Australian innovation driving sustainability

For over 30 years ASSDA Member Stormtech has been at the forefront of Australian innovation delivering stainless steel linear drainage solutions for the local and global architecture and design industries.

Stormtech is an Australian family business that began operations in 1989 and was established on the invention of a special drainage grate. Founder John Creighton was approached by an architect to help design a hobless shower for a wheelchair-bound client wishing to shower independently. Creative thinking and innovative engineering led to the birth of a unique stainless steel drainage design that delivered excellent surface water removal efficiency while demarcating the wet and dry areas of a shower without a need for a hob or barrier. This design was adopted as standard, patented and is now Stormtech’s 65ARG slimline linear drain.

Today Stormtech continues to thrive, pursuing innovation and excellence both in the way it operates and services its customers, as well as through its commitment to sustainability. A world-leading business in ethical and sustainable practice, Stormtech showcase over 150 drainage products across a range of many different functions, from bathroom, pool and spa drainage to hospitality, commercial, and healthcare applications. Their linear drainage products range in widths from 65 and 100mm and lengths from 900 -3000mm, with eight architectural grate designs on offer. Custom drainage products are also delivered for specific applications and water flow efficiencies. 

All Stormtech products are Australian designed and manufactured at their New South Wales’ facility in South Nowra. Stormtech prides itself in an all-Australian supply chain, with all stainless steel drains fabricated from grade 316. Electropolishing, electroplating and powder coating services are offered through their local network of third-party suppliers, to deliver specific stainless steel specifications requiring coloured and other special surface finishes.

Stainless steel is a material of choice in linear drainage due to its strength, durability, low maintenance, safety, visual appeal and 100% recyclability. 

Grade 316 has excellent corrosion resistant properties, maximising product performance in coastal areas and pool installations, particularly where acidic soil may be present. Architecturally, stainless steel linear drainage offers an elegant and modern finish in addition to delivering a lower profile, creating an even, safe surface and seamless transition between indoor and outdoor areas. The material is also hygienic and easy to clean, complementing hospitality, health, and aged care applications. 

Stainless steel’s durability and sustainable properties coupled with Stormtech’s quality design and manufacturing has assisted designers and specifiers meet their environmental goals. In addition, it has provided solutions to overcoming poor drainage issues in construction, including ponding, which can undermine foundations and lead to structural and aesthetic damage.  

As part of the company’s Industry 4.0 journey, significant capital investment has enabled Stormtech to introduce state-of-the-art manufacturing equipment and develop software automation for business and sales support. Their CNC machine processing and design and drafting capabilities have significantly increased, delivering positive outcomes including a 0.3% scrap rate. All materials are XRF scanned for grade confirmation and stainless steel scrap and offcuts are reused or recycled. Stormtech’s sustainable commitments have also seen the company pioneer their own stainless steel fabrication techniques to eliminate the use of harsh chemicals. Ongoing R&D will also see the company continue to launch and introduce new capabilities, with sustainability at the core of its focus.

Stormtech was the first drainage business in Australia to gain sustainability credentials, maintaining its GreenRate Level A Gold certification with Global GreenTag^TM since 2013. In addition, all products are WaterMark certified.

Standard TR Grate design with custom curve 
Photo credit: Stormtech

This article is featured in Australian Stainless Magazine issue 74, 2022. 

A mainstay in the processing of sewage water in water recycling applications, stainless steel once again plays a critical part in working towards a sustainable future.

Western Water Treatment Plant (WWTP), south of Werribee in Melbourne’s Western District, is a critical asset responsible for processing around half of the city’s total sewage. The process requires a massive footprint, where a series of large lagoons use anaerobic (without oxygen) and aerobic (with oxygen) bacteria to sequentially break down and clean the feed water of solids and gases. The resultant recycled water is used for multiple non-drinking purposes, including irrigation and firefighting. 

WWTP is also largely energy self-sufficient. This energy is captured during the sewage treatment process by combusting biogas, which is captured under the covers. Biogas is used to meet much of the Plant’s electricity needs – preventing hundreds of thousands of tonnes of carbon dioxide entering the atmosphere each year. 

The site carries significant environmental importance to both the immediate and wider areas. Biogas production from the process is used to meet all the Plant’s energy needs through on-site power generation. The Plant is an enormous site – almost the same size as Phillip Island and a world-renowned wetland, declared a Ramsar site in 1983. It is home to many species of flora and fauna and a haven for birdwatchers – in summer it can host more than 100,000 birds in a month.

With current capacity concerns in the existing plant network, stretching back 120 years, and a forecasted increase in processing demands due to a growing city, the need for an additional nutrient removal plant (to complement the existing two) was established. More efficient in design and with more advanced monitoring and controls to provide class A recycled water, the new plant provides an additional 140ML of treated water per day. The plant was designed by Jacobs and built by UGL and CBP Contractors, with commissioning in 2019.

Grade 316L stainless steel was selected as a default material for the pipework, in 2B finish. Offering strong corrosion resistance even against contaminated effluent water, its ease of fabrication and ability to be installed without the need for coating and subsequent maintenance was also important.

ASSDA Member and Accredited Fabricator Roladuct Spiral Tubing was selected to manufacture and supply approximately 50t of spiral welded large diameter pipe, ranging from 300 to 1422mm in diameter. Feed material was supplied  by ASSDA Member, Midway Metals to Roladuct’s  Melbourne manufacturing site. 

Roladuct was nominated in 2019 for the ASSDA Fabricator Project of the Year Award, with judges impressed by the quantity of stainless steel used, as well as the significant environmental benefits realised by the plant upgrade.

As water assets continue to be upgraded and optimised for a growing country, stainless steel will continue to play a vital role in providing material performance and plant reliability for years to come.

 Photo credit: Roladuct Spiral Tubing

This article is featured in Australian Stainless Magazine issue 71, 2021.

Stainless steel is playing a vital role in delivering effective bulk water intake screens for Melbourne’s water supply.

Designed and manufactured in Brisbane, ASSDA Member Aqseptence Group Australia has recently delivered one of the largest passive intake screens in the Southern Hemisphere. Having produced more than 4,000 screens for the last  50 years, this latest milestone achieved a nomination in the hotly contested Process Industries category of the 2019 ASSDA Fabricator Project of the Year Award. 

In mid-August 2019, Aqseptence Group was engaged by a joint venture of John Holland and KBR to provide design and construct services for a significant capital works project, covering multiple Melbourne Water assets. The screen is used as a bulk water transfer screen for the O’Shannassy Dam, located east of Melbourne. Distributing clean drinking water  to most parts of Melbourne, it is a critical asset storing  3.1 gigalitres of water among a series of reservoirs on the city’s periphery. The mammoth screen took  approximately two months to design and manufacture.

The Johnson Screens T96E passive intake measures an impressive 8.6 metres wide and stands 3.6 metres high.  It is constructed entirely in grade 316L with a mill finished  plate and No. 4 finish wedge-wire and bar. K-Tig welding  was used to join 10mm plates to achieve overall plate size  to roll into tubes. The entire fabrication was then pickled  and passivated. Grade 316L, a standard material of construction at Aqseptence Group, was specified for the grade’s ability to resist general and localised forms of corrosion, a risk even with relatively low chloride inland  water sources. Additionally, being easy to source and  fabricate, its versatility in taking many forms and profiles  is clearly on display.

