Equipment Design Report No.

MATERIALS SELECTION AND FABRICATION

Submitted by:

ARFEL MARIE R. FUENTES

BSChE – 5

Submitted to:

HERCULES R. CASCON, Ph.D.

ChE 61 A Instructor

Date Submitted:
July 24, 2019
I. Introduction

For materials selection and fabrication, certain factors are needed to be considered.
These include mechanical properties; the effect of high and low temperatures on the
mechanical properties; corrosion resistance; special properties such as thermal conductivity,
electrical resistance and magnetic properties; ease of fabrication like forming, welding, etc.;
availability in standard sizes i.e. plates, sections and tubes; and lastly the cost. [1] As for this
equipment design report, its main focus is on the corrosion rate, the cost of materials and its
selection considering the effect of the reaction conditions.
Corrosion is the deterioration most specifically of metals, which can be categorized
into uniform, galvanic, intergranular, stress and erosion corrosion, pitting, corrosion fatigue,
high temperature oxidation and hydrogen embrittlement. To determine the speed of
deterioration of metals is called the corrosion rate. Corrosion rates can be expressed in inches
per year or mills per year.
Cost is also an important factor when considering materials selection. There are
several materials used for designing equipment, some are cheap like of Carbon steel and
there are those which are expensive. The relative cost of equipment made from different
materials will depend on the cost of fabrication, as well as the basic cost of the material.
Chemical reactions also contribute to corrosion. Hydrogen embrittlement is the loss of
ductility caused by the reaction of hydrogen in a metal. In order to combat this type of
corrosion, alloy steels have greater resistance than plain carbon steels.

II. Equipment Design Problems

Problem 7.1
A pipeline constructed of carbon steel failed after 3 years of operation. On examination
it was found that the wall thickness had been reduced by corrosion to about half the original
value. The pipeline was constructed of nominal 100 mm (4 in) schedule 40, inside diameter
102.3 mm (4.026 in), outside diameter 114.3 mm (4.5 in). Estimate the rate of corrosion in ipy
(inches per year) and mm per year.

Problem 7.2
The pipeline described in Question 7.1 was used to carry wastewater to a hold-up tank.
The effluent is not hazardous. A decision has to be made on what material to use to replace
the pipe. Three suggestions have been made:
1. Replace with the same schedule carbon steel pipe and accept renewal at 3-year
intervals.
2. Replace with a thicker pipe, schedule 80, outside diameter 114.3 mm (4.5 in), inside
diameter 97.2 mm (3.826 in).
3. Use stainless steel pipe, which will not corrode.

The estimated cost of the pipes, per unit length is: schedule 40 carbon steel £3 ($5), schedule
80 carbon steel £5 ($8.3), stainless steel (304) schedule 40 £15 ($24.8). Installation and
fittings for all the materials adds £10 ($16.5) per unit length. The downtime required to replace
the pipe does not result in a loss of production. If the expected future life of the plant is 7 years,
recommend which pipe to use.

Problem 7.5

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Design Report No.1 Materials Selection and Fabrication Arfel Marie R. Fuentes ChE 61 A
 Aniline is manufactured by the hydrogenation of nitrobenzene in a fluidized bed
reactor. The reactor operates at 250 °C and 20 bar. The reactor vessel is approximately 3 m
diameter and 9 m high. Suggest suitable materials of construction for this reactor.

II.1
Given:
Carbon Steel schedule 40 nominal size 4 inches pipe
Let: Inside diameter, ID = 102.3 mm (4.026 in)
Outside diameter, OD = 114.3 mm (4.5 in)
Time = 3 years
𝑡𝑖 = initial thickness of pipe
𝑡𝑎 = actual thickness of pipe after 3 years

Required: 𝐶𝑅 = Corrosion rate in ipy and mm/yr

Solution:
After 3 years

ID=102.3 mm OD=114.3 mm

In solving for the initial thickness, OD is subtracted to ID and is divided to 2. It was

stated in the problem that after 3 years of operation, the actual thickness of the pipe is reduced
to half of its original value. Thus, dividing the value of the obtained initial thickness by 2, the
actual thickness is computed.

