ECH 158B

Separations and Unit Operations

Materials of Construction
Palazoglu

HUMG, June 2019

Selection of Materials

Success and failure of process equipment

and ultimately the plant operation depends
critically on the materials of construction.

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 Selection of Materials

Failures may lead to catastrophic events..

http://www.exponent.com/petrochemical_industry/

http://www.csb.gov/

U.S. Chemical Safety and Hazard Investigation Board (CSB).

Selection of Materials

About 46% of total failures are

caused by corrosion, which is the
most common failure in petrochemical
industry. The second largest failures
in the number of occurrence are
fatigue failures, accounting for 16%.
Liu et al., “Failure Cases Analysis in Petrochemical Industry,” International Journal of Civil and
Environmental Engineering, 12(5), (2018).

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 Selection of Materials

 Trend is to operate at more severe T & P.

 Critical operating scenarios.
 How does one choose the “best” material?
 Economics play a key role.
Material Ratio (cost/kg metal)/(cost/kg steel)
Flange quality steel 1
304 SS 5
Aluminum 6
Ni-clad steel 8
316 steel 10
Nickel 12
Hastelloy 15

Selection Guide

 Economics
 Total equipment or materials costs
 Installation costs
 Maintenance costs
 Service life
 Replacement cost
 Downtime cost
 Depreciation, taxes
 Interest
Alternative Investment Comparisons
 Inflation (remember ECH 158A)

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 Selection Guide

 Corrosion behavior (Table 10-8, PTW; Table 23.3,

TSBW)

 Availability of standard sizes

 Ease of fabrication
 High and low temperature performance
 Physical properties, e.g., thermal
conductivity
 Mechanical properties, e.g., stiffness,
toughness, hardness, fatigue resistance

Definitions

Hardness is the measurement of how much a

material resists penetration from a semi-static
force. It is tested using an indenter hardness
machine often (but not solely) by measuring the
size of the indentation after releasing the load.

www.quora.com

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 Definitions

The most well known hard material is diamond.

A typical soft material is aluminum, or any
plastic material.

Definitions

• Toughness is the ability of a material to

absorb energy when impacted.
• Materials known to be very tough are
stainless steels and titanium alloys. Materials
known to be very fragile (the opposite of
tough) are ceramics such as glasses or
porcelain.

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 Definitions

Toughness usually goes in the opposite

direction of hardness. If a material is very hard,
it is usually very fragile. Diamonds are fragile
even though they are hard. Aluminum is tough
but not hard at all.

Definitions
Stiffness is the tendency of a material to
react with a small deformation when the
material is stressed. It is measured by the
Young's Modulus, which is the angular
coefficient, or slope, of the linear stress-strain
curve.

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 Definitions
• Stiff materials are usually ceramics or high
melting point refractory metals such as
diamond, tungsten carbide and osmium. Soft
materials are plastics such as low density
polyethylene (LDPE) and nylon.
• Stiff materials are usually
hard (but there is no direct,
obvious correlation) and more
fragile.

Definitions

Fatigue failure is defined as the tendency of a

material to fracture by means of progressive
brittle cracking under repeated alternating or
cyclic stresses of an intensity considerably
below the normal strength.

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 Summary

Materials

A chemical engineer should have a good

working knowledge of materials and their
properties so that better decisions can be
made at the design (and operation) stage.

Metals and Metal Alloys Non-metals

American Iron and Steel Inorganic and
Institute (AISI) has standards organic nonmetals
for steel products.

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 Corrosion

Galvanic action resulting from the use of two

dissimilar metals that are in contact through a
conducting liquid can cause one of the metals
(least noble) to dissolve into the liquid and
deposit on the other metal (most noble).

Corrosion

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 Corrosion
Galvanic corrosion is a localized mechanism by
which metals can be preferentially corroded.
This form or type of corrosion has the potential
to attack junctions of metals, or regions where
one construction metal is changed to another.

Corrosion

• T dependence
• concentration of agent
• impurities
• physical operation
How does one prevent it?

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 Carbon Steel
 It is a metal alloy of iron and
carbon. Other elements are
present in quantities too small to
affect its properties. Typically <2.1
w% C.
 Used even in corrosive
applications due to low cost.
 Strong acids form protective
coating.
 Alloying (with Ni, Cr, Si, etc.) helps
increase corrosion resistance,
toughness, hardness.

Stainless Steels

 More than 70 types.

 Alloyed with Cr, Ni-Cr, Mo
(SS316)
 Good machinability.
 Corrosion resistance is
enhanced with surface
passivation.
 Cast stainless steel alloys.
 Table 10-4 in PTW gives
selection guidelines.