The intake screen is used to provide an uninterrupted water withdrawal source while protecting assets from foreign matter and most importantly, protecting wildlife by guaranteeing uniform and low through-flow velocities. This fish-friendly screen is also a passive design as it has no moving parts, therefore simplifying maintenance and reliability. Aqseptence Group’s Vee-Wire slot system was used to ensure uniform flow through the screen at a controlled velocity, to protect surrounding marine life. Additionally, using the strength properties of 316L, the screen has sufficient mechanical rigidity to support its own weight along with hydrostatic pressures. Stainless steel was specified due to its low impact on the environment, on both the reservoir and the clean drinking water it supplies, paired with its durability, corrosion  resistance and material strength attributes.

Aqseptence Group is now focused on working with the broader network of water infrastructure authorities to help upgrade their water supply assets and continue to service  the City of Melbourne for future generations with the use of stainless steel.

This article is featured in Australian Stainless Magazine issue 70, 2020.

Stainless steel provides a cutting edge and environmentally friendly solution for industrial applications.

Dow Chemicals, a global chemicals manufacturer, recently completed a major upgrade of the wastewater treatment system at their Victorian Point Henry coatings plant. The plant manufactures acrylic emulsions which find use in numerous applications including house paints. ASSDA Members Stirlings Performance Steels and Barwon Valley Stainless provided supply and fabrication services for this impressive wastewater treatment facility upgrade. 

Wastewater produced in the production facility is pumped into flocculation tanks for settling and the clear supernatant is sent for further biological treatment. This treated water is recycled back to production but is also used for irrigation on site to minimise freshwater consumption.

Geelong based Barwon Valley Stainless is a preferred Dow contractor and was selected to provide the complete scope of services for the wastewater treatment plant upgrade due to their knowledge and expertise of wastewater treatments, both local and interstate. Their quality workmanship was reflected in this project as they provided civil and structural works, tank and pipe spooling fabrication, site installation and pump station commissioning. With over 25 years’ experience and competence in stainless fabrication, they were able to work successfully within Dow’s project time and location constraints. 

Stirlings Performance Steels supplied the entire portfolio of materials to Barwon Valley Stainless. This included cut-to-length large bore pipe, structural rectangular hollow section and various pipe fittings as well as laser/plasma profiled plate which were all in grade 316/L.

Reducing environmental footprint in industrial applications is important and material selection is a critical step in both maximising the lifetime of plant and equipment, while minimising the need for maintenance and servicing. This upgrade successfully satisfied both these requirements with the use of stainless steel. Grade 316 is a popular material of construction where water is processed with relatively low chlorides at ambient temperature. It provides an optimal cost benefit compared with other steel-based alternatives which require coating or lining. Additionally, the close proximity of the site to Victoria’s Corio Bay requires resistance to corrosion from airborne seawater. According to Ben Arlidge, Project Manager at Dow, “Stainless steel has provided the perfect mix of performance, workability and cost for our new wastewater treatment facility.”

The plant upgrade is a major step in providing long term certainty to the local Moolap economy, as well as in strengthening the Australian supply chain of domestic market paint products. 

Photo credit: Barwon Valley Stainless

This article is featured in Australian Stainless Magazine issue 70, 2020.

Safeguarding Australia’s environmental biosecurity is critical in preventing the introduction and spread of pests and diseases, and the Post Entry Quarantine (PEQ) facility in northern Melbourne is setting the benchmark in international best practice with the use of stainless steel.

The PEQ facility in Mickelham is a state-of-the-art, purpose-built operation constructed to streamline the country’s quarantine services and consolidate five pre-existing Commonwealth PEQ facilities spread across New South Wales, Victoria, South Australia and Western Australia. Managed by the Department of Agriculture and Water Resources, the 144ha site includes an administration building, modern laboratories, dog and cat receiving areas, horse facilities and separate compounds for birds, ruminants, bees, plants, horse veterinarians and dogs and cats. Today, as Australia’s flagship quarantine control centre, the integrated PEQ facility is the first point of entry for all imported animals, plant material and insects entering the country, providing secure accommodation and biological containment.

One of the more challenging aspects of the PEQ facility’s construction was the design and build of the avian compound. The complex and demanding brief included the delivery of five high-criticality biocontainment units under Quarantine Containment Level 3 (QC3) requirements, the highest level of biosecurity containment. Containment of micro-organisms and prevention of their release is of utmost importance. Mitigating and eliminating risk of exotic pathogens and disease connected to avian imports such as fertile eggs and live birds is critical.

In association with UK-based Suncombe Engineering, a worldwide leader in the field of wastewater decontamination, ASSDA Member Fineweld Stainless Steel was engaged by hydraulics contractor Geschke Plumbing to supply, manufacture, and install the wastewater decontamination plant system and connecting containment pipework for the treatment of QC3 biowaste products in the avian compound.

The wastewater decontamination plant system required a 12,500L collection vessel and 1,750 heat treatment vessel, and the collection vessel was fabricated from 316 grade and the treatment vessel from 2205 duplex stainless steel with a 2B 0.6μm finish in Fineweld Stainless Steel’s Carrum Downs workshop. Following manufacture, the treatment vessel was packaged and transported to Suncombe Engineering in the UK for final assembly into the wastewater decontamination plant and to undergo a complete Factory Acceptance Test (FAT) as a certified testing authority. The wastewater decontamination plant was then transported back to Fineweld Stainless Steel in Australia for pre-testing at their facility and then installation on site.

In addition to the two vessels, Fineweld Stainless Steel installed and welded the connecting pipework on site, manufactured from 5t of 316 grade stainless steel. All pipework welded joints – approximately 1,500 butt welds – were orbital welded and each one inspected, tested and recorded as part of the project scope to comply with the client’s strict QC3 requirements. QC3 facilities use gaseous decontaminants including vaporised hydrogen peroxide and chlorine dioxide. The use of stainless steel offers material strength, hygiene and resistance to both corrosion and the chemicals required to deactivate pathogens, whilst ensuring a gas-tight system for fumigable ductwork.

The installation took place two stories underground, therefore manufacturing and pre-spooling had no margin of error. Extensive logistical challenges were diligently managed, and in collaboration with Suncombe Engineering and Geschke Plumbing, the project was delivered on-time and on budget by the Fineweld Stainless Steel team.

In what would have been traditionally manufactured and imported from overseas suppliers, Fineweld Stainless Steel is showcasing the high quality and technical capability of Australian stainless steel manufacturing, producing high-end pressure vessels and complex works for a demanding and precise application. World-class infrastructure demands high quality products and long-term asset performance, both of which have been successfully delivered for the avian compound of Mickelham’s PEQ Facility through superior local workmanship and the use of stainless steel.

Photo credit: Geschke Plumbing

This article is featured in Australian Stainless Magazine issue 69, 2020.

Brisbane's New Farm Riverwalk is one of the city's beloved icons. Originally constructed in 2003, the Riverwalk was used daily by over 3000 cyclists, pedestrians and runners before it was washed away during the 2011 floods.

After a construction period of nearly 18 months, Brisbane City Council’s re-imagined New Farm Riverwalk has now opened to the public, connecting New Farm to the Brisbane City via the Howard Smith Wharf Precinct.

Engineered by Arup, the Riverwalk has a design life of 100 years and sits 3.4m above mean sea level on robust piles.

Critical to its design and life expectancy is the extensive use of stainless steel for both structural and aesthetic purposes.

Brisbane City Council’s two key objectives of the project were to achieve a low maintenance, durable structure while achieving high aesthetic qualities. Stainless steel was deemed suitable to achieve both objectives while also providing the necessary strength required.

Key design elements featuring stainless steel include balustrades, skate stops, help point enclosures, light posts, signage, electrical enclosures, deck furniture and bins at the node structures. For additional durability, stainless steel reinforcement conforming to BS10088 and BS 6744:2001 was used in the soffit of the precast concrete girders where the structure could be subject to wetting and chloride contamination in the future.

