TPI July 2012

products & developments

Highlighting reduced energy costs in steel manufacture

Recuperators save energy by utilising waste heat to preheat combustion air in the steel production process. This can be substantially enhanced by raising the preheating temperatures and increasing the operational life cycle and efficiency of the recuperators. As a result, fuel consumption and operating costs are reduced – particularly appropriate as

to its excellent oxide properties that prevent degradation.

Material grades specifically developed for high operating temperatures include Sandvik 253 MA, Sandvik 353 MA, Sanicro™ 31 HT and Sandvik 4C54. The company states that these all outlast conventional high-temperature materials such as ASTM TP 310, ASTM TP 309 and ASTM TP 321. While the initial cost of recuperator tubes in the superior material grade is higher, this can quickly be offset by the extended lifecycle and reduced maintenance costs. It is claimed that Sandvik high- alloy recuperator tubes can achieve over double the average operational life, even in highly corrosive environments. “Our campaign to explain the huge potential for savings by changing to Sandvik recuperator tubes is now underway,” said Henrik Calander, global product manager for high-temperature tubes at Sandvik. “It is designed to explain to users of older generation materials just how much they can save by changing to new generation recuperator tubes, especially before the onset of winter and potentially even higher energy prices.” Sandvik and Sanicro are trademarks owned by Sandvik Intellectual Property AB; 253 MA and 353 MA are trademarks owned by Outokumpu OY. Sandvik Materials Technology – Sweden www.smt.sandvik.com

energy prices continue to rise. However, in raising the temperature, standard tubes made from, for example, carbon steel, low-alloy steel and conventional high- temperature grades can frequently fail prematurely, halting production and resulting in retubing or even replacement of the recuperator.

Recuperator tubes

In such critical processes the use of standard materials leads to increased downtime, calling for a more corrosive resistant material with a higher creep resistance. This cuts maintenance schedules and reduces costly tube replacement, maximising plant uptime. Depending on process parameters, such as flue gas composition and temperatures, the recuperator material must be carefully selected to achieve a longer service life. Operationally proven in steel manufacturing plants, Sandvik 253 MA ® is successfully used in recuperator tube applications, the effectiveness of the alloy being due

Sandvik is launching a ‘steel industry campaign’ to raise awareness of the energy savings and increased productivity steel producers could potentially achieve, not only by increasing process air preheating temperatures, but also by increasing service life of recuperators. “Many steel plant operators are unaware that they could save hundreds of thousands of US dollars per year,” explained Burak Edik, business developer for high-temperature tubes at Sandvik. “We have a series of case studies that clearly demonstrate the savings, showing substantially lower fuel consumption, while doubling recuperator tube operational times.”

PPRC sanitary pipes in four colours Esen Plastik AS offers Esen PPRC sanitary pipes in four colours – white, grey, green and brown.

installations by the no-leak directly- welded installation technique. Esen Plastik is located in Turkey and has been producing plastic pipes for infrastructure, superstructure and irrigation systems since 1976.

Glass reinforced PPRC pipe, which is resistant to higher temperature, offers solutions in central heating services. As it does not have any absorbing properties, it is not affected by chem- icals and changes in humidity ratios. It may be applied to industrial pipelines, greenhouse irrigation, water treatment, pool, yacht, ship and boat

The pipes are preferred for the hot and cold sanitary plumbing systems of buildings all over the world due to their durability, long life and the fact that they do not contain carcinogen substances.

Eldem Esen – Turkey esen@esen.com www.esenplastik.com.tr

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Tube Products International July 2012

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