Duplex stainless steels are called “duplex” because they have a two-phase microstructure consisting of grains of ferritic and austenitic stainless steel.
Strength: Duplex stainless steels are about twice as strong as regular austenitic or ferritic stainless steels.
Super duplex valves are used in many industries such as petrochemical, chemical equipment, food processing, oil, and gas.
As with all stainless steel, corrosion resistance depends mostly on the composition of the stainless steel. For chloride pitting and crevice corrosion resistance, their chromium, molybdenum, and nitrogen content are most important. Duplex stainless steel grades have a range of corrosion resistance, similar to the range for austenitic stainless steels, i.e from Type 304 or 316 (e.g. LDX 2101©) to 6% molybdenum (e.g. SAF 2507©) stainless steels.
Duplex stainless steels have lower nickel and molybdenum contents than their austenitic counterparts of similar corrosion resistance. Due to the lower alloying content, duplex stainless steels can be lower in cost, especially in times of high alloy surcharges. Additionally, it may often be possible to reduce the section thickness of duplex stainless steel, due to its increased yield strength compared to austenitic stainless steel. The combination can lead to significant cost and weight savings compared to a solution in austenitic stainless steel.
Duplex valves are versatile and can be used in various applications where reliable and efficient flow control is required, for example: chemical processing, oil and gas pipelines, water treatment, power generation and so on.