Special Alloys Boost the Performance of Swagelok Parts

Swagelok tubing and fittings come in more than just basic stainless steel 

Swagelok components come in a wider variety of materials than some people might realize. That's probably because the company is rightly known for its high quality stainless steel. But sometimes the demands of a particular job call for something extra. For that, Swagelok offers a dozen special alloys. These alloys include:

• Monel 400, a nickel-copper alloy. It offers exceptional resistance to hydrofluoric acid to stress corrosion cracking and pitting in most fresh and industrial waters.
• Inconel 600, a nickel-chromium-iron alloy. This strong alloy is highly resistant to chloride-ion induced stress corrosion cracking, and has reasonable resistance to many organic and inorganic compounds.
• Inconel 625, a nickel-chromium-molybdenum alloy with a small quantity of niobium. This combination provides very good resistance in a wide variety of severely corrosive environments, including hydrochloric and nitric acids. Our Alloy 625 has outstanding resistance to crevice corrosion, pitting, and chloride-ion stress corrosion cracking as well as high-temperature oxidation.
• Incoloy 825, a nickel-iron-chromium-molybdenum alloy de­signed to resist general corrosion, pitting and crevice corrosion, as well as stress corrosion cracking in a wide range of media. Incoloy 825 stands up particularly well to sulfuric acid, phosphoric acid, sulfur-containing flue gases, sour gas, oil wells and seawater.
• Titanium alloys. They have excellent resistance to corrosion in a wide variety of environments including seawater, salt brines, inorganic salts, bleaches, wet chlorine, alkaline solutions, oxidizing acids and organic acids.

If a customer needs an exotic alloy that's new to us, we're always willing to take a look at the request. "We can machine any of our fittings out of almost any material that is machinable. Valves, tubing, fittings, you name it," says Jason Wynne, a member of the sales and service team here at Edmonton Valve and Fitting.

Jason has seen these kinds of projects succeed first hand. One of his customers started a pilot project about seven years ago using some of our valves made of Hastelloy, a nickel-base alloy. We supplied the valves needed by the customer for the pilot. The hastelloy held up to the specialty application, the pilot plant was a success, so now we're supplying valves for full-scale production.

Special, but still quick

All of these alloy products are considered special orders, but that doesn't necessarily mean a long wait. Some alloy products are quite popular, and can be delivered to Edmonton from Swagelok within a few days in small quantities.

"I have been to the factory and seen their supply of special materials," Wynne says. "They do keep a good supply of that stock around, just not necessarily a finished product on the shelf."

Of course, special orders can cost a lot more than standard parts. Some bars of alloy can cost thousands of dollars before Swagelok even starts machining them. But when you are working with hazardous materials and need a fitting that won't break down like ordinary steel would, the extra dollars are worth it.

Tough tubing

As you might expect, Swagelok has special-order tubing too. Our SAF 2507 seamless super duplex tubing provides excellent corrosion resistance in chloride-containing environments, and allows much higher pressure ratings than ordinary stainless steel. It comes in a variety of sizes from quarter-inch to one inch, outside diameter.

Our matching tube fittings combine a patented, advanced-geometry shape for the back ferrule and a patented ferrule hardening process. The result is a Swagelok tube fitting that can reliably grip and seal on exceptionally hard SAF 2507 tubing. At the same time, the fittings can be installed using simple hand tools.

To learn more about Swagelok Special Alloys, download the Alloys brochure. Or you can come straight to us and discuss your special needs.