Constructed by John Holland, the project involved a high level of collaboration between multiple suppliers and fabricators to meet the exacting demands of the specification.

John Holland Project Engineer Cameron Pahor said one challenge was programming works in accordance with project specifications to reduce contamination between carbon steel and stainless steel, both of which were used within the precast concrete girders incorporated into the Riverwalk.

Modelling of the reinforcing in 3D by Vectors Computer Aided Drafting also meant exact dimensions were ascertained, reducing waste of stainless steel reinforcing.

ASSDA Sponsor Valbruna Australia Pty Ltd’s Queensland construction division was contracted to supply 385 tonnes of stainless steel reinforcing bar, with The Australian Reinforcing Company (ARC) sub-contracted to schedule, cut and bend the rebar in a specifically prepared quarantine location to prevent processing and storage contamination issues.

Valbruna Special Products Manager Scott Ford said the majority of the rebar (in diameters ranging from 12mm to 40mm) was produced to precise precast tolerances predominantly using Reval® special Grade AISI 2304 (1.4362). Grades 2205, 316L and 304L were also used due to the unexpected increase in tonnage required: nearly 40% more than original project calculations was required, making the Riverwalk the largest use of stainless steel rebar in Australia to date.

Mr Ford said stainless steel rebar ensured the Riverwalk met the required 100 years life cycle, while minimising ongoing maintenance costs.

“Using stainless steel rebar ensures that a landmark structure such as the Riverwalk is kept open to the public rather than lengthy maintenance closures due to corrosion issues,” he said.

Down time was also minimised during construction, with Valbruna holding extensive stocks on the floor in both Italy and Australia of stainless Reval® rebar, enabling delivery to site within 48-72 hours of final approval of drawings. Manual templates were produced for many of the bars to ensure the accuracy of the bends and eliminate site down time.

Minimising maintenance for the visual elements of the Riverwalk was also a priority. To this end, ASSDA Sponsor Midway Metals supplied 275 tonnes of grade 316 stainless steel and two tonnes of welding consumables for the construction of around 1900m of balustrading. Midway also supplied 100 litres of Avesta pickling gel that was used to passivate all welds on the balustrades.

Midway Metals Brisbane Branch Manager Sean Lewsam said some of the specified handrail sizes were not available in Australia (e.g. 150x50x6mm rectangular hollow section or RHS) and had to be air freighted in to meet strict deadlines.

Midway supplied the project with 3,522 metres of RHS, 14,500 metres of round bar, 1,924 metres of HRAP (hot rolled, annealed, pickled) flat bar, 1,500 metres of flat bar from their slitting and flat bar machines, and 2,000 metres of mirror tube, storing the material in a dedicated holding area for the duration of the project.

Specific-sized Grade 316 plates were acquired (132 tonnes in total ranging from 10mm to 16mm) to minimise off cuts and wastage during the plasma cutting of stiffener plates, 1500 base plates and 1000 staunchions for the balustrades. Around 26 tonnes of laser cut profile plates ranging from 5mm to 20mm were also supplied.

ASSDA Member Southern Stainless was contracted to fabricate and install three different types of balustrading (solid uprights, mesh wire and glass infill), as well as the other visible stainless steel elements of the project using the stainless steel and welding consumables supplied by Midway Metals.

Southern Stainless General Manager Matthew Brown said all stainless steel components were manually polished to a 600 grit finish prior to assembly and welded in compliance with AS1554.6. After fabrication, the 960 balustrades panels (each weighing between 180 and 220kg) were electropolished in-house to R_a<0.5 and then hand polished with silicone-based polish prior to being wrapped and delivered to site for installation. The end product is both visually appealing and certain to stand the test of time.

Strength testing was undertaken for the balustrade/girder connections to ensure the stainless steel couplers, bolts and ferules (supplied by ASSDA Member Ancon Building Products) would not damage the cast-in items during a flood occurrence.

Riverwalk’s robust design makes it resilient to future flood events. The opening span has been relocated to reduce the likelihood of debris getting caught on the structure, and some elements have been designed to collapse in extreme events (rather than withstand the flood waters), reducing the force on the piles.

With the re-imagined Riverwalk now a fixture on the Brisbane’s riverscape once again, residents and visitors can look forward to enjoying the unique experience that Riverwalk offers well into the future.

This article is featured in Australian Stainless magazine issue 54, Spring 2014.

This is an abridged version of a story that first appeared under the same title in Stainless Steel Focus No. 07/2012.

The Nickel Institute's director of promotion, Peter Cutler, and consultant Gary Coates, reveal some of the reasons for the continuing popularity of nickel in stainless steels.

Stainless steel is everywhere in our world and contributes to all aspects of our lives. We find stainless steel in our homes, in our buildings and offices, in the vehicles we travel in and in every imaginable industrial sector. Yet the first patents for stainless steel were issued only 100 years ago.

How did this metal become so desirable over the past century that more than 32 million tonnes was produced in 2011? And how does nickel, a vital alloying element in most stainless steel alloys, contribute to the high demand for stainless steel?

THE 'CREATION' OF STAINLESS STEEL
By definition, a ‘stainless’ steel has a minimum level of about 10.5% chromium, so the discovery of chromium in 1799 by Nicolas Louis Vauquelin in France was the first key event in the creation of stainless steel. In 1821 another Frenchman, Pierre Berthier, published research that showed a correlation between increasing chromium content and increasing corrosion resistance, but the high carbon content of his alloys prevented them from showing a true ‘stainless’ behaviour.

Still in France, in 1904 Leon Guillet first published his metallographic work on alloys that today would be classified as ferritic and martensitic stainless steel. In 1906 Guillet published his work on the nickel-containing austenitic stainless steel family, but his studies did not include corrosion resistance. Albert Portevin then continued to build on Guillet’s work.

In 1911, a German scientist named Philip Monnartz reported that as the chromium content neared 12% in a steel with a relatively low carbon content, the alloy exhibited ‘stainless’ properties. Further developments then rapidly occurred in many other countries. In the United States, Elwood Haynes started working with martensitic alloys while Becket and Dantsizen were developing a ferritic stainless steel as lead-in wires for electric light bulbs. In 1912, Great Britain’s Harry Brearley worked on a 13% chromium martensitic alloy, initially for high temperature service in exhaust valves for aeroplane engines.

Meanwhile in Germany, Eduard Maurer and Benno Strauss were testing nickel-containingalloys and, in 1912, two patents were awarded. One of these grades, containing about 20% chromium and 7% nickel, was called V2A, and was found to have exceptional corrosion resistance in nitric acid. That grade had a relatively high carbon content compared to today’s stainless steel, and would be
similar to a Type 302 (EN 1.4317) stainless steel. 100 years later, the most commonly used alloy for nitric acid is 304L (EN 1.4307) with approximately 18.5% chromium and 8.5% nickel, quite similar to the V2A composition other than having a much lower carbon content.

Brearley’s martensitic stainless steel alloy would not rust when wet. He worked with Sheffield cutlery manufacturers to forge it into knife blades and then harden it, replacing the carbon steel blades they were then making. Stainless steel knives rapidly became a common household item. However, for forks and spoons, where high hardness was not so important, the 18-8 (302) composition became the most commonly used alloy.

300 SERIES
We normally think of the austenitic or 300 series family of stainless steels as the ‘nickel stainless steels’, but many other families contain nickel. One of the prime reasons for using nickel in the 300 series alloys is that nickel is an austenite former, but other reasons include:

• Nickel adds corrosion resistance, especially in certain aqueous environments, and in certain high temperature environments.
• Nickel can retard the formation of embrittling intermetallic phases at elevated temperatures, a major downfall of the non-austenitic families.
• The austenitic structure can mean high toughness at cryogenic temperatures.
• The advantages of the 300 series extend to welding and forming operations.

