Nickel is a base element that is found in most of the metal alloys, sometimes in very small amounts. A small amount of nickel is also present in stainless steel which improves the resistance to corrosion and oxidation. When nickel combines with chromium metal it adds more strength and durability.
Copper is the most notable metals in common use. It is soft and ductile metal with high electrical and thermal conductivity. To take advantage of both the metal elements, cupronickel alloy forms. This alloy is also called as Copper-Nickel Alloy.
In this alloy of copper which contains nickel as base element and addition of iron and manganese as strengthening elements. The nickel content typically varies from 10 to 40 percent. Cupronickel is silver in color although it contains a higher percentage of copper. Depending on the percentage of copper and nickel present in alloy this alloy has various names that probably you heard of.
Cupronickel 90-10 Pipes and Cupronickel 70-30 Pipes are most widely used in industries. It is a single phase alloy throughout the full range of compositions. Cupronickel alloys have a variety of products such as pipes, tubes, bars, rods and many more. Having high resistance to corrosion cupronickel alloys broadly use in the piping system.
Cupronickel Pipes Applications
Cupronickel alloys possess excellent corrosion resistance that why these alloys are widely used in seawater systems as well as for marine hardware. Alloy cupronickel has a variety of applications that are listed below.
- Pipelines for handling seawater
- Condensers and Heat Exchangers
- Desalination Plant
- Multistage Flash distillation plants
- Power Generation
- Seawater Intakes
- Offshore Structures
- Fish Farming
- Hydraulic Brakes & Tubing for Vehicles
- Gas Pipelines
Cupronickel Pipes Uses
Let discussed how cupronickel pipes are used in various applications equipment.
Condensers and Heat Exchangers
A heat exchanger consists of a set of tubes mounted between tube plates with the whole assembly fitted into a shell that has entry and exit of gas or liquid to be heated and cooled. However, the tubes are internally cooled by oil or water. The materials from which heat exchangers are constructed vary according to the service conditions expected. If seawater cooling is used then cupronickel alloys pipes are most suitable for the most critical components.
Materials that use in condenser and heat exchanger piping & tubing should have the following properties:
- Resistance to erosion and impingement attack in flowing seawater
- Resistance to pitting in static seawater
- Resistance to stress corrosion
- Ease of production
- Good thermal conductivity
- Life-Long reliability and cost-effectiveness
Many cupronickel alloys meet the above criteria and broadly use in condenser and heat exchangers applications.
Other Usage
Desalination Plant: The simple desalination process is used to produce pure water from salt water or use in a waste heat recovery system. The piping used in this system has seawater or wastewater that contains corrosion products and damage the piping to avoid this most of desalination plant use Cupronickel pipes.
Seawater Intakes: In today’s world seawater is frequently required in large quantities to cooling purposes. One of the problems associated with this system has a marine or land-based installation which corrodes the system as go along. To avoid these many problems seawater intake systems use cupronickel pipes.
Sunflex Metal is one of the largest domestic and international cupronickel pipe suppliers. Including Cupronickel 90/10 Pipes, Cupronickel 70/30 Pipes, etc. meets ASTM, ASME, ANSI and API standards. Learn more about Cupro Nickel pipes for your next project.
If you have any queries, feel free to contact us.