Cryogenic Testing – Advanced Testing

 

Avoidance of brittle fracture even in very low temperature ranges down to -196 ° C

 

In the creative debate about the energy transition, LNG (Liquid Natural Gas), which was previously even scorched as a by-product of oil production, is used as an energy source. Conveying and transport capacities are being created around the world. A special feature of this gas is that it can be liquefied for storage by cooling to approx. -165 ° C. The liquefaction increases the density considerably and reduces the transport volume. The demands on the liquid gas containers are enormous, because they have to be sufficiently insulated to prevent them from heating up. The evaporation would lead to an increase in the pressure in the container.

For large storage tanks, steels in particular are used because of the high safety requirements. The steel with the designation X8Ni9 (1.5662 or ASTM 553 or SA 553) has excellent low-temperature toughness with high strength. In addition to its good mechanical properties, it is suitable for welding.

Safety comes first when building and operating the large storage tanks. For this reason, the structural integrity by guaranteeing the material and weld seam properties must be met.

IWT-Solutions AG is able to carry out fracture mechanical tests at -165 ° C or down to -196 ° C and thus provide confirmation of the quality of steels and welded joints from X8Ni9. In 2018, we successfully qualified a Russian steel manufacturer in a large project.

We are currently working on setting up a test rig for testing X8Ni9 probing bars. We are developing the so far unique experimental setup at the request of a large international steel manufacturer.

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