Nippon Steel & Sumikin Stainless Steel Corporation’s NSSC®2120 has been chosen for the construction of two domestic tankers for the first time in Japan by Sasaki Shipbuilding Co., Ltd. and Hakata Shipbuilding Co., Ltd.
In recent years, duplex stainless steels (ASTM A240M S31803, S32205) are increasingly being used for the construction of chemical tankers around the world. Only now in Japan, duplex stainless steels will be used for chemical tankers.
The NSSC®2120 (21Cr-2Ni-N, ASTM A240M S82122), which was given process approval by ClassNK (Nippon Kaiji Kyokai) in November 2011, reduces material cost due to its high-strength design, cutting back on steel use while providing greater corrosion resistance. NSSC®2120 is highly recommendable as a substitute for SUS304 which is currently being used for tankers.
Having excellent characteristics, NSSC®2120 is expected to be used in more areas of application in the future, such as large and medium-sized chemical tankers and product tankers, ship equipment and more. Other expanding areas of application include: seawater desalination plants and civil engineering and construction (Registration No. QS-120093-A under the New Technology Information System of the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism).
Main features of NSSC2120 include strength (0.2% proof stress) nearly twice that of SUS304, low levels of Ni and Mo (2%Ni is 1/4 of SUS304), and loading capacity for chemical cargo is equal to SUS304. It has pitting corrosion-resistance to seawater, other chlorides, sulfuric and other acids, has good weldability and is usable for wide-width cladding.
