Stainless solution keeps fresh water flowing

Challenge

Shortage of fresh water can be eased by desalination. Fisia Italimpianti was concerned with the material cost and complex process of expanding its three desalination chambers.

Solution

Outokumpu Forta duplex stainless steel delivers improved corrosion resistance, strength and price stability. The solution represents the advanced MSF technology development and translates into increasingly affordable desalination plant investments.

Delivery

Steel grade: 4,000 tonnes of Outokumpu Forta DX 2205 and Outokumpu Forta LDX 2101
Product form: Plate

In many parts of the world, fresh water is an urgent need. Desalination – the process of obtaining freshwater from the earth’s vast reserves of seawater – is the obvious answer. But desalination is both complex and costly, a combination that can discourage investment in new facilities.

Few processes can top desalination for a harsh project environment. Awash in highly corrosive salt water, desalination plants face unique challenges in life cycle costs.

 

Challenging process

Multi Stage Flash (MSF) desalination is the most commonly used desalination method today. Seawater is heated in a thermal process, flashed into steam in a series of evaporation chambers and then condensed.

When Fisia Italimpianti of Italy – a leader in MSF desalination – committed to expansion of three existing desalination plants decade ago, the company turned to Outokumpu. As a supplier of stainless steel to the majority of desalination plant contractors, Outokumpu meets the demands of an uncommonly challenging process.

 

Life cycle approach

In previous desalination installations, steel for mildly corrosive environment was used. When Outokumpu introduced its Forta dual duplex construction, Fisia gained a solution with improved corrosion resistance and strength. The evaporation chambers of three desalination plant extensions use a combination of the more corrosion resistant Forta DX 2205 and Forta LDX 2101 in less corrosive sections. By using duplex stainless steel, evaporation chambers can be built with thinner plates. That means less material, less need for welding and easier handling. Containing less nickel, Forta LDX 2101 has better price stability than high-nickel stainless steels. The solution represents advanced MSF technology and translates into increasingly affordable desalination plant investments and, as a result, can make fresh water increasingly available where it is most needed. For the evaporation chambers in the Fisia Italimpianti projects, Outokumpu delivered 4,000 tonnes of hot rolled plate, much of it Outokumpu’s proprietary Forta LDX 2101duplex stainless steel.

Recommended products and insights

Appliances

When it comes to appliances, today’s consumer insists on full functionality wrapped in effortless beauty. Corrosion-resistant, easy to clean, strong and formable: Stainless steel delivers durable, timeless perfection.

Energy and heavy industry

In energy and heavy industry, failure is simply not an option. When one single mishap can explode into a full-blown crisis, only stainless steel can deliver the assurance of control that you depend on.

Forta

The Forta range contains duplex and other high strength stainless steels that enable thinner structures and weight reduction (measured in Rp0.2 > 400 MPa. PRE 16 to 43).

Hot rolled stainless steel coil, strip and plate

Offering exceptional versatility, Outokumpu hot rolled coil, strip and plate are used in virtually all industries and markets. In addition to plates, Outokumpu produces quarto plate that is available in thicknesses up to 130 mm. 

Sustainability

Stainless steel is a superb material for sustainable solutions as it is 100% recyclable, efficient and long-lasting. Our vision is to become the customers’ first choice in sustainable stainless steel.

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