technical case study
Case Study 2: The Hydrometallurgical Walkway
At a hydrometallurgical plant in Chile material must be selected for a walkway across very corrosive areas in the plant. Service life is 30 years, and three possible material types are being suggested for use: 1. Mild steel - Cheapest option, but the material is to be coated. This would require maintenance and repairing the protective surface every four years. 2. 3CR12 - Unpainted. Every 15 years clean the surfaces with a high-pressure water. 3. Lean Duplex - Expensive material, but with exceptional mechanical and corrosion characteristics. Therefore, the material can be gauged down, meaning less kilograms will be required giving reduced initial material cost. Once again, the results favour the use of 3CR12 with the utility grade showing a 50% reduction in life span costs compared to the mild steel option. Even the Duplex grade with very high initial costs display a reduction of 23% compared to the mild steel option. Take note of the impact of end of life value in the graphic depiction of the cost analysis.
Case Study 3: The Repeat of the Eiffel Tower
Imagine you need to reconstruct the Eiffel Tower with a design life of 100 years. You have the following options: The potential grades would be a 3CR12, a duplex 2101, and mild steel like the material used on the existing tower. The mild steel will be painted with the current maintenance schedule. The 3CR12 will be allowed to form a surface patina. Therefore no maintenance will be required with 3CR12. The duplex material will always be maintained with a high- pressure waterjet every 20 years rendering the new tower shiny. It comes as no surprise that the life cycle costs of the 3CR12 option is around 50% of the mild steel cost. The Lean Duplex version registers at around 77% of the mild steel cost.
27 Issue 2 – 2023
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