A fuller discussion of these topics can be found in 'The Nickel Advantage - Nickel in Stainless Steels', available on the Nickel Institute website.

200 SERIES
The 200 series stainless steels are also austenitic in structure. The standardised 200 series grades, which have chromium contents close to the level of a 304L alloy (about 18%), have an intermediate level of nickel. The ‘non-standardised’ 200 series not only have lower contents of nickel, but also lower contents of chromium, with the net effect of significantly reduced corrosion resistance, although still an improvement over the 11-13% chromium ferritic stainless steels.

DUPLEX
The duplex (austenitic-ferritic) family of alloys also need some nickel as well as nitrogen to ensure proper austenite formation. Most ‘matching’ duplex filler metals are actually over-alloyed with nickel to ensure that the welds have the required properties.

PRECIPITATION HARDENABLE
The precipitation hardenable (PH) stainless steel family contain nickel, which increases their corrosion resistance, ductility and weldability compared with hardenable non-nickel-containing stainless steel alloys. One of the other major advantages of the PH grades is that, unlike the martensitic grades, they do not need a quenching operation, which considerably reduces risk of distortion. Some of the martensitic grades also contain a small nickel addition. In the higher chromium types, the nickel is needed for the martensitic transition. In all nickel containing martensitic grades, nickel improves their corrosion resistance, ductility and weldability.

Some of the lower alloyed ferritic grades such as UNS S41003 (EN 1.4001) and S40975 contain a small intentional nickel alloying addition that allows for grain size control, which aids especially in welded constructions. A few of the higher alloyed ferritic grades also have a small nickel addition to increase toughness and ductility, which is beneficial during both hot rolling and in their end use.

Clearly, it is important for each specific application to select the appropriate alloy or alloys to give the desired properties.

GROWTH IN DEMAND FOR STAINLESS STEEL
According to the ISSF, 300 series stainless steel still dominates the worldwide production figures, as shown in Figure 1.

The properties of the various 300 series grades - created by the addition of nickel - are clearly valued by users, both in industry and the general public. Upwards of two thirds of all stainless steel produced in 2011 fell within the 300 series and close to three quarters of all stainless steel produced contains nickel.

The growth of worldwide production of stainless steel over the past 100 years has been steady, if not spectacular. This has meant that the demand for new nickel has steadily increased along with the demand for stainless steel, as shown in Figure 2. Recycled stainless steel is also a very important component in the alloy supply chain.

EFFICIENCY AND 'GREEN' CREDENTIALS
Resource efficiency is a recurring theme as the global economy faces economic challenges. Stainless steel not only contributes towards efficiency in many applications, it also shows continuous improvement in the resource efficiency related to stainless steel itself.

There are three important factors:

1. Stainless steel’s long service life, which might average 15 to 20 years, although much longer in prestigious buildings.
2. The extent of recycling: The percentage recovered and recycled at end-of-life - around 90% - is amongst the highest of all materials. Moreover, this recycling can be repeated many times without loss of quality. While the recycled content may appear to be relatively low, this is simply a result of stainless steel’s long service life (15 to 20 years) coupled with much lower global production 15 to 20 years ago.
3. Continual production improvements for stainless steel and its raw materials. For example, whilst the ores being processed today are of lower grade than before, the extraction and recovery processes are more efficient.

THE FUTURE
The history of stainless steel would be incomplete without celebrating the extent to which it has enabled innovation not just in the area of improved performance, but also in the more intangible, aesthetic aspects. From chemical plants to medical equipment to iconic stainless steel-clad buildings, stainless steel has made - and will continue to make - a major contribution to almost every aspect of our lives.

With durability, recyclability, versatility and aesthetic appeal at the core of its appeal, stainless steel - with nickel as one of its trusted alloys - is well placed to continue to innovate and expand its applications.

STAINLESS STEEL IN USE

FOOD AND BEVERAGE INDUSTRY
The popularity of stainless steels in kitchens did not go unnoticed in the food and beverage industry.

If we take milk, we know of an early stainless steel bulk milk tank truck from 1927 in the USA. A paper entitled ‘The Corrosion of Metals by Milk’ from the January 1932 Journal of Dairy Science by Fink and Rohrman states: ‘It has long been known that milk in contact with iron and copper will not only acquire a metallic taste, but corrode these metals readily’. At that time, tin-coated metals were commonly used. It went on to say that ‘High chromium nickel (18-8) iron alloys … are very resistant to corrosion by milk and are satisfactory for dairy equipment …’. The modern milk processing industry is filled with stainless steel equipment, mostly of Type 304 (EN 1.4301) or 304L.

The report also went on to state that some materials that are otherwise suitable for processing of milk ‘…do not stand up well to the action of cleaning compounds that are commonly used in dairies’, but that the 18-8 alloy was suitable for those cleaning compounds. Today, the typical cleaning acids and hypochlorite sanitising compounds that are used not only in the dairy industry but also in most food and beverage plants worldwide, require that same 18-8 alloy as a minimum. A correctly chosen stainless steel alloy will not change the taste or appearance
of the food product. However, it is the ability to withstand repeated use of the sanitising chemicals over the lifetime of the equipment that has led to the widespread use of stainless steel in all sectors of the food and beverage industry. Producers are then able to guarantee the
safety of their food products.

ARCHITECTURE
Another area of quick acceptance was in architecture. The first recorded use for that purpose was in 1929 in London at the Savoy Hotel where a sidewalk canopy and a sign were erected with the 18-8 alloy. These were soon followed by two iconic skyscrapers in New York that used stainless steel as a dominant element on their exteriors: the Chrysler Building in 1930 and the Empire State Building in 1931.

Since then, many prestigious buildings around the world have used stainless steel, including the Petronas Tower in Kuala Lumpur, the Trump Tower in Chicago, and the Jin Mao Tower in Shanghai. Related to architecture is sculpture, and Isamu Noguchi convinced the Associated Press in 1940 to approve stainless steel instead of bronze for his sculpture above the entrance to its building in New York. Since then, artists around the world have been using stainless steel, mostly either 304L or 316L (EN 1.4404), in their works. The St Louis Arch in the USA, Frank Gehry’s Peis (Fish) in Barcelona, Spain, and more recently Genghis Khan in Mongolia are examples of what can be done with stainless steel.

TRANSPORTATION
During the Great Depression in the USA, Edward Budd realised the untapped potential for stainless steels. Although their use in aeroplanes was his first application, his legacy remains the building of more than 10,000 passenger railcars, some of them still in use today.

Around the world, stainless steel is used extensively for passenger rail cars for subways, commuter trains and long distance trains, ensuring safety plus long life and low maintenance costs. In addition, stainless steels are used to transport cargoes such as food products, petroleum products and corrosive chemicals by rail, road, water and even air, both domestically and internationally.

ENERGY
In the broad field of energy, stainless steels have been used to extract oil and gas containing hazardous substances as well as for use in the refining stages. For power plants, stainless steel is used extensively at both low and high temperatures, whether the fuel is coal, oil, gas, uranium or waste products. Hydroelectric stations use stainless steel for dam gates as well as turbines. Many of the established sustainable
energy technologies such as solar and geothermal are using stainless steel, as well as the present biofuels industry with corn or sugar cane as feed stock.

