Seamless steel pipe more resistant to the sugar-ethanol industry
Using its proprietary technology, developed in the last 13 years, Vallourec has developed a new product which is highly resistant to the corrosion and abrasion processes in boiler air preheaters in sugar and ethanol mills. With proven results by industries’ companies. The steel VBRMo4 has proven to be up to four times more durable than traditional welded pipes.
“It’s part of the Vallourec cultural map, the bottlenecks identified in the sectors in which we operate and develop customized solutions, of a high quality and with an excellent cost-benefit for our clients” highlights Dennis Androvics, of the company's Sales team.
The steel VBRMo4 was developed in order to contribute with the cogeneration of power plants, which uses technology as an ally in the search for more efficiency through renewable energy sources such as biomass. “In addition to represent savings in the process production, our main goal is to contribute to the expansion of ethanol production, an alternative source of cleaner and sustainable energy”, Sales Manager of Powergen and Process Tubes of Vallourec in South America, Júlio Martinez.
This solution favors the high performance in power plants, using biomass and contributes to the energetic transition, providing an essential growth in companies that seek economic growth with low carbon emissions. This activity is still associated to ESG criteria (Environmental, Social and Governance), bringing opportunities to companies to generate long-term value in their sustainability journey, demonstrating concern not only with traditional economic-financial metrics, but also with aspects linked to the organization’s socio-environmental impacts.
Best cost-benefit
In addition to avoiding frequent changes of pipes, the use of VBRMo4 reduces maintenance costs and prevents shutting down the boiler, which continues producing energy and generating revenue for the sector even during off-season periods.
“The operational conditions of the air pre-heater causes the pipes to be subjected to severe corrosion and abrasion effects. The traditional ones, the welded tubes, do not resist and end up breaking on an average of two years of usage.” Explains Júlio Martinez.
In a period of ten years, the replacement of welded tubes for the VBRMo4 can result in more than a 60% reduction in maintenance costs. We felt this already reflexes in the first year of usage of the product and the savings can reach approximately R$ 1.5 million per pre-air/plant.
Pilot Project
VBRMo4 was first tested in a pilot experience, with its beginning in 2012. The tubes were installed in an air pre-heater with a low rate of wall thickness high rate of pipe loss and the results are being analyzed until the present day.
To evaluate how the product would react to the effects of corrosion and abrasion, VBRMo4 pipes were installed in the first four rows, where there is the greatest need for change. Besides them, welded pipe steels 1010 were placed at the end of the first season, samples of both types of pipes were taken and it was found that there was practically no wear by corrosion and abrasion in the VBRMo4, unlike the welded steel pipe 1010.
It was found in the second round, by means of a technique that measures the loss of mass of the tube, that the wear presented by the VBRMo4 did not exceed 0.25mm, while in the welded steel tubes the losses reached 0.4mm. The third vintage showed that the VBRMo4 was visually intact, while the tube with 1010 steel, broke over the course of this period.
The studies and tests conducted over the last decade have shown that VBRMo4 is the seamless tube that generates the most savings compared to its competitors and contributes to the evolution of the sugar-ethanol industry.
