As oil wells become deeper and run at higher temperatures and pressures, there becomes a need for high strength, corrosion resistant material that will withstand the more severe service conditions of these projects. Over the years many projects in various locations around the world have successfully used duplex and super duplex stainless steels for subsea pipe lines, flow loops, flow lines and manifolds to contain the high temperatures and pressures and more demanding corrosive service required with the High Temperature High Pressure (HTHP) wells.
Additionally, operators have realized that they need to qualify the manufacturers of these materials following a number of problems experienced in the field. They see that the more severe conditions require a higher level of quality and security to go with the more demanding performance required. As such, the NORSOK M650 specification is seen as way to qualify the manufacturer and ensure a higher level of quality in the product. This has not solved all problems and a few operators are placing even greater demands on manufacturers to ensure they have the required metallurgical understanding and production facilities to produce parts in these more complicated alloys.
There is also a recent development for super duplex stainless steels to meet service conditions beyond usual requirements. A number of operators have projects where minimum design temperatures are calculated to be as low as −70°C, which is near the lower shelf toughness level for duplex stainless steels. This paper discusses the properties that can be achieved by optimizing the forging route and therefore minimizing nitride precipitation in these alloys. The resultant properties are sufficient to meet the impact properties typically required at temperatures down to −70°C. In addition, the improved ductility and toughness also increase the resistance to HISCC due to cathodic protection. Several end users and OEM's have already used ZERON® 100 AFPTM to benefit from the improved toughness at design temperatures as low as −70°C.
This paper will cover the metallurgy of duplex alloys and how improved understanding and processing can lead to less nitride precipitation, better morphology and austenite spacing that will have a beneficial effect on both toughness and HISCC resistance. The improved toughness values can also be seen across the full temperature range of most Oil & Gas projects with excellent properties at −50°C as well as at −70°C. Discussion of a few case histories also confirms the need for application of this Advanced Forging Process (AFP) of super duplex stainless steel.