WATER
Fresh water is an essential commodity for mankind, and stainless steel is used extensively in treatment plants for potable water as well as for wastewater. Cost effectively producing fresh water from seawater or brackish water by desalination also requires the use of stainless steel. In some countries, underground stainless steel pipe is used to deliver potable water to homes to prevent leakage, or in other special cases to protect either the environment outside the pipe or the water inside the pipe. Stainless steel plumbing is also common in certain countries and offers a long lasting, low maintenance option.

SURGERY
The first recorded example of an austenitic stainless steel surgical implant is from 1926. Medical instruments are also known from that time period. The ability to easily and repeatedly sterilise components that come in contact with the human body or are used in hospitals and clinics contributed to the early acceptance of stainless steel. Today, there are well-established international specifications for materials used in this industry. For example, stainless steel alloys for implants must meet stringent metallurgical cleanliness requirements and be completely non-magnetic so that the patient can safely undergo diagnosis by Magnetic Resonance Imaging.

FUTURE USES OF STAINLESS STEEL
Strong growth in the use of stainless steel has continued in the past decades despite the rapid and diverse developments in other materials and the more recent economic turmoil. The nickel-containing alloys in the 300 series still account for nearly two thirds of current stainless steel production worldwide, and there is nickel in the 200 series, duplex and precipitation hardening families, as well as in some of the martensitic and ferritic alloys. The reason for this is the great value that is placed on the properties which nickel provides.

Society is rapidly evolving and facing challenges on a global scale. Population is increasing, expectations are growing and resources are limited. Therefore we must use those resources more efficiently. This is particularly apparent for energy where stainless steel, and especially the nickel-containing alloys, already plays a major role in the more difficult to extract fossil fuels. Stainless steel’s corrosion and heat resisting properties are key to more cost-efficient operations. This also applies to the renewable sources that are now being developed, such as wave power and biofuels from new organic sources.

The worldwide need for higher quality, safe food and beverages and water will only increase, especially as food products can come from anywhere in the world. Stainless steel has evolved as the material of choice in this industry, both industrially and domestically, and it is likely to continue to meet the demands of a global population that is predicted to increase to nine billion by 2050.

This growing population, combined with a rapid movement to urbanisation, requires an expanded and more efficient transport infrastructure. The characteristics of stainless steel enable it to deliver lightweight and durable designs, leading to more efficient performance, safety, lower energy requirements and reduced emissions while giving lower life-cycle costs.

Image of Trump Tower (Chicago, USA) pictured above courtesy of C.Houska.

This article is featured in Australian Stainless magazine, issue 52.

The greatest challenge we face is the control of our own success. With 7 billion people on earth, all with an insatiable appetite for a high standard of living, the newest dimension of materials competition is sustainability.

Sustainability is development that meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs (UN World Commission on Environment and Development, 1987). In real terms, that means making choices that do minimum damage to our environment, but support a high level of human development.

The built environment is an excellent place to start. Buildings last for a long time, locking up the energy used in making their materials, requiring maintenance and consuming the energy used for heating and air-conditioning. They consume a large proportion of our resources. The choice of materials affects all 3 aspects of consumption, and, a number of building evaluation systems have been created around the world to assist in rating buildings for sustainability. Materials are scored for their energy content reuse during major refurbishment, waste management, recycled content and contribution to the overall design and running costs.

The Green Building Council of Australia rates green buildings for sustainability. The pace of registration and certification is increasing. Of the 368 certified projects, 96 were certified in the last 12 months. The push towards sustainable development in the building sector is strong and accelerating. City of Melbourne’s Council House 2 (CH2) is Australia’s first Green Star rated building to be awarded 6 Stars, which carries an international leadership status. Stainless steel was used to support screening walls of living green plants that shade the building and, required no maintenance or painting, working with the environment to keep good working conditions. Such membranes, containing plants or actively or passively screening the sun, allow the use of a smaller capacity air-conditioning plant, with lower capital costs and ongoing running costs and energy demand.

The only Gold LEED® (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) certified meeting venue in the world is the Pittsburgh Convention Centre in the United States. Its grade 316 stainless steel roof is used to harvest rainwater, reducing water demand on the city system - another example of the special properties of stainless steel.

Stainless steel roofing and rainwater goods give extremely low levels of run-off. See Table 1. But this is not the only reason to use stainless steel in the built environment. It contributes to sustainability because of its long service life, excellent corrosion resistance, clean and unchanging appearance and its exceptional hygiene characteristics. Stainless steel is reusable, entirely recyclable, and probably the most recycled product in the world. On top of that, it needs very little cleaning or short or long term maintenance, and makes no contribution to indoor pollution as materials emitting volatile organic compounds (VOCs) do.

There is considerable history and experience of stainless steel service life in the built environment. The Chrysler Building (1930) and Empire State Building (1931) in New York demonstrate the material’s durability, excellent appearance and resistance to corrosion. This extraordinary functionality has been played out many times with a number of examples here in Australia, including the Fujitsu Building in Brisbane, which is clad with 445M2 ferritic stainless steel. Located in a marine industrial environment, this building looks as good as it did on completion in 2002. The long life of stainless steel in these atmospheric applications shows its very high corrosion resistance. The corrosion rate of grade 316 for instance in most atmospheres is is more than 5000 times slower than the rate of carbon steel. See Figure 1 (below).

There is a considerable industry devoted to the collection and recycling of stainless steel products at the end of their life and, scrap is the standard feedstock for making stainless steel. In any stainless steel object, there is an average of 60% recycled content. New production would virtually all be made from recycled stainless steel if it were available, but the growth in the use of stainless steel and its long life in service limit the supply. Table 2 compares the recycled content and end of life capture rate of the industrial metals, and demonstrates that stainless steel is the most recycled industrial metal.

Sustainability is about much more than recycling. The energy used to make the material has a direct impact on sustainability, and all metals are energy intensive. Energy is a scarce resource, generates greenhouse gases and creates specific demands on land use likely to impact on future generations. Longevity and extraordinary recyclability will not be helpful if stainless steels’ energy consumption is much higher than other materials. Figure 2 describes the embodied energy in terms of CO2 equivalent for some of the industrial metals, and shows that stainless has a comparatively high level of embodied energy. In kilogram of CO2 per kilogram of metal, the austenitic grades are over double the footprint of carbon steel, although the ferritic grades are a little less. The footprint of stainless steel is caused by the production of alloying elements nickel and chromium, which are needed to give stainless steel its special properties, including extremely long life. Even so, efforts are ongoing in the stainless steel industry to reduce the energy content.

But in the real world, kilogram CO2  per kilogram metal comparisons are misleading. Take a typical application; a box gutter on a building. The metals have different strength, so are used with different thickness. Stainless steel gives a relatively light weight gutter (see Table 3), and hence the lowest footprint as installed. Coupled with its extended durability without maintenance, stainless comes out as the most sustainable option. Painted galvanised or Zincalume® coated carbon steel has not been included in the table as the calculation of the contributions of the components were too complex, but these materials are highly unlikely to beat the sustainability of stainless steel, even as-installed, and they have a much shorter life.

In summary, stainless steel has excellent recyclability, energy content as-installed (at least as good as other metals), extraordinary longevity and next to no need for maintenance, ever. Add to that the benefits of their special properties, which allow for the construction and operation of buildings at a lower cost. The contribution of stainless steel to sustainability is obvious and considerable.

This article was prepared by ASSDA Technical Committee member, Alex Gouch from Austral Wright Metals.

This technical article is featured in Australian Stainless magazine - Issue 50, Summer 2011/12.

A special grade of stainless steel is being used in an Australian-developed environmentally friendly energy production method. 

