Stainless steel has become an essential part of modern life from the smallest fork on the plate to the tallest skyscraper. The durability of stainless steel, 100% recyclability, tolerance to rust, structural performance, low maintenance makes it the best material for all types of applications. There are over 150 grades of stainless steel, only 15 of which are widely used in everyday applications.
Uses of Stainless Steel
Food and Catering
Stainless steel is widely regarded as kitchen accessories, cutlery, and cooking utensils. The presence of stainless steel is essential from knife blades with sharp edges to molded shapes such as cookers, grills, sinks, and saucepans. It is also used in refrigerators, countertops, and dishwashers as a coating.
Offshore Technology
Stainless steel is mainly used in the pipework in offshore technology. For marine water systems, they are used for transporting hydrocarbons, petrochemicals, etc. Due to their resistance to the corrosive effects of seawater, they are often the best choice for offshore systems.
Seawater Desalination Plants
The high mechanical properties of stainless steel make it an essential material for reverse osmosis units of seawater (SWRO).
Chemical Industry
Chemical plants have an extremely harsh climate which reveals materials and facilities. Stainless steel is the best solution for resisting the elements of corrosion.
Bridges
As these steels are typically twice as strong as ferritic alloys, duplex stainless steels, a recent family of stainless steel alloys, are becoming increasingly popular in bridges and other engineering structures. More product is required because of their increased strength, making it more cost-effective and weight-efficient.
Storage Tanks
Stainless steel tanks are used regularly to hold corrosive substances like chemicals, gases, and many other bulk materials, including food and water. It does not add to food and water any flavor or smell, which is another advantage.
Medical Industry
The surgeon gets some important qualities for his / her materials by alloying stainless steel with Chromium, Nickel, and Molybdenum.
- Chromium- Increases scratch and corrosion resistance of equipment- essential for cleansing and sterilizing.
- Nickel- provides a smooth, polishable surface – much needed for machine precision.
- Molybdenum- provides hardness after forming; thus used in cutting edges like scalpels.
Civil Engineering
Stainless steel provides identical ideal metal characteristics but removes weaknesses such as oxidation.
Power Plants
A power plant needs materials that can withstand high temperatures and extreme pressure. Therefore, in heat exchangers, reactor reservoirs, tension pipes, transformer enclosures and more, stainless steel is an obvious choice.
Shipbuilding Industry
For the building of container vessels, duplex stainless steel is used while the austenitic standard is used for inland marine tankers. In shipbuilding, duplex stainless steel is increasingly being used due to its mechanical efficiency.