100
Feature Report
Using Installed Gain
To Improve
Valve Selection
Among other things, this analysis is helpful in
comparing one valve candidate with another and in
exposing over- and under-sized valves
Melissa Niesen, Emerson Process Management
T
he perfect valve to control your
process has been selected. The
valve will pass your maximum
flow. Everything is great, right?
In some cases digging a little deeper
might help. The control valve usually
should not be the most restrictive ele-
ment of the process, but it also should
not be oversized or have performance
issues that do not mesh well with the
process characteristics.
Typically when a valve is selected,
attention is paid to whether the valve
is the correct size by determining the
travel of the valve (openness) at sev-
eral operating points. Often these are
labeled minimum, normal and maxi-
mum. From these conditions, suitabil-
ity can be judged by seeing that cer-
tain rules of thumb are followed. For
example, guidelines may dictate that
the travel at the maximum case is not
higher than 90% and the minimum
case is not lower than, say 15% for a
given control valve. Of course, there are
also many other factors that are con-
sidered, such as cost, pressure class,
flowing temperature, fluid behavior,
presence of particulate in the fluid,
shutoff needs, and the list goes on and
on (see Part 2 of this report, pp. 38–41,
for practical tips on material selection).
Yet another measure of the valve suit-
ability can aid in optimization of the
valve selection: installed gain.
There are times when examining in-
stalled gain is not as helpful as other
times. These situations will be discussed
34 Chemical Engineering www.che.com October 2008
13_CHE_101508_RM1.indd 34
Part 1
Figure 1. The inherent flow charac-
teristics most commonly seen are equal
percentage, linear and quick opening or
modified versions of these
later. However, for now, let’s discuss
what installed gain is and how it relates
to the inherent flow characteristic.
Inherent flow characteristic
In order to understand installed gain,
it is helpful to start by looking at the
inherent flow characteristic of the
control valve. The inherent flow char-
acteristic has the same shape as what
many people might know as a Cv curve.
This is what is seen when the valve-
flow-coefficient (Cv) value of a valve is
plotted versus its travel. The inherent
flow characteristics most commonly
seen are equal percentage, linear and
quick opening or modified versions of
these (Figure 1). The definition of these
curves can be found in ISA standard
ANSI/ISA–75.11.01–1985 (R2002).
These curves show how the capacity
of the control valve changes with re-
spect to travel. However, they do not tell
the whole story. Under certain circum-
stances, inherent flow characteristics
show you how the flowrate of the pro-
cess fluid would change with respect to
valve travel if the pressure conditions
across the valve were held constant as
the travel changed. There are also hid-
den assumptions in these cases.
For incompressible fluids, in order
for the inherent flow characteristic
to match the actual flow characteris-
tic under these conditions (constant
pressure and changing travel) the flow
through the control valve cannot be
choked and the point of incipient cavi-
Percent of rated flow coefficient
g
in
en
op
ck
ui
ar
Q
ne
Li
e
ag
nt
ce
er
lp
ua
Eq
0
0 100
Percent of rated travel
tation cannot be reached at any travel.
When the incompressible fluid starts
to vaporize, the flowrate at a pres-
sure differential is no longer predicted
solely by the Cv value. The liquid pres-
sure recovery factor, FL, must be used
along with Cv when the liquid flow is
choked. It is also assumed that the
liquid density is constant over the full
range of operation.
For a compressible process fluid,
in order for the inherent character-
istic to match the flow characteristic
at constant pressure conditions, the
inlet temperature must be constant
and the pressure-drop ratio factor (xT)
value of the valve must stay constant
for all travels.
The full story, however, reveals that
in reality, pressure conditions across
the control valve are not constant. The
xT and FL values of control valves vary
with respect to control valve travel.
The liquid density and inlet tempera-
tures may also fluctuate.
Installed gain
The benefit of predicting installed gain
is that it allows the process and the
valve to be analyzed together over the
full range of operation. Installed gain
marries the control-valve flow char-
acteristics to the process-system pres-
sure-and-flow characteristics. In order
to control whatever process variable
is important to the system, the control
system will call on the control valve to
adjust its position accordingly. If you dig
past the controllers, transmitters, actu-
ators, and other equipment, ultimately
the valve is seeing the fluid part of the
process as a desired flowrate versus up-
stream and downstream pressures.
The other parts of the system may
express this desired flowrate as an-
9/23/08 11:51:33 AM
 System pressure characteristic
225
200
175
Pressure, psia
150
125
100
75
100 500 1,000 1,500 2,000 2,500 3,000 3,500 4,000
Flow, gpm (US)
Figure 2. This illustrates a system characteristic that might be
found in conjunction with a pump. Assuming the control valve is
not undersized, it will have one position that can fulfill both the
