Niro A/S

Standard 1.61

Niro A/S Gladsaxevej 305 PO Box 45 DK-2860 Soeborg Denmark Tel +45 3954 5454 Fax +45 3954 5800 Reg No 12682

Stainless Steel General Requirements

Contents 1. 2. 3 4. 5. 6. 7. 8. 9.

Page

Preface.........................................................................2 Fabrication premises and aids .................................2-3 Materials .....................................................................3 Placement of welds..................................................3-4 Cutting and forming...................................................4 Welding....................................................................4-5 Surface treatment ....................................................5-6 Inspection and testing ................................................6 Finished equipment ....................................................6

1998-10-01

Stainless Steel - General Requirements

Page 1/6

Niro A/S 1. Preface

1.1 Scope This standard is applicable to all Niro stainless steel equipment. Failure to comply with this standard may result in severe damages, especially relating to corrosion. Corrosion resistance of stainless steel in general is briefly described in the following. 1.2 Corrosion resistance The reason for the good corrosion resistance of stainless steel is the presence of a very thin - but chemically and mechanically strong - film of chrome oxide on the surface. This corrosion resistance depends in a very high degree on the quality of the surface finish. The more corrosive a media is, the greater the demands will be concerning the quality of the surface finish. As a main rule a cold-rolled, pickled at mills surface will have almost optimum corrosion resistance. It is therefore extremely important to maintain the original surface during the whole fabrication process. 1.3 Carbon content At a temperature range between approx. 500C and 850C, chrome carbides are gradually formed resulting in the reduction of corrosion resistance of stainless steel. The amount of separated chrome carbides depends on the exact temperature, the time in which the steel is in the critical temperature range, i.e. the total heat input and cooling time, and most of all the contents of carbon in the steel. The formation of chrome carbides leaves the welded zone with reduced chrome content, thus reducing the corrosion resistance. The zone becomes sensitized. When sheets of thickness less than approx. 5 mm are welded, the heat input will normally be small, and the corrosion resistance will not be essentially decreased.

Standard 1.61
However attention must be paid to crosswelds, repair-welds etc., where the total heat input may be extra large. It is recommended to use stainless steel with a maximum carbon content of 0.03% (Lquality) or a titanium/niob stabilized steel, if parts in large thickness have to be welded or, if the design includes details which are difficult to handle for the welder. 1.4 Stainless steel quality The selection of the specific stainless steel quality is among others based on the aggressiveness of the corrosive media. In this connection it is important to emphasise that the corrosion resistance of the complete component seldom is as good as for the selected stainless steel type. The reason for this may be a non-optimum surface finish or a presence of small cracks and pores, where a heavy corrosive environment may be generated. Crevices and other geometric details, which may give possibilities for local heavy corrosive environment, shall be avoided in the design. If this is not possible, the use of a more resistant stainless steel for those details are to be considered. Surface finish requirements and acceptable geometrical defects shall be considered in relation to the actual corrosive environment and selected material quality.

2. Fabrication premises and aids

2.1 Storage All stainless steel material shall be stored in a suitable manner in order to avoid damage or contamination from chlorides and weather etc. It shall be stored in areas separated from carbon steel materials. Insulation materials shall be stored in a clean and dry area. 2.2 Fabrication Stainless steel fabrication shall be carried out in dedicated areas. These areas shall in the greatest possible extent be separated from areas, where carbon steel fabrication is being carried out. Page 2/6

1998-10-01

Stainless Steel - General Requirements

Niro A/S
The supplier shall take all practical measures to avoid contamination of the stainless steel. In order to avoid any damage of the original surface, plastic foil covering should be considered. 2.3 Tools Hand tools of carbon steel material shall not be used. Hand tools which were used with carbon steel shall be absolutely avoided. Care has to be taken while using the lifting equipment. Rolls, forming equipment and shearing blades used to form or cut stainless steel shall be kept clean and burr-free. Any debris from carbon steel forming or cutting are to be removed prior to use of such equipment for stainless steel. Hammers, earthing lugs or clamps etc. used on stainless steel should preferably be made of stainless steel or a material compatible with stainless steel. Grinding and polishing wheels, discs or belts shall be dedicated for use on stainless steel.

