There are millions of kilometers of pipelines used for the transmission of domestic drinking water. These potable pipelines must offer corrosion resistance to the water itself, soil corrosion, and treatment chemicals in order to provide both a long service life and hygienic delivery of drinking quality water. Stainless steel pipe has been used for many years in both hot and cold domestic water systems, and is most commonly used in commercial and industrial work. Stainless steel pipe is recognized by many national and international drinking water agencies as an acceptable material.
In particular, the thin wall stainless steel pipe with thickness 0.6-1.2mm has the characteristics of safety, reliability, sanitation, environmental protection and economical application in high quality drinking water system, hot water system and other water supply systems. Stainless steel pipe has been proved by worldwide engineering practice that it is one of the best comprehensive, new type, energy conservation and environmental pipes for water supply system. Stainless steel piping is also a very competitive pipe for water supply, which will play an unparalleled role in improving water quality and improving people’s living standard.
When using stainless steel pipe for domestic water systems, it is the contractor’s responsibility to determine if the provided pipe is approved for drinking water applications. There are many different grades of stainless steel tubes, and they all contain a varying percentage of chromium, molybdenum and nickel.
Stainless steel grades for water pipe
The most common “family” of stainless steel is austenitic, which includes the stainless steel pipes made to the specifications of ASTM A312 in Types 304/304L and 316/316L. These materials are almost always the stainless steel option for domestic water systems. Types 304/304L are for general corrosion applications and Types 316/316L have a higher corrosion resistance to chlorides and may be desired based upon the chemical composition of the water supply. The “L” designation means that the stainless steel contains less than 0.03% carbon. This is beneficial if the pipe needs to be welded.
Advantages of stainless steel water pipe
Excellent corrosion resistance and durability – Stainless steel water pipe can withstand up to 30 m/s high speed water erosion, at -270 C to 400 C temperature, long-term safety, whether it is high or low temperature, so has more than 100 years of service life.
Good strength and ductility – stainless steel particularly the duplex materials, have higher mechanical properties when compared to carbon steel and cast iron pipes. The better ductility may also be important in terms of security, e.g. in the case of an earthquake.
Recyclable – stainless steel water tubing are 100% recyclable and a part of their initial cost may be recoverable when they are recycled.
Wide application range – Stainless steel water pipes can be used for various occasions, such as municipal water supply pipe network, pipeline direct drinking water, hot water transportation, medium and high grade building water supply, heating hot water pipe, steam pipe, outdoor high speed in the cold area, urban fire water supply, pump house, etc..
Post time: May-06-2022