flowrate and the pressure conditions that the system requires
other variable, say a level or a pressure
elsewhere in the process, but the inter-
nals of the control valve that touch the
fluid deal with the flowrate. No matter
what the process variable is, the control
valve is ultimately controlling the flow-
rate of the process fluid by introduc-
ing a variable restriction and, hence,
changing the pressure of the fluid.
The system as seen by the valve in-
ternals can be plotted using curves of
upstream and downstream pressure
versus the required flowrate. Assum-
ing the control valve is not undersized,
it will have one position that can ful-
fill both the flowrate and the pressure
conditions that the system requires.
Figure 2 shows a system characteris-
tic that might be found in conjunction
with a pump.
Note that the differential pressure
the valve sees in Figure 2 decreases as
the flowrate increases. This decrease in
differential pressure is due to a combi-
nation of the pump curve and the sys-
tem losses up and downstream of the
control valve. Assuming the flow is tur-
bulent, the system losses upstream and
downstream of the valve will increase
as the square of the flowrate. This
square relationship causes some of the
behavior in the system characteristic.
Creating installed gain graphs
The installed gain graph can be de-
veloped with knowledge of the system
characteristic and the inherent flow
characteristic of the control valve (de-
fined by Cv and FL or xT coefficients
versus travel).
One way to develop the installed
gain graph is as follows:
1. Develop an installed flow charac-
teristic (Figure 3)
2. Express the installed characteris-
13_CHE_101508_RM1.indd 35
Maximum
Normal
Flow, gpm (US)
Minimum
P1 for valve
P2 for valve
Figure 3. Developing an installed flow characteristic is the
first step in creating an installed gain graph
tic in terms of percent process vari-
able (%PV) versus percent travel
(%Travel)
3. Find the slope of the %PV versus
%Travel graph at each travel
This method is outlined in Ref. [1].
Step 1: Developing the installed-
flow-characteristic graph. In order
to evaluate the installed gain over
the full system operation, the system
characteristic graph should be known.
Three points are not enough to develop
a meaningful installed-gain graph.
Luckily, if the system configuration is
held constant (for instance, the num-
ber of pumps used is constant and the
system restrictions do not vary), this
curve should be easy to approximate.
For several increments of valve
travel, find out where on the system
curve the process will be operated and,
therefore, what the flowrate will be.
The location on the system curve can
be determined by using the equations
in the ISA/IEC valve sizing standard
ANSI/ISA-75.01.01 (IEC 60534-2-1
Mod)-2007 along with the valve coeffi-
cients (Cv and FL or xT ) at that travel.
Alternatively, computer software that
implements the ISA/IEC sizing equa-
tions may be used.
This process is iterative and can be
time consuming if done by hand. The
result is an installed characteristic
graph similar to Figure 3. Note that in
the terminology of the EnTech Speci-
fication, this graph is called the Flow
Gain (Kf).
Step 2: Expressing the flowrate in
terms of %PV. Use the span of the pro-
cess variable measurement device and
its relation to the flowrate to determine
the %PV for the installed-characteris-
tic graph points. If the process variable
is flowrate, this procedure is as simple
Installed flow characteristic
3,000
2,500 Maximum
Normal
2,000
Minimum
1,500
1,000
500
0
0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80 90 100
Valve travel, %
as dividing each flowrate by the span of
the flow meter. If the actual span of the
flow transmitter is unknown, the shape
of the installed gain curves will be in-
structive, but the numerical values will
be of less use. As will be discussed later,
the numerical values from the installed
gain graph are useful when compared
to suggested limits.
Step 3: Developing the installed
gain graph. Find the slope of the
graph from Step 2 at each travel. The
graph of ∆%PV/∆%Travel for each per-
cent travel increment is the installed
gain graph.
It is this installed gain that the rest
of the control components have to deal
with in order to control the process. Fig-
ure 4 shows the results of a valve in-
stalled in the system from Figure 2 with
a flowmeter span of 2,800 gal/min.
Interpreting graph results
Although installed gain has an im-
portant effect on the dynamics of the
interaction between the control valve
and the system, many more factors
would have to be investigated in order
to predict the dynamic behavior. For
example, actuator dynamics, control-
ler tuning, packing friction, and piping
configuration are some of the factors
that also affect the dynamics.
Although the full dynamic interac-
tion of the system and the valve will
not be illustrated by developing an in-
stalled gain graph, there are several
useful things the graph can achieve:
• Reveal the appropriateness of the
valve’s inherent gain characteristic
to the system characteristic
• Show where in the valve’s travel the
gain might impede controllability
• Show the control range of the valve
for the system, such as the travels
Chemical Engineering www.che.com October 2008 35
9/23/08 11:52:54 AM
 Feature Report
Installed gain
2.2
2.0
1.8
1.6
1.4
Gain
1.2
1.0
0.8
0.6
0.4
0.2
0 0
