In the world of chemical processing, Titanium Piping Systems have been found to be very cost-effective methods of resisting damaging corrosion in the process line. The following information is provided as background on Titanium, the alloy’s characteristics, strengths and how consideration of Titanium Pipe could be the key to corrosion avoidance in your application.

Life Cycle Benefits of Titanium Piping

Salts, acids and other seriously corrosive chemicals are severely damaging to lesser materials than Titanium. These corrosives can rapidly cause the equipment to decline and fail. This leads to equipment repair or requires unit replacement, and consequentially expensive and highly disruptive process stoppage.

While initial purchase cost is higher than some other materials (graphite, ceramic, PTFE or glass), Titanium Piping System will be highly cost effective over the equipment life cycle. Properly maintained, TITAN’s Titanium Piping systems can operate for decades, making Titanium a very economical choice.

Titanium Pipe can:

  • Provide many years of economical service life
  • Eliminate expensive production interruption due to equipment failure
  • Provide superior corrosion resistance
  • Deliver high heat transfer efficiency
  • Accommodate high steam pressure
  • Remove possibilities of process fluid leaks with fully-welded metal construction

Titanium the Metal

Titanium is one of several metals which fall into the category of Reactive Metals or Corrosion Resistant Alloys (CRAs). Reducing or oxidizing environments, with or without chlorides, and temperatures up to 1200ºF, are all possible with this group of exceptional materials. In addition to high resistance to uniform corrosion attack, CRAs can be very resilient to pitting, crevice and stress corrosion.

Titanium is often selected as a material of construction for process equipment in chemical, petrochemical, oil & gas and other industrial manufacturing environments. In these processes, aggressive fluids, often at very high temperature, come into contact with equipment surfaces, testing the strength and corrosion resistance of the material.

Considered the workhorse of the reactive metals, Titanium is readily available and is goes into corrosion resistant fabrication more often than all the other reactive metals combined.

Titanium Piping Designs

Titanium Piping Systems are one of TITAN’s most fabricated products. Many different types of piping systems are produced for use across multiple chemical process applications.

 Designs and accessories to Titanium Pipe include:

  • Solid wall
  • Large diameter
  • Explosive clad
  • Individual straight
  • Elbows or Tee fittings
  • Flanges and gaskets
  • Spooled sections
  • ID polishing
  • Jacketed for heat transfer
  • Dual containment designs

Weld end connections with final field welding can also be supplied.

Manufacturing capacities include widths up to 120″ diameter, 300’ in length and weights up to 200 tons.

Piping larger than 8″ diameter is normally supplied as rolled and welded cylinders meeting the requirements of ASME Code, Section 8, Division I.

TITAN manufactures pressure equipment in accordance with all major international design standards and pressure vessel codes.

Using both HTRI and AspenTech thermal design software, we design and custom build many different styles of Titanium.

Titanium Corrosion Resistance

A Titanium Piping System is very often specified for highly-corrosive industrial applications and frequently specified in processes where chlorides are a component.

Titanium Piping Systems are very well suited to service applications including:

  • Alkaline Media
  • Inorganic Salt Solutions
  • Organic Chemicals
  • Organic Acids
  • Oxygen
  • Hydrogen
  • Sulfur Dioxide
  • Hydrogen Sulfide
  • Liquid Metals Chlorine Chemicals
  • Hydrochloric Acid
  • Phosphoric Acid
  • Sea Water
  • Sulfuric Acid
  • Nitric Acid
  • Anodizing and Oxidation Treatments

TITAN’s Titanium Piping Systems are used in a wide variety of oxidizing and reducing environments. The following are some of the environments in which Titanium is fully resistant.* To view a list of materials where Titanium is commonly used, please visit Applications of Titanium.

For a general guide on corrosion resistance, temperatures and concentrations please see TITAN’s publication “Corrosion Resistance of Metals in Various Chemical Media” for additional information.*

*Please Note: Final selection of material must be based on actual evaluation of the metal in the corrosive medium under study.

 

Back to Pipe / Piping Systems

Visit TITAN’s Image Gallery for Pipe / Piping System