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 Nickel and its Alloys
 High corrosion resistance to
alkalies
 Monel (67% Ni, 30% Cu)
often used in food industry
 Inconel (77% Ni, 15% Cr)
 Hastelloy C: 56% Ni, 17%
Mo, 16% Cr, 5% Fe, 4% Tu, ....
 Valves, piping, heat-
exchanger tubing

Aluminum and its Alloys

• Lightness and ease of

fabrication make aluminum
an attractive construction
material.
• Resists acid attacks by a
passive aluminum oxide
layer.

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 Aluminum and its Alloys

When alloyed with small amounts of other

metals such as Cu, Zn, Mg and with Si,
Aluminum becomes stronger (and can be
made even stronger than steel). For
example, Duralumin (Dural) is an alloy of Al,
Cu, Mn and Mg, with Al ca 94%.

Copper and its Alloys

 Oxidizes easily
 Readily fabricated,
and fairly inexpensive
 Over 400 alloys
 Some alloys show
better corrosion
resistance

https://copperalliance.org.uk/about-copper/copper-alloys/

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 Copper and its Alloys

 Alloys: brass (copper and zinc), bronze

(copper and tin), admiralty (copper, zinc
and tin)
 Used in food industry / brewing
 HEX tubes, high k
 Low temperature use

Inorganic Nonmetals

 Glass
 Porcelain, stoneware
 Brick, concrete
 Low structural strength
 Often used as linings

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 Organic Nonmetals

• Plastics (e.g., PVC,

HDPE, TFE) have excellent
resistance to weak acids.
• Polyethylene is cheap.
• Carbon and Graphite –
inertness and favorable
heat transfer properties.
• Rubbers and elastomers –
vulcanized products offer
good chemical resistance

Organic Nonmetals

Vulcanization is a rubber curing process

involving high heat and addition of sulfur or
other equivalent curatives. It is a chemical
process in which polymer molecules are linked
to other polymer molecules by atomic bridges
composed of sulfur atoms or carbon to carbon
bonds.

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 Organic Nonmetals
The result is that the springy rubber molecules
become cross-linked to a greater or lesser
extent. This makes the bulk material harder,
much more durable and also more resistant to
chemical attack. It also makes the material
surface smoother and prevents it from sticking
to metal.

Fabrication

Materials are fabricated, according to

specifications and related codes, into the
various equipment and parts shapes.
ASME Codes

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 Fabrication

The layout of metal is the

procedure of measuring and
marking material for cutting,
drilling, or welding.

One uses shop drawings,

sketches, and blueprints to
obtain the measurements
required to fabricate the job
being laid out.

Fabrication
The next step is cutting. Metal is cut through
the use of specialized tools, including oxy-fuel
and plasma torches.

Other methods include sawing, shearing,

chiseling, and numerical control cutters like
lasers, mill bits and water jets.

http://www.fsm.co.uk/capabilities/sheet-metal-fabrication/

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 Fabrication

Forming/bending follows the cutting step. It

provides the final shape of the part or the
equipment.

Main tool is the CNC (Computer Numerical

Control) machine.

https://www.wilkelaser.com/cnc-forming-fabrication-services.html

Fabrication

For the fastening/joining step, screws, rivets,

welding, adhesives, folding, are some of the
commonly used sheet metal parts joining
techniques. Selection depends on the
material, its thickness and application.

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 Fabrication

Testing involves certified personnel carrying

out integrity tests on the fabricated material
using methods like ultrasonic, magnetic
particle, dye penetrant, radiography, and visual
inspection.

Fabrication
There are four heat treatment methods.
1. Hardening is performed to improve the hardness
of a metal, resulting in a tougher and more durable
product. The metal is heated above its critical
transformation temperature and then cooled quickly
via quenching. Hardening is often followed by
tempering of the metal to alleviate internal stresses.

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 Fabrication

2. During Annealing, metals are heated to a specified

temperature and held there for a prolonged period of
time. They then undergo cooling, which can be fast or
slow, depending on the type of material and desired
characteristics. This process refines the grain
structure of the material, making it easier to work
with.

Fabrication

3. Quenching involves rapid cooling of a metal.

Ferrous alloys harden when quenched, while non-
ferrous alloys tend to become softer. Cooling can be
conducted using air or nitrogen. Most often liquids like
water or oil are used. Due to the rapid rate of cooling,
quenching builds up stresses which must be relieved
by tempering.

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 Fabrication

4. Tempering alleviates the stresses built up in the

material during other heat treatment processes. Metals
are reheated at a low temperature to attain a desired
combination of strength, hardness and durability.
Tempering time and temperature are controlled to
produce the desired material properties.

Fabrication
Various finishing methods are available
depending on the desired surface properties:
• Black oxide finish
• Peening
• Plating
• Powder coating/painting
• Vibratory finishing

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 What have we covered?

 Wide variety of materials available.

 Process conditions (T, flow behavior, etc.)
limit selection.
 Economics determine viability.
 Metals vs nonmetals.
 Fabrication issues (material properties)
need to be considered.

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