0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70
Valve travel, %
Figure 4. The installed gain graph helps illustrate the rela-
tionship between the control valve and the system
for which the control valve will be
able to perform optimally
• Expose oversized or undersized
valves
• Determine which of two candidate
valves is better suited to provide op-
timal controllability
When using the installed gain graph
to analyze the inherent characteristic
suitability, it is helpful to refer to es-
tablished guidelines. If the installed
gain turned out to be equal to one for
the entire valve travel, the rest of the
control system would not have to com-
pensate for the installed valve gain.
The tuning parameters used at one
travel would deliver equally accept-
able controllability at other travels.
Since the installed gain will not usu-
ally be equal to one throughout the valve
travel, guidelines have been developed.
According to Ref. [1], installed gains of
0.5 to 2.0 are desirable. If the installed
gain value wanders outside of these
limits for travels that are expected to be
used during the control of the process,
the controllability may suffer. Control-
ler tuning that works well at a travel
with a low gain, for example, may cause
an unstable system when used at travel
with a high installed gain.
Using inherent characteristics
Figure 5 shows an example of valves
with two, different inherent charac-
teristics applied to the same system in
Figure 2. These two valves are iden-
tical with the exception of the valve
trim used to characterize the flow. The
valve trim with the linear characteris-
tic results in installed gains that are
high at low travels and low at higher
36 Chemical Engineering www.che.com October 2008
13_CHE_101508_RM1.indd 36
Valve 1: Equal percentage characteristic, Valve 2: Linear characteristic
2.2
2.0
Maximum 1.8
gain
1.6
1.4
Minimum
Gain
1.2
gain
1.0
0.8
0.6
0.4
0.2
80 90 100 0 10
Figure 5. Here, behavior is compared for two valves with two,
different inherent characteristics applied to the same system
travels. The equal-percentage inher-
ent characteristic in this case provides
an installed gain that stays within the
limits for a significantly larger portion
of the valve travel.
Potential controllability problems.
For both of the valves, the gain drops
below the recommended 0.5 lower
limit at higher travels. In these cases,
it is not troublesome because the low
gain occurs at travels higher than
where the maximum flow is expected
and where the flowmeter would have
pegged (exceeded) its full scale value.
Note, however, that the maximum flow
for the linear trim is experienced at a
lower travel than for the equal per-
centage trim. The linear trim is less
restrictive, so its maximum capacity is
moderately higher.
At the lower travels, the performance
difference between these two valves is
more apparent. The installed gain of
the linear valve increases rapidly at
lower travels and even crosses slightly
above the recommended upper limit of
2.0. If a constant controller gain is used
and is optimized at the maximum case,
the process may be difficult to control
at these lower travels. The controller
gain will be too high, possibly leading
to cycling and increased variability.
Some controllers have the capability
to vary their gain depending on valve
travel. However, this practice requires
careful consideration. A discussion of
the issues associated with the charac-
terization of controller gain is beyond
the scope of this article.
Control range. The control range of
an installed valve is the range of trav-
els for which the installed gain stays
Installed valve gain
Maximum
gain
Minimum
gain
Valve 1
Valve 2
20 30 40 50 60 70 80 90 100
Valve travel, %
within the recommended limits of 0.5
to 2.0. Choosing a valve with a con-
trol range that spans over more of the
valve travel and more of the expected
operating range can help optimize the
controllability of the system.
In the previous example, the linear
valve has a control range of 22 to 65%,
while the equal percent valve has a
control range of 14 to 88% when used
with the system in Figure 2.
Oversized valves. Control valves are
often sized larger than is optimal for
process control. One area where this
practice is particularly egregious is
with line-sized butterfly valves. When
a valve is oversized, it must operate
at lower travels and with a severely
reduced control range. Often, a better
choice is to install a butterfly valve that
is smaller than the line size or to choose
a butterfly valve that has better con-
trol characteristics, including a lower
capacity. Figure 6 shows the difference
between using a standard line-sized
butterfly valve and a reduced-size but-
terfly valve in the system from Figure
2. These two high-capacity valves have
similar geometry, but one is smaller.
The reduced-size valve will be operat-
ing from 31 to 80%, however, the line-
sized valve will be operating only from
18 to 46%. This result would be appar-
ent without analyzing the installed gain.
However, the installed gain graph gives
us information in addition to the travels
used. The control range of the reduced-
size valve is 10 to 90% while the control
range of the line-sized valve is only 40 to
58%. The installed gain at lower travels
is so high for the line-sized valve that
stable control could be difficult.
9/23/08 11:54:16 AM
 www.pneumaticproducts-spx.com

