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Several areas of potential for stainless steel applications

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2022-08-12 09:18

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Vehicle/Automotive Industry: This is the fastest growing application area for stainless steel today. The use of high-strength stainless steel to manufacture the vehicle body structure can greatly reduce the weight of the vehicle and enhance the strength of the vehicle body structure. Using stainless steel as the panel and decorative parts of the vehicle can reduce maintenance costs. In addition, stainless steel is also used in automobile exhaust systems due to its advantages of resistance to chloride ion corrosion and heat resistance. Now, Japan, the United States, Sweden and other countries have used a large number of stainless steel vehicles. Japan began to promote it in the 1980s, and currently its stainless steel train vehicles have reached 60%. The car industry is the focus of development for stainless steel applications.
Water industry: The problem of water pollution during its storage and transportation has been paid more and more attention by people. A large number of practices have proved that stainless steel is the best material for the water industry such as water preparation, storage, transportation, purification, regeneration, and seawater desalination. Its advantages are: corrosion resistance, earthquake resistance, water saving, sanitation (no rust and copper green), light weight (1/3 reduction), less maintenance, long life (40 years of use), low life cycle cost (LCC) , It is a green and environmentally friendly material that can be recycled and reused. According to reports, at present, the stainless steel of the pipeline in Tokyo, Japan has reached 76%, and the leakage rate of the pipeline has dropped from the original 14.7% to the current 7.5%. Stainless steel water storage tanks are intact after a major earthquake in Osaka, Japan. Recently, Japan has developed corrugated pipe joints, which can reduce the construction cost of stainless steel water pipelines by 20%, the total cost by 3%, and the maintenance cost by 3/4.
Construction industry: It is one of the earliest fields of stainless steel application. In terms of architectural decoration, at present, stainless steel is mainly used in the cladding of exterior walls, interiors and exterior columns of high-rise buildings, as well as interior and exterior decorations and components such as handrails, floors, elevator siding, doors and windows, and curtain walls. The stainless steel plate with surface treatment, coloring and coating solves the problem of fingerprints after being touched, and further expands the application range of stainless steel. Japan has developed a variety of stainless steel roofing materials, such as high and medium chromium ferrite and various plated panels with better corrosion resistance. The super-clean brushed surface stainless steel plate developed in Sweden and the UGITOP surface plate developed by Ugine in France provide new options for the construction industry.
Home appliance industry: In the home appliance industry, the most used stainless steel is the inner tub of automatic washing machines, the inner tub of water heaters, the inner and outer shells of microwave ovens, and the lining of refrigerators, and ferritic stainless steel is mostly used. The proportion of stainless steel in household appliances in Western Europe is relatively large, and in Asia, except for Japan, which is close to the European level, it is generally used less. In 1999, the consumption of ferritic and martensitic stainless steels in Japan's home appliance industry reached 28%, and austenite accounted for 12%. Microwave ovens, refrigerators, air conditioners, TVs, etc. produced in my country are already competitive export products in the world, and the domestic home appliance industry is a potential big market for stainless steel applications. It is estimated that in the next 5-10 years, the demand for stainless steel in my country's home appliance industry will reach 100,000-150,000 tons.
Environmental protection industry: industrial waste gas, garbage and sewage treatment devices need to be made of stainless steel. In the flue gas desulfurization process, in order to resist the corrosion of sulfur dioxide, chloride ions, and iron ions, duplex stainless steel and high-grade austenitic stainless steel should be used in absorption towers, coolers, pumps, valves, flues, etc. Waste incinerators, wastewater treatment and other facilities need to be made of high-performance stainless steel.
Industrial facilities: The proportion of stainless steel used in industrial facilities in developed countries can generally reach 15%-20%, and the current domestic application ratio is still small. On the one hand, it is due to the introduction of complete sets of industrial equipment, and stainless steel materials have not been counted, and on the other hand, domestic materials have not yet been used. Chemical, petrochemical, chemical fiber, paper, food, medicine, energy (nuclear power, thermal power, fuel cells) and other fields all require stainless steel. In addition, the existing imported equipment has entered the maintenance period. With the improvement of the quality of domestic stainless steel products and the development of special grade products, the application of stainless steel in domestic industrial facilities will increase year by year in the future.

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