Solid oxide fuel cells extract the energy from fuels such as natural gas by electrochemical rather than traditional combustion means. producing cheaper, cleaner and more convenient eledricity.

lnterconned material made from half to one millimetre thick SAS 'Self Aluminising Steel' sheet conneds individual fuel cells together, conduding eledricity and heat within the fuel cell stack. The fuel cells are the brainchild of Melbourne-based company Ceramic Fuel Cells Limited and have been in development for eight years.

Managing Diredor, Ceramic Fuel Cells Limited, Dr Bruce Godfrey said stainless steel was the most suitable interconned material in terms of performance and produdion.

"Because the fuel cells operate at 800°C we need high temperature steels that can withstand the rigours of increasing temperatures and the fuels that we put into them," he said.

"Stainless steel in this respect fitted the bill perfectly for the stage of development we are at.

"The material has also proven very efficient during the prototype - development stage because it can be laser cut to size rapidly."

The special grade of stainless steel was chosen because of its superior performance in stopping the emission of chromium oxides from the steel. This chromium loss from the interconnect material destroys the fuel cell cathode.

Using the SAS grade of stainless steel solved the problem as its properties ensure chromium remains within the stainless steel interconnect material.

The current prototype size for the cell is 90 millimetres x 110 millimetres with the company anticipating using a variety of different shapes in the production stage.

Ceramic Fuel Cells Limited has schedules commercial production of the fuel cells to begin in late 2003.

This article featured in Australian Stainless magazine - Issue 17, January 2001.

Choosing mainline fittings for irrigation applications can often seem like building a giant puzzle with elbows, tees, crosses and coupler sets - various fittings required to connect irrigation pipework together.

However, Geoff Mellows from Yarrawonga Irrigation in Victoria may have solved the puzzle by using stainless steel mainline fittings - something that plastic fittings cannot yet match.

Poly, pvc and avs fittings are common materials in irrigation applications but because they are produced out of a mould, the combinations of size and outlet configuration are restricted.

Mellows said that by using stainless mainline fittings by ASSDA member, Pierce Australia, he can now “manipulate the angle, the shape, the variation and combination of outlets.“

The difference is simple. PVC and poly are bolted on, or welded and glued - making it difficult to change fittings”.

Stainless steel mainline fittings are the only rubber-ring jointed fittings available on the marketplace manufactured to the customers specific needs and can be fitted on any other combination because they are fabricated.

Stainless steel mainline fittings also provide flexibility of design in the angle of the fittings.

This also applies to the combination of outlets on those fittings and any other additional connections to that fitting.

With versatile stainless steel fittings, Mellows advice to customers is simple - “lay the pipe first and worry about the fittings later!”

This article featured in Australia Stainless Issue 28, May 2004.

Photos courtesy of Pierce Australia.

Cleaner beaches and major water savings will be the chief benefits of the largest Sydney Water construction project ever undertaken on the New South Wales south coast.

The $197 million Illawarra Wastewater Strategy will see an overhaul of the 40-year-old Wollongong sewage treatment plant (STP) including the construction of a major new water recycling plant, high level (tertiary) treatment processes and ultraviolet disinfection systems.

ASSDA member, Roladuct Spiral Tubing, supplied approximately 60 tonnes of grade 316 and 316L stainless spiral tubing and associated fittings in 2mm to 5mm thicknesses for the project.

These materials were provided to Total Process Services for use throughout the Wollongong STP for the majority of the above-ground process lines.

An additional supply of 35 tonnes of grade 316 stainless tube and pipe fittings were provided by ASSDA Major Sponsor, Atlas Specialty Metals.

Sydney Water’s head contractor for the project is the Walter-Veolia Joint Venture. Walter Construction Group (Walter) is responsible for managing the delivery of the project and undertaking civil infrastructure construction at the treatment plants. Veolia Water Systems Australia (Veolia) is responsible for the process, mechanical and electrical design, supply, installation, commissioning and operational advice.

The project’s most dramatic transformations are taking place at the Wollongong sewage treatment plant, where a 21 million litre bioreactor forms the centre-piece of the upgraded plant. Designed to remove organic impurities and nutrients from wastewater, the base of the bioreactor tank was poured over a continuous 15-hour period.

The design approach redirects wastewater from treatment plants at Bellambi and Port Kembla to the Wollongong facility. The Bellambi and Port Kembla plants will be converted to specialised storm-flow treatment facilities which will be used only in extreme wet weather.

The new Wollongong plant will also operate a reuse facility - supplying high quality treated wastewater to BlueScope Steel and cutting demand for fresh water from the local Avon Dam by about 20 percent. The upgraded sewage treatment plant is due for completion in mid 2005. The Illawarra Wastewater Strategy is part of WaterPlan 21, Sydney Water’s long-term strategy for sustainable water and wastewater management.

ASSDA provides technical advice and access to resources on the water and wastewater industries - for details phone 07 3220 0722.

ASSDA Major Sponsor, The Nickel Institute, can provide essential information on waste water. This information is available for download from www.stainlesswater.org.

Standards Australia distributes the Water Services Specification (WS-SPEC:2000) incorporating guidelines for stainless steel. Visit www.standards.com.au for purchase.

This article featured in Australian Stainless Issue 28, May 2004.

Today, environmental factors are at the forefront of material selection for specifiers. Stainless steel’s long service life, 100 percent recyclability and its valuable raw materials make it an excellent environmental performer.

 Stainless steel objects rarely become waste at the end of their useful life. Recycled stainless objects are systematically separated and recovered to go back into the production process through recycling.

As well as iron, stainless steel contains valuable raw materials like chromium and nickel which makes recycling stainless steel economically viable.

Stainless steel is actively recycled on a large scale around the world by recyclers who collect and process scrap (recycled stainless steel) for re-melting all around the world.

Scrap collection
The use of stainless steel scrap is fundamental to the steelmaking process. There are two types of scrap - reclaimed scrap (old scrap) and industrial scrap (new scrap).

Reclaimed scrap includes industrial equipment, tanks, washing machines and refrigerators that have reached the end of their service life.

Industrial scrap includes industrial returns or production offcuts from manufacturing by industrial engineering and fabrication sources.

Today, stainless steel is made up of approximately 60% recycled content including:

• 25% reclaimed scrap
• 35% industrial scrap
• 40% new raw materials

The useful service life of stainless steel products is long so the availability of scrap is dependent on levels of production from decades ago.

With an average content of 25% of old scrap, stainless steel is close to the theoretical maximum content of material from end-of-life products.

Recycling the scrap
Specialised expertise and sophisticated technology is needed in recycling to separate and prepare each type of alloy for remelting.

A recycling processor feeds the scrap into a large shredder to break it into smaller pieces.

It is then chemically analysed and stored by type.

This process may include ‘blending’ the scrap into chrome steels, nickel alloys and other types of stainless steels.

After blending into piles for specific customer requirements the scrap is then loaded into containers for export to overseas mills.

The global market for scrap
Virtually, all Australian stainless steel scrap goes overseas. There’s a small market for stainless steel scrap in Australia for use in the foundries business. Foundries often use profile offcut or plate material scrap products.

At least 30,000 tonnes of stainless steel scrap in Australia will be exported a year to stainless steel mills in countries including China, South Korea, Taiwan, India and Japan.

China, for example, is using approximately 800,000 tonnes of industrial scrap. Reclaimed scrap is also on the increase in China and is expected to reach 2.5 million tonnes in 2005.

For mills, scrap is important because recycled stainless steel contains valuable raw elements including chromium, nickel and molybdenum that are gathered, processed and reused in the production process. The more scrap used in furnaces by mills, the less raw materials are required in the production process.