Installed gain
Valve 1: Reduced-size, Valve 2: Line-sized
2.5

2.0 Maximum
gain
1.5 Minimum
Gain

gain

1.0
Valve 1

0.5 Valve 2

0
0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80 90 100
Valve travel, %
Figure 6. This installed gain graph compares line-sized ver-
sus reduced-size valves in the system defined in Figure 2

Assumptions
As often is the case when predictive analyses are made,
many assumptions are necessary. Installed gain analysis
is not an exception. Below is a brief discussion of the as-
sumptions upon which this particular article are based:
• The gain value between the control signal and the valve Pneumatic Products Doesn’t Play
position is one. Depending on what equipment is used, Games with the Quality of Your
there may be opportunities to characterize this gain in Compressed Air or Gas!
the valve controller, positioner or actuator. Using these
methods to alter the installed gain also exposes other is- Engineers inherit air systems where reliability, integrity
sues that are beyond the scope of this article and countless devices determine the fate of productivity.
• The valve positioning and controlling equipment is quick
enough to fully respond to changes in the set point. The wrong moves can result in product rejects or
Complicating factors such as packing friction and shaft costly downtime. The right moves keep production,
windup are not taken into consideration, but can be im- profit and your career advancing. Since 1946,
portant factors in selecting a control valve assembly generations of engineers have avoided checkmate by
• There are some systems for which this method does
not correctly predict the installed gain, for example insisting upon legendary Pneumatic Products brand air
systems with a very large volume. The frequency at- and gas treatment systems for their toughest
tributes are such that the installed gain predicted here applications in the nastiest of environments —
(which is a static gain) may no longer be valid, and an
because, there’s no substitute
inherent characteristic other than that predicted here
may be appropriate for the right strategy.
• The fluid is well-behaved. Complicated fluids may re-
• Flows to 20,000 scfm
quire alternate sizing methods beyond what is covered
in the ISA/IEC sizing standard. Examples of fluids that • Pressures to 5,000 psig
may need special consideration are non-Newtonian flu- • Dew Points to -100°F
ids, fluids with entrained gases or solids, and fluids at • Specialty Metals
supercritical conditions ■
Edited by Rebekkah Marshall • Standard Designs or
Built to Specifications
Reference
1. EnTech, “Control Valve Dynamic Specification”, Version 3.0, Nov. 1998.

Author
Melissa Niesen is a senior research engineer with Em-
erson Process Management (301 S. 1st Ave., Marshall-
town, IA 50158; Phone: 641-754-2392; Email: melissa.
niesen@emerson.com). She spent several years in the
valve test and evaluation group performing flow and life
cycle testing on Fisher products before joining the flow
sciences group. She holds a B.S.M.E. and M.S.M.E. from
Iowa State University and is a licensed professional en-
gineer in the state of Iowa. She is a member of ISA and Email: pneumatic.products.sales@dehydration.spx.com • Phone: 352-873-5793
is active in the society’s SP75 subcommittees.

