Featured Story

Our Featured Story archive is a collection of the Featured Story’s which have been published in our magazine and taken pride of place as the ‘unique feature article’ on our Stainless Steel World home page. In addition to industry updates, market news and topical issues of the day the Feature Story provides an interesting mix of company profiles, in-depth technical articles, reports from major end users and features projects in a variety of industries ranging from oil & gas, chemical and petrochemical to the architecture, power generation, medical and food and beverage industries.

The inspection line at NAS TOA’s plant in Thailand.

A wealth of experience in manufacturing at Nas Toa

The company Nas Toa Co. Ltd., a member of the Nippon Yakin Kogyo group, has considerable experience in the manufacture of welded stainless steel and high-performance alloyed pipes and tubes. Here they share some of the technical knowledge they have gained in perfecting these products.
Mesa type corrosion

Experience from the field…

Since 1998 leaks have repeatedly been detected in 304L stainless steel bellows in a ‘contaminated’ process steam system at one of the chemical plants on the Chemelot Site. Investigations revealed that while the outside of the bellows were corrosion-free the inside exhibited severe corrosion. The challenge: to determine whether the corrosion was due to design of the bellow or the operating conditions.
piping in the process industry

Metallurgical selection for piping in the process industry

Many industrial accepted standards for pressure design address all aspects of piping design for chemical plants and refineries; none discuss all of the considerations for metallurgical selection. These code standards do list materials that are acceptable for use in chemical plants and refineries.This paper discusses some but not all of the resources that a designer can reference in properly selecting materials for an application.
Brewery with the hill of Vézelay in the background

Burgundian beer: Brasserie de Vézelay

The Burgundy in France is better known for its wine than for its beer. The slopes leading up to the medieval hilltop city of Vézelay are clad with vines, and the area provides many opportunities for wine-tasting. However, there is plenty of room for brewers offering pure organic beer, which is why Marc Neyret set up his Brasserie de Vézelay in the village of Saint Père, near Vézelay.
Text & photos courtesy of Washington State Department of Transportation and University of Nevada

New ‘smart-metal’ for earthquake-resistant structures

Super-elastic alloys and bendable concrete composites have been used for a first-in-the-world application in downtown Seattle, USA.
Construction work on the Carlsbad desalination plant

Sea change: as costs subside, the world relies more on desalination to quench its...

In the last few years the world has been increasingly relying on desalination for its drinking and industrial water. The stick is the danger that any already critical water shortage caused by drought and global warming will get worse. The carrot is the provision of more water in parched areas thanks to significant progress towards making desalination more cost-effective and environmentally friendly.
welder at work

Weld purging for tubes and pipes

High quality welds in pipes and tubes can only be assured if the weld underbead is protected from oxidation. The various techniques available through which protection can be given are referred to as purging.
st louis arch

Stainless icons: St Louis Arch

In 1947 Eero Saarinen, the Finnish-American architect, won $22,500 for submitting a design for a monument to honor Lewis and Clark. The famous explorers passed through St. Louis in 1806 after a three-year expedition that explored Thomas Jefferson’s purchase of Louisiana from Spain. Saarinen said he wanted to “build an arch that would stand for a thousand years”.
urea plant

Stainless steels in high pressure synthesis sections of urea plants

In order to achieve an acceptable lifetime in High Pressure (HP) Urea Equipment, one must select materials – such as special stainless steel grades - to resist carbamate corrosion. The process conditions are highly corrosive and the corrosion mechanisms are complex. The development of suitable alloys has concentrated on refining existing grades by continuous improvement.
furnace image

Who was Bill Krivsky?

You may not be familiar with the name of William A. Krivsky (1927-2006), however he should be among those emblazoned in the Stainless Steel Hall of Fame. The following story tells why.