Standard 1.61
3.3 Material identification markings No markings with hard stamping on plates with 6 mm thickness or less are allowed, unless this is specifically required. In any case, the hard stamped marking shall not be on the product contact surfaces. Material identification markings should not be left on stainless steel surfaces subject to corrosive environment, unless this is specifically required.

4. Placement of welds
4.1 General The placement of welds shall be carefully considered prior to plate cutting. The number and extent of welds shall be kept to a minimum, in order to obtain a uniform appearance of the finished equipment. Where practical possible, the equipment shall be made from a single sheet/plate. Small pieces of plates shall be avoided. Accumulation of welds shall be avoided. Distance between two parallel butt welds shall at least be the greater of 50 mm or 10 times the plate thickness. Intersecting welds shall be avoided to the greatest extent possible. Longitudinal seams, which adjoin a circumferential seam from each side shall be separated by at least 50 mm. Corner welds in drains, ducts, vessels and vessel outlets shall not be used unless specifically approved by Niro. Openings for manways, pipe connections etc. as well as reinforcement rings shall be placed as far from the shell joints as possible, and shall not cut into other joints. Fillet welds securing external attachments should be placed at a minimum toe to toe distance of 10 mm away from any existing seam welds.

3. Materials
Only materials conforming to the specified requirements may be used. All materials shall be inspected by the supplier prior to use, i.e. check of steel quality, dimension, surface finish etc. 3.1 Surface quality Exact values for surface roughness for standard plates/sheets (e.g. 2B) are not available, as they vary from mill to mill for the different thickness of sheet/plate. In case the surface quality is better on one side of a plate than on the other, the better side shall be used for product contact surface. 3.2 Traceability If traceability is required, the supplier shall maintain a system of identification for the materials used in manufacture. The supplier shall supply a material list stating drawing and item number for the relevant parts with reference to the material certificates. 1998-10-01

Stainless Steel - General Requirements

Page 3/6

Niro A/S
4.2 Pneumatic hammers The position of the impact point shall be properly selected in order to avoid cracking in the parent material. Distance from impact point to any weld shall be at least 400 mm. Provided the weld is tested by X-ray examination, the distance from the impact point to a high quality square butt weld can be 100 mm. The cost for the X-ray examination shall be borne by the supplier, unless otherwise agreed upon. 6.1 Joint preparation

Standard 1.61

All burrs and ragged edges shall be removed prior to any welding operation. Joint preparations made by machining, grinding, laser or water jet cutting are usually acceptable. If other methods are used, e.g. arc gouging/cutting, the fusion faces shall be ground clean to remove oxides. Prior to welding, the fusion faces and the adjacent material, for a minimum of 25mm from the fusion faces, shall be free from moisture, scale, paint, grease, plastic foil or other foreign matter. 6.2 Assembling and alignment Weld joints shall be aligned and held in position by methods not damaging the material. Any tack weld that is to be incorporated in the final weld shall conform with the current welding quality requirements. The tack weld shall be made using a welding consumable of the same composition as of the final weld. Tack welds shall be positioned in such a way that they will be incorporated fully into the main welded joint or can be removed after welding has been completed. Temporary attachments used to assist fit up shall be compatible with the parent material and shall be removed without damaging the equipment. After removal of temporary attachments, the remnants of the welds shall be ground flush, polished and passivated. All permanent attachments to equipment should conform with the shape of the surface to which they are attached. 6.3 Gas protection When welding the austenitic stainless steel, it shall be done carefully and aimed to obtain the same corrosion resistance as the untreated parent material. For this reason the root of the weld shall be protected from oxidation/contamination by back purging with a suitable gas. Page 4/6

5. Cutting and forming

The material may be formed to the required shape by any process that will not impair the quality and the proportions of the material for its intended use. All burrs and ragged edges shall be removed prior to welding. Any cut edge that is left in the cut condition shall be dressed to remove sharp edges. Cold forming or bending of the material should be carried out by gradually applied pressure. Hammering of the material as a forming method should be absolutely avoided. The material thickness shall not be reduced by more than 10% of the original thickness during any general forming operation. For domed/dished ends, where a greater distortion is unavoidable, the minimum design thickness shall be maintained. Knuckle radii shall be free from kinks, ripples or dents. Minor forming marks on the non-contact side are acceptable. Deviations in the diameter of bend pipes/tubes shall not exceed 10% of the original diameter.