𝑂𝐷 − 𝐼𝐷 114.3 𝑚𝑚 − 102.3 𝑚𝑚
𝑡𝑖 = = = 6 𝑚𝑚
2 2
1 1
𝑡𝑎 = 𝑡𝑖 = 6 𝑚𝑚 = 3 𝑚𝑚
2 2
As for the corrosion rate, the equation below is used.
𝑡𝑖− 𝑡𝑎
𝐶𝑜𝑟𝑟𝑜𝑠𝑖𝑜𝑛 𝑅𝑎𝑡𝑒, 𝐶𝑅 =
𝑡𝑖𝑚𝑒 𝑖𝑛 𝑦𝑒𝑎𝑟𝑠
[2]
6 𝑚𝑚 − 3 𝑚𝑚
𝐶𝑅 = = 𝟏. 𝟎 𝒎𝒎 𝒑𝒆𝒓 𝒚𝒆𝒂𝒓
3 𝑦𝑒𝑎𝑟𝑠
For the values in inches:

𝑂𝐷 − 𝐼𝐷 4.5 𝑖𝑛 − 4.026 𝑖𝑛
𝑡𝑖 = = = 0.237 𝑖𝑛
2 2
1 1
𝑡𝑎 = 𝑡𝑖 = 0.237 𝑖𝑛 = 0.1185 𝑖𝑛
2 2

0.237 𝑖𝑛 − 0.1185 𝑖𝑛
𝐶𝑅 = = 𝟎. 𝟎𝟑𝟗𝟓 𝒊𝒑𝒚
3 𝑦𝑒𝑎𝑟𝑠

The corrosion rates of the carbon steel after 3 years of operation is 1 mm per
year and 0.0395 ipy.

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Design Report No.1 Materials Selection and Fabrication Arfel Marie R. Fuentes ChE 61 A
II.2
Given: Carbon steel pipe in problem 7-1 used to carry wastewater in a hold-up tank
Expected future life of plant, Time = 7 years
Cost of installation and fittings per unit length = £10 ($16.5)

Type of Pipe Estimated Cost of Pipe per unit length

Carbon steel (Sch 40) £3 ($5)
Carbon steel (Sch 80) OD = 114.3 mm (4.5 £5 ($8.3)
in) ; ID = 97.2 mm (3.826 in)
Stainless steel pipe £15 ($24.8)

Required: Recommend which pipe to use considering the expected future life of the
plant is 7 years
Solution:
In problem 7-1 a pipeline which is made of Carbon steel was corroded after
three years of operation and there were three suggestions being provided on the type of pipe
to be used to replace the corroded pipe considering that the plant is expected to last for 7
years. For the first suggestion, if Carbon steel pipe with the same dimensions as provided in
the previous problem will be used to replace the corroded pipe with a renewal at 3-year
interval. So for this type of pipe, a total of three renewals will occur. Thus,
𝐶𝑜𝑠𝑡 𝑖𝑛 £ = (𝐶𝑜𝑠𝑡 𝑜𝑓 𝑝𝑖𝑝𝑒 + 𝑐𝑜𝑠𝑡 𝑜𝑓 𝑖𝑛𝑠𝑡𝑎𝑙𝑙𝑎𝑡𝑖𝑜𝑛 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝑓𝑖𝑡𝑡𝑖𝑛𝑔𝑠) 𝑥 (𝑛𝑜. 𝑜𝑓 𝑟𝑒𝑛𝑒𝑤𝑎𝑙)
𝐶𝑜𝑠𝑡 𝑖𝑛 £ = (£3 + £10) 𝑥 (3 𝑡𝑖𝑚𝑒𝑠)
𝑪𝒐𝒔𝒕 𝒊𝒏 £ = £𝟑𝟗

Second suggestion is Carbon steel schedule 80 with OD = 114.3 mm (4.5 in);

ID = 97.2 mm (3.826 in). If this pipe will be used to replace the corroded pipe, the
corrosion rate will be assumed to be the same to that of the corroded pipe, which is
1mm per year (0.0395 ipy). To solve for the initial thickness of the pipe,