Stainless steel mills

Scrap along with other raw materials, ferrochromium (chrome/iron), ferro moly (molybdenum/iron) and nickel are blended into an electric furnace.

After melting, impurities are removed, the molten metal is refined and the chemistry analysed to determine what final adjustments are necessary for the specific type of stainless steel being produced.

The molten stainless steel is then cast into slabs or billets before production of plate, sheet, coil, wire and other forms in preparation for use by industrial manufacturers.

The stainless returns to you
Industrial manufacturers produce stainless steel items that you use everyday including cutlery, pots and pans, kitchen sinks and many architectural, industrial and other components.

At each stage of the production and use process, stainless steel retains its basic properties and utility value. Unlike many industrial and engineering materials, stainless steel may be returned to its original quality in the supply chain without any degradation.

You can be assured that even after its long service life, your environmentally-efficient stainless steel will always return to you bright, shining and new!

For more information about stainless steel, contact the Australian Stainless Steel Development Association on 07 3220 0722 or visit www.assda.asn.au

ASSDA acknowledges the assistance and contribution of Ignatius Brun of ELG Recycling Processors, the International Stainless Steel Forum (ISSF), the Nickel Institute and Peter Moore of Atlas Specialty Metals in the production of this article.

Consumption of stainless steel scrap - 2004

• China — 2.8 million tonnes of production using 900,000 tonnes of scrap.
• Japan — 2.4 million tonnes of production capacity using 900,000 tonnes of scrap.
• South Korea — 2.3 million tonnes of production using  800,000 tonnes of scrap.
  Product mix 80% austenitic, 20% ferritic.
• Taiwan — 2.6 million tonnes of production using 600,000 tonnes of scrap.
• India  — 1.4 million tonnes of production using 300,000 tonnes of scrap.

Note: Australia sends a proportion of stainless steel scrap to all of the above countries.

This article featured in Australian Stainless magazine - Issue 33, Spring 2005.

The thought of public rubbish bins usually attracts images of black smelly wheelie bins with broken lids and flies.  However, if you walked through the University of Queensland in Brisbane’s St Lucia, you would be greeted, instead, with clean stainless steel and lovely bright colours.

The installation of between 30-50 new double-bin enclosures has added splashes of colour and flair to the university grounds.  Designers Street and Garden Furniture Co enlisted the services of long time contractors and ASSDA Accredited Fabricators Rocklea Pressed Metal to manufacture the pieces.

Featuring laser cut patterns, bright colour spray painting (to distinguish general rubbish from recycling) and a unique shape, the bins were designed with the surrounding art deco buildings in mind.

Street and Garden Furniture Co Director David Shaw says he often uses stainless steel for outdoor use because of its robustness and he found it particularly useful for the bins.

He says students tended to decorate large surface areas with posters, so using stainless steel meant they could be easily cleaned.

“Much of the damage is often caused by people emptying the bins,” Mr Shaw also says. “So we tried to design them to make them easily accessible.  If the surface gets damaged, they can be simply re-surfaced.”

Manufacture of the bins involved 12.24 square metres of 1.6mm grade 304 sheet with a number 4 finish and 18 lineal metres of 25 x 1.6mm grade 304 square tube. A considerable amount of laser cutting was done to adopt the academic shield and to break the large surface area with an aesthetic pattern.  A floating top was also designed to minimise the dominance of the wheelie bin size and to provide a shield against weather.

The designs were done by Street and Garden Furniture Co and then sent to Rocklea Pressed Metal as a CAD file.
David Shaw says his longstanding relationship with Rocklea Pressed Metal has been built through a history of confidence and delivery.

“An awful lot of the things we do, those guys are involved in,” he says.  “I am totally confident they’ll provide me with what I’ve drawn.”

The University of Queensland project is a longstanding one, dating back to 1997.  The project also incorporates the installation of light poles, tree grates, signage and seats, much of which Rocklea Pressed Metal has contributed to.

This article featured in Australian Stainless Issue 42.

To overcome environmental concerns around landfill, Perth’s largest waste management authority, Mindarie Regional Council, is building a facility for the 70 per cent of household waste that is organic material and can be composted.

The $80m building is due for completion in 2009 and will save on landfill, reduce greenhouse gas emissions, and will produce a rich organic matter that may be added to Perth’s sandy soil.

The new composting facility, to be built using a prize-winning technology developed by Canadian firm, Conporec, comes at a time when the ongoing feasibility of landfill in crowded cities is questionable.

In September this year a new hazard came to light when residents of the outer-Melbourne suburb of Cranbourne were advised to leave after pockets of methane were found in their homes at a dangerous 60-65 per cent concentration. The methane had leached from a nearby landfill - concentrations of 5-15 per cent are considered an explosion risk.

The composting building’s odour removal system uses extraction ducts to capture and then transport air to a biofilter. Stainless steel was specified because of its corrosion resistance.

Organic waste is broken down as it would be in nature, but the composting process is much faster. The compost is produced in a sealed building at negative pressure, where moist air is forced through. The resulting atmosphere in the building is hot, humid and corrosive. Composting produces heat which quickens the corrosion process, particularly in Perth’s hot climate.

Turbo Air Technology Pty Ltd of Bayswater, Perth, fabricated the extraction ducts from AWM 404GP® stainless steel, supplied by ASSDA Major Sponsor Austral Wright Metals.
John Dubbelman, Managing Director of Turbo Air Technology Pty Ltd, says the best specification for the job wasn’t necessarily what had been used in the past.

“Experience with similar installations in Canada led the project managers Kerman Contracting Limited (KCL) to specify grade 304 stainless steel for the ducts,” John says.

“With the help of Austral Wright Metals, we were able to convince them of the fabrication and cost benefits of AWM 404GP®, a ferritic stainless steel with equivalent corrosion resistance to 304. We have used it for the lock-seamed spiral ducts, lobsterbacks, and plenums. We fabricated the new grade without dramas, and KCL is now installing it. It looks good.”

This article appeared in Australian Stainless Issue 44.

Seven pressure vessels and five columns were fabricated by ASSDA Accredited D&R Stainless from 30 tonnes of grade 304 stainless
steel supplied by ASSDA member Sandvik.

The column sizes range from an acid reduction column 750mm in diameter and 14.2 metres long to a beer column 1900mm in diameter and 24 metres long. 

The columns were fabricated to tight tolerances set by process design engineers Detla T Technology, in the United States.

Chief Executive Officer of Dalby Bio-Refinery Limited, Kevin Endres, has worked with Delta T technnology in the US.

Mr Endres said stainless was the obvious choice for its durability. A project of this size requires a low maintenance and reliable material.

All design and manufacturing was carried out by D&R Stainless to ASME VIII complying with AS1210.

D&R also fabricated 6000 metres of grade 304 piping in sizes from 20NB to 500NB requiring over 6100 elbows, flanges and fittings from ASSDA member Stainless Pipe & Fittings Australia.

All piping was x-ray quality and met ASME B31.3.

Mr Endres said the refinery will eventually expand to output over 200 million litres of ethanol per year.

This article appeared in Australian Stainless Magazine -  Issue 45, Summer 2009.

As many cities and towns across Australia continue to experience water restrictions due to the drought, seeking solutions to water saving is now a high priority with consumers.

In 1994, ASSDA member, Hart to Hart Fabrications developed the Raincatcher - a unique design that separates the atmospheric and roof pollutants from the water.

The Raincatcher tank is manufactured from grade 304 stainless steel. Even parts like pins, hinges and filter screens are all made from stainless steel material.

Rainwater from the roof runs through the leaf diverter, removing leaves and large debris. The rainwater then flows through a unique filtration system, diverting atmospheric and roof pollutants away from the main water storage facility.

