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Flare Tip Material Selection - GBA

This document summarizes GBA's experience with different materials for flare tips. [310S stainless steel is the most commonly used material, making up over 90% of flare tips due to its good performance, low cost, and wide availability. However, higher alloy materials can provide longer service lives when matched to the specific application.] Alloy 800H has advantages over 310S such as better resistance to chloride attack, but it has lower ductility in mid-temperature ranges which can lead to cracking. [RA330 addresses the disadvantages of Alloy 800H while maintaining its advantages. Inconel 625 and Haynes Alloy 556 are also discussed as specialized materials that can provide extreme corrosion resistance in applications with acid gases like hydrogen

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205 views

Flare Tip Material Selection - GBA

This document summarizes GBA's experience with different materials for flare tips. [310S stainless steel is the most commonly used material, making up over 90% of flare tips due to its good performance, low cost, and wide availability. However, higher alloy materials can provide longer service lives when matched to the specific application.] Alloy 800H has advantages over 310S such as better resistance to chloride attack, but it has lower ductility in mid-temperature ranges which can lead to cracking. [RA330 addresses the disadvantages of Alloy 800H while maintaining its advantages. Inconel 625 and Haynes Alloy 556 are also discussed as specialized materials that can provide extreme corrosion resistance in applications with acid gases like hydrogen

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Flare Tip Material Selection

Introduction

This document outlines GBA's in-service experience with various flare tip materials.
It is intended as a general guide only as each application must be judged on its
merits at the time.

310S Stainless Steel.

This material is the staple of the flare industry, probably in excess of 90% of flare tips
constructed worldwide use this as the main material and with very good reason. It
has given good service for many years in a wide variety of applications, it is easily
worked and welded. It is widely available in a variety of forms from many sources at
moderate cost.

310S is a good choice for almost any flare application but it is true to say that the
longest flare lives can only be obtained by using higher alloys matched to the
application.

Alloy 800H(T)

Alloy 800H has been used in flare tips for over 25 years. It is selected to provide
longer service life than 310S stainless steel when the costs associated with an
unplanned shutdown due to flare tip damage far outweigh the extra material cost.

Alloy 800 possesses better high temperature strength than stainless steels, this is a
known fact. However, flare tips do not operate at temperatures which could take
advantage of this benefit. Flare tips operate at mid-range temperatures (400 –
600°C) and the most important aspect of material properties under these conditions
is ductility. Most flare tips ultimately fail due to cracking and this is generally caused
by a loss of ductility. In this respect Alloy 800 has a noticeable disadvantage. It is
now only generally available in it's 800HT version, this means it has added
Aluminium and Titanium for extra high temperature strength. This would seem to be
an advantage, however, it results in a significant loss of ductility under mid-range
temperature conditions which can lead to cracking along the HAZ after a short period
in service.

This effect is compounded by the fact that it is an unusual material, in that it is


normally welded using Inconel 625 filler wire, this is a much more highly alloyed
material that possesses markedly different characteristics, particularly coefficient of
expansion, to the parent metal. Thus, the advantage seemingly gained by using a
homogeneous material is actually quite artificial, as between every piece there is a
weld bead of a totally different material! This has been noted in the past as a
significant factor in producing cracks through the HAZ in 800H material.

Being a more highly alloyed material 800H possesses better resistance to Chloride
attack than 310S which is a definite advantage over 310S material. Very often, used
800H flare tips exhibit no general corrosion even when employed offshore, whereas
310S tips often shows signs of general pitting as a function of the chloride
environment.
RA330

RA330 is a high alloy material manufactured by the Rolled Alloys company. It has
slightly higher Nickel content and lower Chromium than 800H and does not contain
the Aluminium and Titanium of 800HT. It has lower high temperature strength than
800HT but importantly for flare applications it possesses excellent mid-range ductility
and is welded using consumables of the same composition. It is similarly resistant to
Chloride attack as 800H but shows better oxidation resistance at temperature.

Basically from a flaring point of view it possesses all the advantages of 800H but
without the problems of loss of ductility and incompatible weld materials.
Considering the price impact to go to RA330 over 800H is quite moderate it is to be
preferred for arduous offshore applications.

Inconel 625

This material is often proposed as the ultimate in flare materials but, in the authors
opinion, it has never lived up to this billing. It is a very high nickel alloy (>70% Ni)
which offers outstanding resistance to oxidation at high temperatures. However, as
for 800H it tends to suffer from a loss of ductility in the mid-temperature range and
thus often suffers from premature cracking in service. It can, however, be welded
with 625 filler wire which obviates the differential expansion problem. It is complexly
resistant to chloride attack & generally shows no signs of pitting even after extensive
service. 625 is a very expensive alloy & the availability of fittings in this material is
very limited.

Special Situations

The most common application requiring special consideration of materials is that of


flaring sulphur bearing gases. In this situation the use of high nickel alloys is
definitely to be avoided as they are aggressively attacked by acid gases in the
combustion environment. As an example a pilot nozzle in 800H type material
disintegrated to an unrecognisable mass of slag in just 5 months of use on a 2.5%
H2S fuel gas. For acid gas applications the best economic choices are alloys with
lower percentages of Nickel such as 310S or 309 St/Stl. However, the latter has very
low availability especially in Europe. Probably the best outright choice for acid gas
applications where percent levels (or even tens of percent) of H2S are encountered
is Haynes Alloy 556. This is an advanced iron-nickel-cobalt-chromium alloy that
possesses extreme resistance to both oxidising and reducing sulphur containing
atmospheres and has proved very effective in service. It is, however, both expensive
and difficult to obtain.

Peter Watts
Engineering Director – GBA Flare Systems
July 2002
Rev 1 Nov. 2007
Rev 2 Mar 2011

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