𝑂𝐷 − 𝐼𝐷 114.3 𝑚𝑚 − 97.2 𝑚𝑚
𝑡𝑖 = = = 8.55 𝑚𝑚
2 2

With this value for the initial thickness of the Carbon steel pipe sch 80 and the
corrosion rate from the previous problem, the time in years before the sch 80 pipe will
corrode can be calculated.
𝑡𝑖− 𝑡𝑐
𝐶𝑅 =
𝑇𝑖𝑚𝑒 𝑖𝑛 𝑦𝑒𝑎𝑟𝑠
𝑚𝑚 8.55 𝑚𝑚 − 3 𝑚𝑚
1 =
𝑦𝑒𝑎𝑟 𝑇𝑖𝑚𝑒 𝑖𝑛 𝑦𝑒𝑎𝑟𝑠
𝑇𝑖𝑚𝑒 𝑖𝑛 𝑦𝑒𝑎𝑟𝑠 = 5.55 𝑦𝑒𝑎𝑟𝑠
The value 3 mm is the critical thickness of the pipe from problem 7-1, which
was affected by corrosion in the span of 3 years. With the obtained time of 5.55 years,
it means that there are only 2 renewals needed for this type of pipe. Therefore,
𝐶𝑜𝑠𝑡 𝑖𝑛 £ = (𝐶𝑜𝑠𝑡 𝑜𝑓 𝑝𝑖𝑝𝑒 + 𝑐𝑜𝑠𝑡 𝑜𝑓 𝑖𝑛𝑠𝑡𝑎𝑙𝑙𝑎𝑡𝑖𝑜𝑛 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝑓𝑖𝑡𝑡𝑖𝑛𝑔𝑠) 𝑥 (𝑛𝑜. 𝑜𝑓 𝑟𝑒𝑛𝑒𝑤𝑎𝑙)
𝐶𝑜𝑠𝑡 𝑖𝑛 £ = (£5 + £10) 𝑥 (2 𝑡𝑖𝑚𝑒𝑠)
𝑪𝒐𝒔𝒕 𝒊𝒏 £ = £𝟑𝟎
As for the third suggestion, since the stainless pipe will not corrode, only one
renewal will be needed. That’s why the cost will be,
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Design Report No.1 Materials Selection and Fabrication Arfel Marie R. Fuentes ChE 61 A
 𝐶𝑜𝑠𝑡 𝑖𝑛 £ = (𝐶𝑜𝑠𝑡 𝑜𝑓 𝑝𝑖𝑝𝑒 + 𝑐𝑜𝑠𝑡 𝑜𝑓 𝑖𝑛𝑠𝑡𝑎𝑙𝑙𝑎𝑡𝑖𝑜𝑛 𝑎𝑛𝑑 𝑓𝑖𝑡𝑡𝑖𝑛𝑔𝑠) 𝑥 (𝑛𝑜. 𝑜𝑓 𝑟𝑒𝑛𝑒𝑤𝑎𝑙)
𝐶𝑜𝑠𝑡 𝑖𝑛 £ = (£15 + £10) 𝑥 (1 𝑡𝑖𝑚𝑒)
𝑪𝒐𝒔𝒕 𝒊𝒏 £ = £𝟐𝟓
Among the three suggestions provided, the type of pipe which can replace the
corroded pipe is the stainless steel pipe because it has the cheapest cost and is the
most economical knowing that the plant will only last for 7 years. So, it would be unwise
and disadvantageous if Carbon steel pipe sch 40 and/or sch 80 is used, which are
expensive compared to stainless steel.

II.5
Given: Fluidized Bed Reactor operating at:
Temperature = 250 °C and Pressure = 20 bar
Diameter = 3 m Height = 9 m
Required: Suggest suitable materials of construction for this reactor
Solution:
Aniline is formed through hydrogenation of nitrobenzene and for this reaction,
there is a possibility that a loss of ductility might happen causing for a hydrogen
embrittlement because of high concentration of hydrogen employed in the reaction.
With high temperature and pressure amounting to 250 °C and 20 bar respectively, from
Table 10.8 stainless steel is one of the acceptable materials for aniline because of its
superiority compared to carbon steels and also if costs are being considered.

III. Concluding Remarks

With these three problems, corrosion rates and cost prove to be two of the most
important factors when selecting for materials of construction.

IV. References

[1] Sinnot, R.K et. al. Chemical Engineering Design 4th Edition. 2005. pp 287.

[2] Agyenin-Boateng, Alexander, Dagadu, C.P.K., Tikwa, Albert, Awuvey, Daniel,

Amoakohene, Emmanuel, Kwaasi, Edward. 2014. “DETERMINATION OF
CORROSION RATE AND REMAINING LIFE OF PRESSURE VESSEL
USING ULTRASONIC THICKNESS TESTING TECHNIQUE.” Journal of
Engineering, Design, and Technology. G.J. E.D.T., Vol.3(2):43-50.

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Design Report No.1 Materials Selection and Fabrication Arfel Marie R. Fuentes ChE 61 A