6. Welding
Welding personnel shall be adequately trained. The welding process, especially the heat input, shall be carefully controlled and appropriate welding methods, gas mixtures and filler materials shall be used.

1998-10-01

Stainless Steel - General Requirements

Niro A/S
Acceptable limit for oxygen content depends on the stainless steel type and the type of protection gas used. After welding the heat affected zone on the root side shall have a yellowbrown or lighter colour. The heat affected zone on the welding side shall have an even colour and must not be black. If the colour in the heat affected zone is darker than specified above, pickling shall be made without any extra costs to Niro, even if such pickling is not specified. For pipe welds etc., where surface treatment on the root side is not possible, it is very important to ensure adequate gas protection during welding. 6.4 Filler material Filler materials shall be compatible with the materials being welded. The quality of the weld metal shall at least correspond to the quality of the parent material. Recommendations from recognized suppliers of filler materials shall be obtained. Different filler materials shall be properly identified and stored. 6.5 Welding In general the welding quality of the equipment shall be in accordance with Niro Standard 1.4-, unless otherwise specified. Every effort shall be made to avoid stray arc strikes on the material surface. In case of stray arc strikes, these shall be dressed, polished and passivated. The equipment will be rejected in case plastic foil covering is burned into the parent material. The use of permanent backing bars or rings is not permitted but temporary backing bars or rings may be used. Reinforcements and other attachments, which are attached by intermediate fillet welds, shall be fixed by welding in the ends/corners of the reinforcements.

Standard 1.61
Where accessible, all welds and heat affected zones shall be cleaned prior to further surface treatment. i.e. all slag, flux residues, spatter etc. shall be removed.

7. Surface treatment
7.1 Grinding and polishing During grinding and polishing localised heat build-up and blueing of the material shall be avoided. Grinding and cutting dust from stainless steel, which is burned into the surface, will behave as ordinary carbon steel contamination. The chrome in the dust will disappear during heating, and the particles will, therefore, no longer be corrosionresistant. Reduction of material thickness during grinding and polishing shall not exceed 5% of the original material thickness. Local reduction of up to 10% of the plate thickness may be accepted 7.2 Chemical surface treatment A chemical surface treatment is used for optimizing the surface corrosion resistance. Carbon steel contamination may normally be removed by decontamination. It must not be expected that mechanical cleaning alone will remove the carbon steel contamination effectively as in many cases the carbon steel particles will be pressed into the stainless steel surface. Prior to any chemical surface treatment, the surface shall be thoroughly cleaned and degreased. Cutting lubricants, rests of glue and other grease deposits on the surface shall be removed. Passivation chemicals shall not be left on the material surface for a period exceeding that recommended by the manufacturer and all residues shall be completely removed using fresh, clean water.

1998-10-01

Stainless Steel - General Requirements

Page 5/6

Niro A/S 8. Inspection and testing

The supplier shall carry out adequate inspection during fabrication. Niro reserves the right at any time to check by means of the most appropriate test methods to ascertain that the equipment conforms to the specified requirements. Non-destructive testing shall be carried out in accordance with Niro Standard 1.5-, when required. All welds in light gauge plate on tanks, vessels, bins, etc., which are designed to contain liquid, shall be leak tested by the supplier, e.g. by penetrant, pneumatic leak testing or water filling to overflow. Only components which are designed to contain liquid may be filled with water.

Standard 1.61 9. Finished equipment

Finished equipment shall be properly cleaned. Plastic foil on internal surfaces of closed vessels, tanks etc. shall be removed. Plastic foil on external surfaces may remain on the component, except in cases where the equipment will be transported or stored in direct sunlight and/or extreme heat. The equipment shall preferably be stored indoor, but large constructions may be stored outdoor provided that they are properly protected.

1998-10-01

Stainless Steel - General Requirements

Page 6/6