Metal titanium has excellent corrosion resistance and mechanical properties, and is widely used in many fields. Especially in chemical applications, titanium can replace stainless steel as a corrosion-resistant material, which is of great significance for extending the service life of equipment, reducing costs, preventing pollution, and improving productivity. In recent years, the scope of titanium used in my country's chemical industry has been expanding, and the amount has increased year by year. Titanium has become one of the main anti-corrosion materials in chemical equipment. As a corrosion-resistant structural material used in chemical equipment, titanium has become an ideal material in chemical equipment.
The main application fields of titanium in the chemical industry
1. Chlor-alkali industry
The earliest use of titanium in the chemical industry is in the chlor-alkali industry. These include the production of chlorine gas, oxychloride, pesticides, drift powder, etc. In the production of chlorine, titanium equipment and pipelines account for almost a quarter of its total mass'. Such as metal anode electrolyzers, ionic membrane electrolyzers and anolyte pumps, tubular wet chlorine coolers, chlorine wastewater dechlorination towers, chlorine gas cooling scrubbers, refined brine preheaters, vacuum dechlorination pumps, and valves, etc.
2. Soda ash industry
In the production of soda ash, titanium materials are mainly used in crystallization external coolers, distillation tower overhead ammonia condensers, ammonium chloride mother liquor heaters, flat plate heat exchangers, umbrella plate heat exchangers, carbonization tower cooling pipes, carbon dioxide turbine compressors Rotor impeller, lye pump, etc.
3. Vacuum salt industry
Titanium ammonia evaporator, titanium preheater, titanium precooler, titanium flange, titanium tube sheet, titanium pump shell, and titanium elbow.
4. Petroleum chemical fiber
At present, petrochemical fiber enterprises such as polyester, nylon, and vinylon, whether imported from abroad or domestically designed and manufactured by themselves, have used some titanium equipment. The application of titanium equipment has played a positive role in the development of my country's chemical fiber production. Especially for safe and stable continuous production, for improving product quality, for preventing premature corrosion of stainless steel, for improving equipment service life, for reducing parking and maintenance, and for improving comprehensive economic benefits. made a significant contribution.
5. Fine chemical industry
The industrial raw material of the propylene oxide plant is a strong corrosive medium. The two main raw materials used in PO production are liquid chlorine and propylene. These strong corrosive media lay the foundation for the corrosion of PO production equipment and pipelines. Production under this process condition, such as carbon steel, Al, Cu, Ni, and stainless steel Metals such as titanium are unable to resist corrosion, and only titanium is an ideal corrosion-resistant metal material.
6. Inorganic salt industry
Inorganic salts mainly include chlorate and potassium salt. Domestic sodium chlorate production has developed rapidly in the past two years, with a total production capacity exceeding 1 million tons, and about 500,000 tons are in the process of expansion or preliminary work. Titanium chlorate equipment mainly includes electrolytic cells, titanium anodes, reaction generators, evaporators, etc., About 15t of titanium is needed for every 10,000t of sodium chlorate.
Potassium salt products include potassium chloride, potassium sulfate, potassium nitrate, potassium carbonate, etc. At present, the total production capacity of potassium nitrate and potassium carbonate in China is about 600,000 tons. Titanium equipment is required for evaporators, preheating tanks, and coolers in the production of potassium nitrate and potassium carbonate.
7. Other industries
Titanium dioxide - Titanium is used in thin film concentrators, calciner feed pipes, centrifuge distribution plates, etc.
Urea—Titanium materials are used for the lining of the urea synthesis tower, ammonia stripping tower, general decomposition tower heater, methylamine pump inlet, drain valve and spring, high-pressure mixer, etc.
Dye—Titanium is used in coil heat exchangers, absorption towers, nozzles of purification towers, fans, water ring vacuum pumps, filters, etc.
Nitric acid—Titanium materials are used in nitric acid evaporators, nitrogen oxide tail gas preheaters, nitric acid steam preheaters, gas scrubbers, rapid coolers, condensers, turbo blowers, pumps, valves, pipes, etc.
Properties of Titanium Alloys
1. The lower density can significantly reduce the string load, especially for ultra-deep oil well pipes.
2. Higher strength includes tensile strength, creep strength, fatigue strength, etc.
3. Excellent corrosion resistance, excellent seawater corrosion resistance.
4. Wide operating temperature range, The operating temperature of conventional titanium alloys is from minus 269°C to minus 600°C.
5. Large elastic deformation capacity, titanium alloy has high yield strength and low elastic modulus (E), so it is very suitable for parts such as springs, and more importantly, it is suitable for large-displacement horizontal wells.
6. Low expansion coefficient, This feature makes petroleum equipment more adaptable to temperature changes and reduces internal stress of structural parts.
7. Non-magnetic, suitable for the normal use of some detection, communication, and control methods in various equipment.
8. Good processing performance. Titanium alloys usually have good processing properties such as casting, forging, welding, and 3D printing. This is often an important factor for the success of various engineering material selection processes.
Titanium alloy pipes, flanges, and various bolt accessories are currently being used more and more widely in the petroleum industry. With the improvement and improvement of various titanium processes and technologies, various titanium alloy oil casings and other equipment will also become more and more popular. more widely used.
