TECHNICAL FEATURE l STAINLESS STEEL TANKS

WHY USE DUPLEX STAINLESS

STEELS FOR STORAGE TANKS
Tank manufacturers can reduce material weight and cut costs by specifying storage tanks made
from high-strength duplex stainless steel

S
teel storage tanks are vital for the
day-to-day operation of the biofuels and
chemical industries. However, there is
a huge variety between the alloy content and
production of different types of steel – and the
mechanical strength and corrosion resistance
can vary widely.
COST EFFICIENCY
When specifying a tank, it’s important to
choose the best material based on the tank’s
total lifecycle cost. Designers need to weigh
up a whole range of factors when comparing
tank options: material cost, welding, assembly
and local labour costs, as well as the price for
applying and maintaining internal and external
surface treatments. It’s also important not to
overlook the value of scrap material at the end
of the tank’s life.
Looking at it holistically, the raw material
costs are only a fraction of the total lifecycle
cost of a tank. Therefore, it’s worth
considering high-performance duplex stainless
steel as it may be more cost efficient in the
long term.
HIGH STRENGTH REDUCES RAW
MATERIAL USAGE
In comparison with other grades, duplex
stainless steel has high strength. This
is particularly attractive for storage tank
manufacturers, as they can reduce the
of stainless steel, and therefore the welding CORROSION RESISTANCE
recommendations should be followed carefully The fact that duplex steels have excellent
to use the correct welding parameters, joint corrosion resistance also leads to low
configurations and fillers. maintenance requirements. To choose the
They are also available in wide sheets of optimal duplex steel grade, the corrosion
two meters (or 3.2 meters for special orders). environment needs to be considered both
Using plates that are wider, longer and for the inside and the outside of the tank.
thinner, tank manufacturers can save time on Normally the inside, with contact to the
preparation of the welding joint, reduce the chemical stored, sets the limitations, but
amount of welding required and speed up sometimes it is the outside conditions that
delivery. Welding time and costs relate to the determine the grade. This is particularly
size of the tank and the shell thickness. The important for tanks in ports, where a salty
thicker the shell, the more time needs to be environment and high temperatures can lead
dedicated to welding the tank. to a form of corrosion called ‘stress corrosion
In countries where labour costs are low, cracking’.
welding costs will be substantially lower A typical carbon steel tank needs a coating
than many European countries, where labor to protect it from corrosion. That coating
costs peak at around $72 per hour. However, needs regular inspection, maintenance and
welding cost also varies depending on the repair to ensure that it lasts the test of time. In
grade of steel used. turn, maintenance activities represent safety
But for tank operators, these benefits risk to technicians working at height or in
represent a long and trouble-free life. Greater confined spaces, as well as environmental risk
weldability and fewer welds mean that a tank when sandblasting and applying new layers of
will have fewer potential points of failure as it coating.
ages. As a result, it will last longer and require In comparison, duplex stainless steel has
less maintenance. high natural resistance to corrosion over a
An excellent combination of
high strength and corrosion resistance
600 Forta SDX 2507
Forta LDX 2404 *) S32750/1.4410
550 Forta LDX 2101
S82441/1.4662
S32101/1.4162
Strength, Rp0.2 [MPa]

thickness of tank walls. 500

Forta SDX 100
Forta EDX 2304 S32760/1.4501
Not only does this reduce the size of the 450
S32304/1.4362
Forta DX 2304 Forta DX 2205
order for raw materials but it also simplifies 400 S32304/1.4362 S32205/1.4462 Ultra 654 SMO
transport and logistics when delivering a tank to 350 Ultra 4439
S32654/1.4652
S31726/1.4439 Ultra Alloy 825 Ultra 254 SMO
site. And it reduces handling requirements on 300 Ultra 317L N08825/2.4858 S32154/1.4547
S31703/1.4438
site when assembling and fabricating the tank. 250 Core 304L/4307
Ultra 6XN
N08926/
200 N08367/
Supra 316L/4404 Ultra 904L
MANUFACTURABILITY AND
1.4529
150 N08904/1.4539

DURABILITY
0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80 90

Values for hot rolled coil.

Another important factor for tank Corrosion Resistance, CPT typical [°C] * Acc. to Outokumpu MDS-D35.
)

manufacturers is that duplex grades are

not difficult to weld. However, they do The Forta duplex grades of stainless steel represented by the color green are popular for building storage tanks.
Duplex steels have higher strength than the standard 304L, 316L grades, as well as mild or carbon steels
require a different approach to other types