Circle 28 on p. 78 or go to adlinks.che.com/7377-28
Chemical Engineering www.che.com October 2008 37

13_CHE_101508_RM1.indd 37 9/23/08 11:55:10 AM

 Feature Report
Valves & Specialty
Metal Materials
Dean Gambale
Tantaline
T
he role of valves in a process is
far from insignificant. These
components enable engineers to
control the vitals of a process:
temperature, pressure, concentration,
and flow. In some cases, the failure of
a valve could be catastrophic and in
other cases just a headache, but what-
ever your situation, your material se-
lection will surely be one of the most
important elements in determining
the reliability of a valve.
In corrosion applications where a
typical valve material, such as stain-
less steel, doesn’t offer the corrosion
protection that is needed, and polymer
coatings are not feasible due to vari-
ous processing conditions, specialty-
metal materials should be considered.
Specialty-metal valve solutions serve
a niche in the industry, delivering cor-
rosion resistance and mechanical sta-
bility where other materials can fail.
Although usually found in the most
severe applications, these materials
have specific appeal throughout the
chemical process industries (CPI) in-
cluding the chemical, oil and gas, spe-
cialty chemical, pharmaceutical and
food sectors.
This article provides a broad look at
the specialty metal solutions that are
currently available, including titanium,
nickel alloys, zirconium, and the exotic
metal tantalum. (Part 1 of this report,
pp. 34–37, covers the roll of installed
gain in valve selection.) In addition,
this article discusses new commercially
available technologies that relate to
material selection. Different material
options are compared from the corro-
38 Chemical Engineering www.che.com October 2008
14_CHE_101508_RM2.indd 38
Advances in material science
are minimizing the tradeoffs we face
in material selection for valves
sion-resistance, reliability, availability
and material cost perspectives, while
illustrating the advantages, shortcom-
ings, and potential possibilities of each
material option.
The CPI continue to push their pro-
cesses harder in an effort to be as ef-
ficient as possible in a very competi-
tive global market. Running a process
harder usually means an increase in
temperature, pressure, concentration
and flowrate. As a result, even more
demands are placed on equipment,
especially valves, which are critical to
the control, reliability and safety of a
process. In these demanding applica-
tions, engineers are faced with critical
decisions to specify valves that meet
their organization’s targets of perfor-
mance, safety and costs while also tak-
ing into account a plethora of process
related variables and application spe-
cific criteria. To make good decisions,
engineers must evaluate numerous
factors that include the following:
• Corrosion resistance that is needed
for given processing conditions
• Corrosion rates and how they will
affect the valves’ performance and
useful life over time
• Effects that combinations of pres-
sures, temperature, concentration
and flow will have on the valves and
corrosion rates
• Abrasiveness of the processing
fluid or slurry to combat erosion
and abrasion
• Need to accommodate process
swings and variability
Only when these basic conditions are
considered can an engineer begin to
Part 2
make an informed decision on the best
material of construction for valves
that will ensure a high performing,
safe and economical process. Mean-
while, if those conditions are at all
demanding, an understanding of the
specialty-material options that are
available — both traditional and cut-
ting edge — will also be required.
Specialty metals: The basics
Specialty-metal materials are gener-
ally considered to be titanium, nickel
alloys, zirconium and tantalum. Al-
though tantalum is an exotic metal,
this article includes tantalum when
referring to specialty metals.
These specialty metal solutions are
considered for applications where
typical stainless-steel or polymeric
solutions do not offer a level of perfor-
mance that is acceptable. In the case
of stainless steels, they are mechani-
cally excellent, but their corrosion
resistance is limited, especially in
concentrated acids at elevated tem-
peratures. Polymer coatings however
have come a long a way. For example,
flouropolymer coatings have been
able to combine the great corrosion
resistance of PTFE and the mechani-
cal strength of steel in one product.
These polymeric coatings have been
able to satisfy a large need in the cor-
rosion industry; however as with any
material, they are not the solution
for every application. Polymeric solu-
tions struggle at elevated tempera-
tures (greater than 200°C or 390°F),
and aggressive process conditions can
push the temperature limitations of
9/23/08 12:01:28 PM
 metals are mechanically rugged, offer
H2SO4 Corrosion resistance by metal good to superb corrosion resistance,
5 mpy (0.13 mm/yr)
300 and are robust in a large range of pro-
cessing conditions. Depending on the
conditions and severity of the appli-
250 cation, there most likely exists a spe-
Tantalum cialty metal solution. Some things for
200 the engineer to consider when select-
Temperature, °C

Zirconium ing materials include the following:

