Sandvik Materials Technology has launched a hyper duplex stainless steel tube material which is designed to improve umbilical performance in increasingly demanding subsea environments. Sandvik SAF 3207 HD is designed specifically for deepwater, high temperature, and extreme pressure applications. It provides a tensile strength of 980 to 1180MPa and a maximum operating temperature of up to 90C. This compares with a tensile strength of 800-1100MPa and maximum water temperature rating of 65C for the company’s standard super-duplex grade SAF 2507. SAF 2507 can be deployed in water depths greater than 2000m. However, as the pressure at the seabed increases with depth, the wall thickness of the tube eventually becomes so great that it can become uneconomical to purchase all the material required.
