Experiences with a highly alloyed stainless steel in desalination plants and other Arabian Gulf industrial plants

Abstract The experiences from installations of the highly alloyed stainless steel UNS S31254 in desalination plants, MSF and RO, and other industrial plants in the Arabian Gulf countries are reported. More than seven years of successful operation has shown that this material resists corrosion in seawater handling systems such as high pressure piping in RO-plants, ejector condensers in MFS-plants, and cooling water piping in other industrial plants. The higher strength of UNS S31254 in comparison to AISI 316L enables a considerable reduction in wall thickness of high pressure piping in e g RO-plants.