the surface.
The thickness typically is within the range of 2 to 250µm. Although for corrosion resistance, the minimum thickness should be between 80 and 120 µm. Also, various types of hard-chrome coatings can be created from the electrochemical process. They include cracked, porous, crack-free, and micro-porous chromium.
The plating can be applied to holes, bumps, and crevices. Chromium-plated surfaces can have a consistent finish that is attractive and easy to clean. Additionally, chrome is not susceptible to oxidation, rust, or corrosion. That means it is more suitable for use in a wide range of applications.
Applied at low Temperatures
Another advantage of a hard chrome coating is the low process temperature. The electrochemical process does not require a lot of heat like other custom tank liner processes such as HVOC (High-Velocity Oxygen-Fuel).
High temperatures can be problematic when coating surfaces. Heat can accelerate the process of oxidation, which can compromise the underlying material. Also, the higher the temperature, the more likely that oxidation will interfere with the process.
The low-process temperatures also mean that hard chromium plating is possible where the underlying material would, otherwise, make it impractical. Even metallic parts can melt in processes like HVOF that may require temperatures over 2000 degrees Fahrenheit.
Simple and Practical
The electrochemical process is fairly simple and unsophisticated. There is little risk of damaging components, yet it can have excellent adhesion. The process is simple and practical enough for old plants that need to protect their equipment from rust and corrosion. The durability of the coating will reduce the time and cost associated with maintenance and repair.
Hard chromium plating is a process that has proven useful for many coating applications. Plants can apply it as a tank lining for high resistance to corrosion and temperatures. The process is fairly simple and is held to be one of the best options when all variables are examined. Different applications in the plant may require specific types of custom tank liners. You can contact us or visit our website for quality liner products and services.
Contact us to discuss your requirements of High-Purity Metal Chromium. Our experienced sales team can help you identify the options that best suit your needs.
Corrotherm supplies and distributes a wide range of nickel alloys, intended for all manner of end uses and applications within the oil and gas industry. But why are these nickel-based alloys used in such aggressive environments rather than pure metals?
The famous Aristotle quote, ‘The whole is greater than the sum of its parts,’ is particularly apt here. Alloys are a mixture of a number of different metals and other elements, each lending their own properties to the compound. Alloys can, therefore, take on these properties within the mixture, blending together the best of all the metals and elements they incorporate. More than that though, alloys can exhibit unique properties that are different to the metals they are made up of, created through the careful combination of different elements. It’s a skilled balancing act, but one that produces huge benefits.
Alloys are, for example, generally harder than pure metals. They are made up of atoms of different sizes, rather than being uniform. This means that the layers of atoms cannot slide over each other easily, making the whole alloy much stronger than any of the pure metals that the alloy contains in isolation. Alloys also tend to have better corrosion resistance than pure metals, and are more versatile for manipulating into different forms.
The benefits of INCONEL alloys
Alloys are specifically crafted to enhance the properties of the metals and elements they contain, as well as to engineer specific characteristics. The nickel alloys that Corrotherm stocks are all good examples of how the different combinations of component elements creates attractive properties that serve the oil and gas industry.
For example, the popular INCONEL alloy 625 offers high strength, excellent fabricability and outstanding corrosion resistance. These desirable properties are due to the combination of elements that make up the alloy as a whole. As well as nickel and chromium, which together form a strong, versatile and resistance base, this alloy adds in molybdenum and niobium, a potent combination that gives very specific advantages. They distort the alloy’s atomic matrix, resulting in extremely high strength without the need for deliberate strengthening heat treatments.
The alloy gives superior resistance to a wide range of severe, corrosive environments – including the collection of sour gas – to an extent that no single component part could deliver on its own. This alloy can be used in the oil and gas industry across many applications, as it is so versatile. It has been used for pipelines for gathering sour gas, seawater heat exchangers in refineries, power plants and offshore topside services.
Another INCONEL alloy that has attractive properties due to the combination of its elemental components is INCONEL alloy C-276. This nickel alloy is well known for its exceptional corrosion resistance, even in the most aggressive of environments. This is in part achieved by the high molybdenum content, which constitutes 15-17% of the overall makeup.
Molybdenum helps to give the alloy resistance to localised corrosion, such as pitting. INCONEL alloy C-276 also includes a controlled amount of tungsten (3-4.5%). Tungsten has a number of useful properties that can be of benefit to nickel alloys. For example, it has the highest melting point of any pure metal and is incredibly strong. It is added to alloys to increase their overall strength, resistance to wear and tear, and improve corrosion resistance.
This combination of elements makes INCONEL alloy C-276 useful in the oil and gas industry, where high temperatures and extremely corrosive materials are present.
Advantageous alloys in the INCOLOY range
INCOLOY alloys are leaner nickel versions of the INCONEL range. However, they still need to perform in corrosive environments and in high temperatures. This is why the combination of elements within each alloy is so important to achieve the required properties demanded by applications within the oil and gas industry.
INCOLOY alloy 825 is a popular choice for oil well and gas gathering pipes. Its carefully controlled composition gives it the necessary resistance to these kinds of corrosive environments. While there is less nickel than in an INCONEL alloy (38-46%), it is enough to give good resistance to chloride-ion stress-corrosion cracking. Combined with the molybdenum (2.5-3.5%) and the copper (1.5-3%), the nickel also helps to give resistance to sulfuric and phosphoric acids. The molybdenum itself is included to help with resistance to pitting and crevice corrosion, and the titanium (when heat treated) stabilises the alloy against sensitisation to intergranular corrosion. The high chromium content (19.5-23.5%) helps with resistance to nitric acid, nitrates and oxidising salts.
The advanced super-austenitic stainless steel INCOLOY alloy 27-7MO is employed in oil field extraction. Despite its more economical price, this alloy still relies on a combination of elements to give it corrosion resistance, high strength and good fabricability. The inclusion of molybdenum (6.5-8%), chromium (20.5-23%) and nitrogen (0.3-0.4%) helps to resist pitting and crevice corrosion. The nickel (26-28%) also increases resistance to reducing media and, along with the nitrogen, helps with resistance against stress corrosion cracking and attack by caustic media. The chromium also resists against oxidising media. This gives the alloy good performance in mixed acid environments, which is useful in the oil and gas industry.
In the oil and gas industry, where high temperatures and corrosive environments are expected, no one pure metal would offer the blend of properties needed to manufacture parts that can withstand everything that is thrown at it. It is up to the project manager and design engineer to research in detail the different properties that each alloy can deliver to find the right blend for their requirements.
To find out more about the alloys that Corrotherm can supply and their key properties, contact our experienced Sales team.
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