Raincatcher's main storage facility and filtration system is made from stainless steel due to its high resistance to corrosion, staining and bacteria.

The most frequent concern about drinking water is its bacteriological quality. Research has shown that there is about 100 times less bacteria residue on stainless steel than on other materials.

Raincatcher tanks are a useful solution to the health conscious water consumers, and also to people who live in areas which have particular problems with tap water.  It can be used in combination with existing rural water tanks.

Raincatcher can be used as an additional unit to an existing water tank. The water stored in Raincatcher has passed through the filtration system, making it excellent for drinking and kitchen use.

Raincatcher is an affordable alternative to tap water filtration units, and perhaps in the long term, to bottled spring and mineral water.

This article featured in Australian Stainless magazine - Issue 34 - Summer 2005.

A weld-free installation process has caught the attention of Victoria’s caving community.

Parks Victoria and ASSDA Member Stainless Tube Mills Fences Pty Ltd recently completed a visitor access upgrade for popular tourist sites, the Royal and Fairy Caves.

STM Fences’ patented assembly process for tubular panels allows for easy installation without the need for welding.

Ranger in charge of Buchan, Dale Calnin, said using this system meant installation wasn’t damaging to the caves’ sensitive environment. 

“The stainless steel balustrading looked fantastic and is a well presented modular system,” he said.

Mr Calnin said this process would be welcomed by the international caving community.

220 metres of grade 316 stainless steel handrails and balustrading were installed to provide strong and durable protective barriers.

The application consisted of 50.8mm diameter top and bottom rails with 12.7mm diameter spigots, square mesh panels and fabricated stainless cable trays by Duraduct Pty Ltd.

Double top rails were also installed, using STM Fences’ innovative swivel cones to help with undulations throughout the caves.

A fine bright finish was applied by Stainless Tube Mills Pty Ltd and fabricated components pickled and passivated by Duraduct for maximum corrosion resistance.

Great caution was taken during installation to protect the caves’ delicate interior.

“STM Fences worked closely with Brettell Developments to ensure installation was handled appropriately for the environmentally sensitive area,” STM’s Peter Martin said.

This article featured in Australian Stainless magazine - Issue 45, Summer 2009.

Aussie Icon Immortalised in Stainless

A 200-year-old Australian icon has been immortalised in a new stainless steel home. The ‘Tree of Knowledge’ is cherished as the birthplace of Australia’s labour movement. It is believed that shearers gathered under the tree in 1891, striking for workers’ rights.

The $6 million timber and stainless steel memorial was officially unveiled earlier this year in Barcaldine, Queensland to house the remains of the tree following its death in 2006. ASSDA Accredited fabricator St Clair Sheetmetal supplied and installed 6.5 tonnes of mirror finished stainless steel cladding to achieve a highly reflective surface and provide a durable and stunning monument.

“We clad all the trusses of the mirror finish stainless steel so it looks like a cathedral inside,” David St Clair said. “The panels make the light reflect down underneath and takes away the brown of the building,” he said. The heritage-listed site is now protected from the elements and the Tree of Knowledge has been given a new lease on life.

This article featured in Australian Stainless magazine - Issue 46, Winter 2009.

New Potential for Mirror Finish

A multi-award winning building design is using stainless steel to reduce its visual impact. ‘Zoo Booth’ is a small free-standing kiosk at Victoria’s Healesville Sanctuary and – thanks to its mirror finished stainless cladding – is very well camouflaged! The design concept came from Melbourne company TS1 Pty Ltd, who launched Transportable Design 1 (TS1) Pop-up Buildings in 2006.

For the unique application at Healesville, ASSDA member Stainless Sections provided grade 304, 1.2 mm stainless steel sheet, polished to a No. 8 mirror finish to reflect the organic surroundings. Stainless
Sections’ Roy Carter said mirror finished stainless was the ideal material to achieve low visual impact in a natural setting whilst maintaining durability in an elemental location. TS1 is an expandable, relocatable space, completely construction-free and can be assembled in one day. It has become a popular solution to extending a living or work place, retail space or even for use as a spare bedroom.

TS1 Director Nadja Mott said her vision reflected a transient, nomadic lifestyle: her creations are transportable, low impact and fully recyclable. Mr Carter said the emerging market for reflective buildings has prompted further innovation to achieve solar reflection capture.

“This material allows concave shaping to be achieved which enhances marketing opportunities for mirror finished stainless in the growing green building market,” Mr Carter said.

This article featured in Australian Stainless magazine - Issue 46, Winter 2009.

stainless integral to design

A dam upgrade project in South Australia has achieved a world-first zero carbon footprint for water infrastructure and has used stainless steel as part of the unique design. The Little Para Dam upgrade incorporates a Hydroplus Fusegate System, with stainless steel fabrication carried out by ASSDA Accredited Fabricator LWA Engineering.

The Fusegates are similar to those built at Jindabyne for the Snowy Hydro in 2007, featuring a cast in-situ concrete design with stainless steel inlet wells and seal fixings in order to provide a 100 year design life and virtually no maintenance. However, for the Little Para dam upgrade, SA Water accepted the lean duplex stainless steel (LDX 2101) proposed by CivilTEC for the superstructure of the units for the following reasons:

• it would provide similar corrosion resistance to 316 grade stainless steel, but with a higher tensile strength (450N/mm²) and at a much lower price;
• an off-site fabrication system would reduce the amount of time required on site at Little Para from eight months to just six weeks, thereby reducing site administration overheads and running costs for all parties involved; and
• the extremely efficient design (by WSP Group) used far less construction materials than would normally be required for a project of this nature and LDX 2101 is manufactured using approximately 65 per cent recycled material.

LWA Engineering Managing Director Larry Watson said LWA Engineering had been working with ASSDA Major Sponsor Sandvik on the stainless steel components of the project.

“With a Carbon Pollution Reduction Scheme on the agenda, a zero carbon footprint has never been more important,” Mr Watson said.

“One of the main reasons SA Water wanted to use this design with this material came down to the reduction in carbon footprint which minimised the offset required to achieve zero emissions. This is the first zero carbon infrastructure project in the country.”

The walls of the Fusegate bucket are formed from a composite steel shell comprising two 4mm thick stainless steel ‘skin’ plates spaced 150mm apart. A lattice work of ribbing is then welded onto the plates.

Around 70 tonnes of LDX 2101 were supplied by Sandvik for the walls and internal ribbing of the five Fusegates. The material was imported in 4mm thick coil form, which was then cut to length at Sandvik’s Sydney premises, with ribs being cut in Melbourne (RCR Laser) and Adelaide. The wall panels were cut on Sandvik’s 2m-4m laser bed to within ±0.2mm of accuracy.

LWA Engineering marked out the 2m high inner and outer ‘skins’ to form the composite wall panels and spot welded the vertical and horizontal 40mm-4mm thick LDX ribs in position before pre-setting and stitch welding. When the two ‘skins’ were brought together they were fixed in position using a 12mm diameter stainless steel rod which is pushed through 13mm holes in the overlapping lugs and welded at the top and bottom rib location.

Each Fusegate wall was fixed to a pre-cast concrete base chamber using a continuously welded stainless steel base plate cast into the concrete during pre-casting. Prefabricated inlet wells comprising 8mm thick LDX plate continuously welded along splice points were bolted into place on site.

The composite wall design saved about 40 per cent of the stainless steel required when compared with a traditional single-plate design.

The Little Para Dam spillway upgrade will be completed in early 2010.

CONTACTS

LWA Engineering
www.lwaengineering.com.au

Sandvik Australia
www.sandvik.com