STAINLESS STEEL ROLE & IMPORTANCE IN ENERGY & HEAVY INDUSTRIES

Technology has evolved to an extent of bringing the mystery & history of cosmos to our drawing room via TV set. Our lives are incomplete without the presence of smart phones, tablets & personal computers which help us stay connected with the whole world. Even a marginal farmer or a fisherman is made aware of weather conditions depending on information collection prowess of satellites. Today we can conclude quite confidently that we stay in a ‘Global village’.

Welded stainless steel is manufactured as a part of technological growth & has enormous benefits in nuclear power generation & heavy industries. All industries are interdependent and growth of one sector is not only beneficial for its own sector , employees or human society as a whole but spreads its wings further & cater to other industrial development. Venus wires, largest manufacturer of steel wire rope in US has opened up its unit in Khopoli, Maharastra & went on to become the largest steel manufacturer of India which being a developing nation has huge demand of technological produce to address its growing requirement. Situated 40Kms from Nhava Shiva & 80 kms from Mumbai airport, the unit has a enormous position advantage over others in terms of logistics.

Our stainless steel products are used in transmission lines, nuclear reactors, desulphurization scrubbers and heat exchangers. Post-Fukushima industry is looking for ways & means to make all processes & experiments safer & various grades of steel are being mapped for the same purpose. The significant usage of stainless steel is found in reactors. Austenitic stainless steel is used to construct pipes & other similar vessels needed for the process. The various components of reactors are as follows.

Fuel & coolants: To fuel the plant, uranium oxide balls are used. They are stored inside tubes made up of a specified grade of stainless steel & coolants circulate consistently around the tubes to prevent overheating.

Pressure Tubes: These are made up of steel to contain the moderator or coolant. Plant sizes are directly proportional to the size of the tubes.

Steam Generators: Reactors produces heat which is converted to steam by a pressurized coolant & the steam runs the turbines. Reactors are associated with more than one steam generator.

Moderators: The moderator is either water or graphite present in the reactor’s core & slows down the fission produced neutrons.

Rods: These are manufactured with steel to control nuclear reactions. These rods contain baron, cadmium or hafnium with an effective capacity of absorbing neutrons effectively.

Containment vessels: Largest stainless steel vessel that protects reactor from outward disturbances is called containment vessels. Their high quality steel protects the human from radiation.

Lean duplex stainless steel grade combine low nickel content with high mechanical strength. This high strength stainless steel makes sure we get cost effective solutions to certain applications ranging from ocean power technology to offshore windmill farms. Austenites, super alloys & new steel classes are various grade steel having different specification suited for various needs & demands of a wide range of industries.