• Estimated service life of material
150 • Reliability (safety and economic con-
Boiling point curve sequences of failure)
Hastelloy B-3
100 Niobium • Availability and delivery time
• Material costs
Hastelloy C
50
Hastelloy B Estimated service life
Titanium The most important thing to consider
0
when evaluating a specialty metal is
0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80 90 100 the corrosion resistance or corrosion
H2SO4 concentration, wt% rate of the metal in the target media,
as this directly impacts the estimated
Figure 1. Here, the relative corrosion rates of various specialty metals in sulfuric service life of the valve. Each specialty
acid are shown. As is typical, corrosion rates are shown in 5 mills (0.005 in.) per year metal has its own niche, and depend-
(mpy), which, for a valve, would cause problems relatively quickly in creating tight
seals and preventing leaks ing on the processing environment
and the needs of the application, the
metal’s strengths and weaknesses
HCl Corrosion resistance by metal may or may not be suitable. To get a
5 mpy (0.13 mm/yr) better idea about how these materi-
250 als compare, consider Figure 1, which
represents the relative corrosion re-
Tantalum sistances of various specialty metals
200 Zirconium
in sulfuric acid (H2SO4), and Figure
2, which compares those metals in the
Temperature, °C

presence of hydrochloric acid (HCl).

150 Niobium
Boiling point curve
100
Hastelloy B-3
50
Hastelloy B
0 name produced by Haynes Interna-
0 5 10 15 20 25 30 35 40
HCl concentration, wt%
Figure 2. The most important thing to consider when evaluating a specialty metal
is the corrosion resistance or corrosion rate of the metal in the target media. Here,
that measure is compared for specialty metals in hydrochloric acid
polymer solutions significantly lower. plications, the porous nature of the
As the temperature increases, the polymers will allow corrosive gases
polymer softens, thereby compromis- to diffuse through the coatings, which
ing the mechanical integrity of the then corrode the base steel valve.
coating and the performance of the In other cases, the porous nature of
valve. This is especially true if the the polymer lining could be contami-
combination of high temperature and nated, which is especially detrimental
pressures, high flowrate, or mildly in pharmaceutical batch processing.
abrasive particles exist. In some ap- In general, valves utilizing specialty
Chemical Engineering www.che.com October 2008
Typically, corrosion rates are shown in
5 mills (0.005 in.) per year, which for a
valve would cause problems relatively
quickly in creating tight seals and pre-
venting leaks.
As can be seen in these charts, tan-
talum’s corrosion resistance is second
to none, followed by zirconium, nickel
alloys (Hastelloy is the common trade
tional) and titanium in both solutions.
Tantalum. From a corrosion perspec-
tive, tantalum is the most corrosion-
resistant metal that is in common use
and gets its corrosion resistance from
a tenacious oxide layer. Tantalum’s
superb corrosion resistance is compa-
rable to glass and is practically inert
to most oxidizing and reducing acids,
except fuming sulfuric acid, hot alka-
lis and hydrofluoric acid. Taking no
other factors into consideration, tan-
talum metal is an ideal choice from
the corrosion-resistance point of view
giving the engineer the best chances
39