100 JUNE/JULY 2019 VOLUME 15 ISSUE NO.3


long life. To ensure the best possible corrosion
resistance of the welds, the surface is usually
ground and pickled – and this cost must be
included when figuring out the most economic
approach to tank building.
The duplex microstructure also contributes
to high resistance to stress corrosion cracking,
which can be an important issue in storage
tanks.
As a result, tanks made from duplex do
not need a protective chemical coating. This
eliminates the initial cost of a coating, as well
as the need for inspection, the logistics of
handling chemicals and repair, lost availability
of tanks during maintenance, safety and
environmental issues.
DUPLEX STAINLESS STEEL
During the manufacturing process, duplex
stainless steels require careful control to create
an end product that in its microstructure is
made up of equal measures of the two other
most important types of stainless steel: ferritic
and austenitic.
Compared with typical austenitic stainless
steels, duplex grades have higher chromium
and nitrogen content but less molybdenum and
nickel at corresponding corrosion resistance. As
a result, duplex grades are more price stable in
markets where nickel and molybdenum prices
fluctuate.
Their high chromium content tends to
provide excellent resistance to uniform
corrosion. However, localised corrosion (or
pitting) can arise when they are exposed to
solutions containing halides, such as chlorides.
One way to rank different grades of stainless
steel in chloride environments is to measure
the Critical Pitting Temperature (CPT). The
higher the CPT, the more resistant the steel
grade is to localised corrosion attack. The
diagram above shows which of the high
strength Forta Duplex grades match the
corrosion resistance of different austenitic
stainless steels.
Another area where duplex stainless-steel
grades differ to austenitic ones is in formability
and machinability. The higher strength of duplex
means that higher forces are often required –
but this is often counteracted by the smaller
gage thickness.
Duplex stainless steel eliminates the need for
coatings
JUNE/JULY 2019 VOLUME 15 ISSUE NO.3
TECHNICAL FEATURE l STAINLESS STEEL TANKS
Duplex stainless steel offers corrosion resistance for storage tanks in marine environments
The duplex materials are generally also
more demanding to machine than conventional
austenitic grades – although the straightforward
skirt construction of tanks means that this
is not a significant point for tank storage
applications.
CHEMICAL STORAGE FOR SPAIN’S
ACIDEKA
When chemical company Acideka added 12
new large-scale liquid storage tanks to its
facility at the Port of Bilbao, Spain, it turned to
process equipment manufacturer De Dietrich
Equipos Quimico (DDEQ). As a supplier of
chemicals, Acideka relies on its port facility to
handle large volumes of corrosive chemicals to
customers in industries from water treatment
to pulp and paper.
DDEQ initially requested a quote for 316L, a
grade of austenitic stainless steel that is often
used for tank storage.
However, Outokumpu convinced the
manufacturer that Forta DX 2304 would be
preferable. The duplex stainless steel has
higher strength as well as excellent corrosion
properties.
As a result, DDEQ was able to reduce the
shell thickness of the tank, reaping a 20%
saving in material. In addition, less handling and
welding was required as Outokumpu were able
to provide two-meter-wide plates.
Elsewhere in Spain, Outokumpu provided
duplex 2304 stainless steel for manufacturer
Emypro for a 25-meter-high, 22 meter diameter
tank in Tarragona. Completed in 2005, the tank
was built for Terquimsa, Terminales Quimicos
to hold pure acetic acid. Outokumpu provided
2-meter wide plates with thickness ranging
from 6.5 – 12 mm.
MINIMISING WELDS FOR GPI
As a leading manufacturer of stainless-steel
tanks and process equipment, Gpi won a
contract from Dow Chemical to build a 3,995
m3 tank to store demineralised water at the
Port of Rotterdam. It selected a duplex grade of
stainless steel for its good corrosion resistance
and high mechanical strength.
Gpi used a high-tech construction method
based on a coil building machine to fabricate
the tank from the top down. In this technique,
a coil of stainless steel is fed through the coil
building machine and welded in place as the
first layer of the tank body. Computer-controlled
hydraulic jacks then lift the layer and feed a
second coil into place below it. Once welded,
the tank is raised again, and the process
repeats until the tank is completed.
This required coils of stainless steel with
tightly-specified length as each layer of the tank
uses one single coil to ensure that all tank skirts
had only one vertical weld. Not only did this
minimise the number of welds but by providing
coils of exactly the right length, Outokumpu
minimised the amount of material wasted.
With the tank measuring 19 meters in
diameter and 18 meters in height, Outokumpu
provided 65 tonnes of hot rolled Forta DX 2205.
An important factor in its selection for Gpi
was the 3.2 material certification. This verifies
that the material has been inspected by the
manufacturer as well as an independent third
party.
BIOGAS PLANT IN GERMANY
A 13-hectare biogas park in Konnern, Germany
feeds biogas directly into the natural gas grid
to provide enough energy for around 10,000
homes.
WELtec BioPower built the facility with
biogas produced in 16 large digester tanks.
Each tank is 6.3 meters high and 25 meters in
diameter and must be able to withstand expose
to corrosive biogas by-products such as sulphur
and ammonia compounds. Corrosion resistance
is particularly important for the site’s operators
as it is challenging to restart the digesters’
process after an outage.
Outokumpu supplied 1,500 tonnes of duplex
stainless steel for the project. The high-strength
material enabled thinner tank walls with no loss
of structural strength or stability.
TANK DESIGN
Duplex stainless steels are used to store many
types of chemical and petrochemical products,
such as biodiesel, chemical feedstocks, marble
slurry and other products. Several different
grades are ideally suited to tank building and
the choice depends on the specific properties
of the liquid to be stored.
Their high mechanical strength and corrosion
resistance mean that a duplex grade of
stainless steel often offers the best value over
a tank’s lifetime.
FOR MORE INFORMATION
This article was written by Peder Claesson,
product manager at Outokumpu.
www.outokumpu.com
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