- The material selection of pipeline heaters directly affects their service life, heating efficiency, and safety, and needs to be comprehensively judged based on core factors such as the characteristics of the working medium, temperature, pressure, and corrosiveness.
1、 Core factors affecting material selection
Characteristics of working medium:
Whether the medium is corrosive (such as acid-base solutions, seawater, chemical waste liquids, etc.);
Whether the medium contains impurities (such as particles, sediment, etc., which may cause wear);
Whether the medium is food grade or pharmaceutical grade (must meet the requirements of cleanliness and no precipitation).
Working temperature:
The high temperature resistance performance of different materials varies significantly at room temperature (≤ 100 ℃), medium temperature (100-600 ℃), and high temperature (>600 ℃).
working pressure:
Low pressure (≤ 1MPa), medium pressure (1-10MPa), high pressure (>10MPa), the material must meet the mechanical strength requirements under the corresponding pressure.
2、 Common materials and applicable scenarios
Stainless steel (most commonly used)
Divided into models such as 304, 316, 310S, etc., the corrosion resistance and high temperature resistance are enhanced in sequence:
304 stainless steel: resistant to general corrosion (such as water, air, weak acid and alkali), moderate cost, suitable for heating tap water, ordinary industrial water, compressed air, etc., working temperature ≤ 600 ℃, pressure ≤ 10MPa.
316 stainless steel: containing molybdenum element, with better corrosion resistance than 304, can withstand seawater, low salt solutions, dilute sulfuric acid, etc., suitable for marine environment, chemical mild corrosive media, temperature ≤ 800 ℃.
310S stainless steel: high temperature resistance (≤ 1200 ℃), strong oxidation resistance, suitable for heating scenarios such as high-temperature flue gas and molten salt, but slightly inferior corrosion resistance to 316.
Carbon steel
Low cost, high mechanical strength (can withstand pressure>20MPa), but prone to rusting (requires anti rust paint or galvanizing protection), only suitable for non corrosive, room temperature/medium temperature (≤ 300 ℃) media, such as heating engine oil and ordinary industrial gases.
3、 Selection steps and case references
1. Clarify core requirements:
First determine the medium (corrosiveness/cleanliness), temperature (room temperature/high temperature), pressure (high pressure/low pressure?), and then match the material properties.
2. Typical scenario examples:
Heating tap water/ordinary industrial water: 304 stainless steel (balancing cost and corrosion resistance);
Heating seawater/low salt wastewater: 316 stainless steel (resistant to chloride ion corrosion);
Heating concentrated hydrochloric acid/strong alkali solution: titanium alloy or Hastelloy alloy (with strong corrosion resistance requirements);
Food grade hot water heating: 316 stainless steel (clean+corrosion-resistant);
High temperature flue gas heating (800 ℃): 310S stainless steel (resistant to high temperature oxidation)
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Post time: Aug-18-2025
