Types of Steel Pipes And Its Uses In Process Piping System

What is Process Piping System?

Process Piping System consists of a series of activities performed in a particular order to convert raw materials such as fuels, liquids, chemicals, gases, and others into a usable product. It is often used in petroleum refineries, textile, pharmaceuticals, semiconductors, paper, chemical, and other related processing plants and terminals.

Piping Systems use components such as fittings, gaskets, pressure hose, traps, filters, separators, valves, bolt-nuts, tubes, drip rings, pipes, expansion joints, and more. These piping components are suitable for transport fluid from its source to the destination.

Understanding the material used in the piping system

Steel is the most common material used in the process piping industry. Fundamentally, it is an alloy of iron and carbon and sometimes other elements. Thousands of different grades and quality of steels are suited for various applications. However, they get categorized into four basic types based on the chemical compositions, namely Carbon Steel, Alloy Steel, Stainless Steel, and Tool Steel. Let’s dig deeper to learn about the most common types of steel used in the process piping industry.

Carbon Steel

Carbon steels get used in general refinery applications, chemical industry, and process plants. It is the most widely utilized material in process plants due to its flexibility, strength, durability, and ease of workability. Carbon steel pipes are relatively inexpensive as it contains very few alloying elements and in low concentrations. It has a working temperature from -29℃ to 427 ℃ commonly. The carbon steel materials also have low-temperature carbon steels (LTCS) which are used at a temperature zone of 46℃. However, it is not suitable to withstand high pressure or extreme temperature conditions, as lack of alloying elements makes it less resistant to deal with stress. Carbon steel pipe gets manufactured in two main categories — seamless and welded, which do not break or bend and come in grades A53, A252, A500, A106, and more.

Alloy Steel

Alloy Steel contains a specified amount of alloying elements. Generally, alloying elements manipulate the steel’s properties such as mechanical strength, improves corrosion resistance, ductility, and more resistant to impact or stress. For example, Chromium (Cr) element and Silicon (Si) element improve the hardness, better abrasion, and corrosion resisting properties. Nickel (Ni) element enhances the toughness, corrosion resistance, and low-temperature properties. Molybdenum (Mo) element provides high strength at elevated temperatures. Hence, there are countless combinations of alloys with concentrations to achieve specific qualities for different industries.

Stainless Steel

Stainless Steel belongs to the family of steels that do not rust. It generally contains 10–20% of chromium (Cr) element, and are known for high corrosion resistance. Commonly, Stainless Steel Pipes gets used in industries where corrosion protection is essential. It is mainly used in industries that require high strength including Water Treatment, Pharmaceutical, Ships Energy, Nuclear Power, Mining, Oil & Gas applications, and more. Moreover, Stainless Steel is often chosen due to its aesthetic appeal, especially if the pipe is visible in public or professional settings.

Hence, steel is a critical component of the piping process. Also, process piping design is a crucial aspect of any engineering project. If you’re looking for process piping solutions, you must consider choosing a piping design and engineering partner who has a solid understanding of steel components with skilled expertise in meeting pipeline design considerations and standards.