Stainless steel produced in Brazil 1

[grayseal]

We are getting ready to change from 304 ss to 201 ss for the shell section (.074" thick) for tabletop autoclaves designed and produced to ASME Section VIII, Division 1. Information obtained from these forums has cautioned using material produced in places such as China and India due to poor quality. Therefore, I have requested our purchasing department to buy domestic only. They have informed me that they have a source in Brazil. Does anyone have experience with material from this country?

grayseal

 

[metengr]

No, but I would strongly suggest you or someone with a metallurgy/QA background from your company visit/audit the mill. I do this for material our contractors use in boiler pressure part fabrication.

 

[HotStab]

Brazilian steel users have the same restraints you exposed about steel produced in China and other Asian countries. Equipment, structure and pressure vessel manufacturers in Brazil companies are very confident in Brazilian metal industries and prefer internal produced material rather than cheaper options from Far East. However, there are in Brazil good and not so good metal industries, like every ever. If your application is a critical one or if it will involve a lot of steel I would follow the metengr´s advice no matter where the steel will come from.

 

[redpicker]

I also agree with metengr in that, regardless of where the mill is located, for a critical part, an audit is called for.

That being said, I have found some of the best quality low-alloy steels have come from Brasil. I know some of the mills down there do not use coal to produce metallurgical coke, but use charcoal made from wood, so sulfur levels are near zero. There ore sources are also naturally low in phosphorus, so they can end up with really clean steel. Of course, not all mills are the same, which is why you really should audit them if it is a critical part.

rp

 

[ibf]

I suggest you to contact the following steel mill plants in Brazil :

1. USIMINAS

2. ACESITA

Those are reliable SS producers.

 

[quark]

Now, I am puzzled with the generalised statement. During the course of my 12 years experience (in India), I commissioned and operated about 100 pharmaceutical autoclaves ranging from table top to 800 cu.ft chamber size. All are of SS 316L shell and 304 jacket. We had a porblem with one vertical autoclave due to improper safety valve sizing and that is all.

 

[grayseal]

Thanks for all the information and advice.

grayseal

 

[arunmrao]

grayseal,
Just a gentle reminder,the major steel plants in US are now owned by an Indian company Mittal,who started his career as a scrap merchant on the streets of Calcutta.

I agree with all the posts ,that you must perform due diligence before sourcing and not be biased,by what you read on the net,which at times could be misleading.

I hope the management of this site permits this transgression.

Chocolates,men,coffee: are somethings liked better rich!!
(noticed in a coffee shop)

 

[grayseal]

arunmrao,

Agreed. On a new project, I tend to take the more conservative approach.

grayseal