14_CHE_101508_RM2.indd 39 9/23/08 12:01:55 PM

 Feature Report
for success. However, tantalum metal
is also a very expensive material and
is typically cost prohibitive even when
cladded. Only in process conditions
where no other material will perform
adequately has tantalum been the ma-
terial of choice for valves — at least in
its traditional forms.
Typically, tantalum could be found
in a variety applications and indus-
tries that deal with hot concentrated
acids such as sulfuric acid, hydrochlo-
ric acid, and nitric acid in polymer
production, metal pickling, acid pro-
duction, and specialty chemical pro-
duction. Due to its negligible corrosion
rate, tantalum also finds use in the
pharmaceutical and food manufactur-
ing industries where even the smallest
amount of metallic impurity cannot be
tolerated in many products [2].
Recently, however, there have been
developments in processing tanta-
lum metal to create a surface alloy on
valves and other fittings, instrumen-
tation, and equipment. This surface
treatment is based on a chemical-va-
por-deposition process that grows tan-
talum metal onto a base substrate, like
stainless steel, until a thin, uniform,
rugged surface of pure tantalum metal
is created. This relatively new material
option exhibits all the chemical prop-
erties of tantalum, and is an excellent
choice if the engineer desires the corro-
sion resistance of tantalum but cannot
afford high costs. However, this option
should be avoided with slurries or so-
lutions that contain abrasive particles
that could lead to mechanical erosion
and abrasion of the surface.
Zirconium alloys. Zirconium alloys
exhibit excellent resistance to corrosive
attack and work well in many organic
and inorganic acids, salt solutions,
strong alkalies, and some molten salts.
Zirconium owes its corrosion resistance
to the natural formation of a dense,
stable, self-healing oxide film on its
surface. Unalloyed zirconium has ex-
cellent resistance to sulfuric acid up to
60% concentration at the boiling point,
and has excellent corrosion resistance
in hydrochloric acid. Zirconium is also
highly resistant to most alkali solu-
tions up to their boiling point.
Zirconium’s corrosion resistance
could be compared with titanium
in many ways, however zirconium
40 Chemical Engineering www.che.com October 2008
14_CHE_101508_RM2.indd 40
is much more robust than titanium
in withstanding organic acids, such
as acetic, citric, and formic acids at
various concentrations and elevated
temperatures. For all of zirconium’s
attributes it still can be corrosively at-
tacked by fluoride ions, wet chlorine,
aqua regia, concentrated sulfuric acid
(above 80%), and ferric or cupric chlo-
rides [1]. Zirconium has found its way
into many types of applications and
industries including hydrogen perox-
ide production, rayon manufacture,
and the handling of phosphoric acid,
sulfuric acid and ethyl benzene.
Titanium. Titanium is an established
metal when dealing with corrosive ap-
plications. Titanium is available in
a range of different alloys with the
most-corrosion-resistant grades being
titanium 7, 11 (containing 0.15% pal-
ladium), and 12 (containing 0.3% Mo
and 0.8% Ni). In the CPI, titanium
and its alloys offer good corrosion re-
sistance in many process solutions
and owe their corrosion resistance to
the strong oxide film. The oxide film
formed on titanium is more protective
than on stainless steel, and it often
performs well in media such as sea-
water, wet chlorine and organic chlo-
rides. While titanium offers good cor-
rosion resistance to these solutions, it
certainly is not immune to them, espe-
cially at elevated temperatures, such
as seawater at temperatures greater
than 110°C [1].
Titanium solutions can be found
in a variety of industries, including
chemical processing, pulp and paper,
and marine applications. A major use
for titanium is in seawater or brackish
water applications. It is also used ex-
tensively in the production of chlorine.
Nickel alloys. Nickel alloys are com-
monly used when typical steel ma-
terials don’t offer the corrosion per-
formance that is needed. To enhance
the performance of nickel materials
in aqueous-solution service, the most
important alloying elements are Fe,
Cu, Si, Cr, and Mo; with Cr and Mo
playing a major role in nickel’s cor-
rosion resistance (Table). By varying
the concentrations of Cr and Mo in
the nickel alloys, the corrosive envi-
ronments in which nickel alloys can
be successfully applied are varied; but
they typically are found in a range
Approximate Nickel-Alloy
Concentrations
  Cr Mo
C-22 22% 13%
C-276 16% 16%
B-2 1% 28%
of acid, salt and alkali applications.
The addition of chromium (15–30%)
improves the corrosion resistance to
oxidizing solutions, while the addi-
tion of molybdenum (up to 28%) sig-
nificantly improves the resistance to
nonoxidizing acids.
Focusing on some of the more cor-
rosion-resistant nickel alloys, C-22,
C-276, and B-2 all have good corro-
sion resistance in a variety of media.
In the case of HCl, the corrosion resis-
tance of these alloys depends greatly
on the Mo content. The alloy with the
highest concentration of Mo, B-2, ex-
hibits the best corrosion resistance.
In other solutions such as nitric
acid (HNO3), chromium is an essen-
tial alloying element responsible for
providing the corrosion resistance in
this environment. Nickel alloys’ weak-
nesses revolve around their interac-
tion with the media and their environ-
ment in the form of impurities. Under
ideal testing conditions these allos
, for example B-2, work well in pure
de-aerated H2SO4 and HCl, but dete-
riorate rapidly when oxidizing impuri-
ties, such as oxygen and ferric ions are
present. Another important consider-
ation is the presence of chlorides (Cl–).
Chlorides generally accelerate the cor-
rosion attack, but the degree of accel-
eration differs for various alloys [1].
Having a wide range of applicability
in acids, salt solutions, and caustic en-
vironments, nickel alloys have found
their way into a variety of industries
such as chemical, petrochemical, oil
and gas, nuclear, conventional power
generating and paper.
Reliability
The true cost of replacing a valve is
not simply the cost of the part itself.
Engineers must also consider prod-
uct contamination, lost of production,
safety and the high maintenance costs
associated with premature failures.
In many processing environments,
9/23/08 12:02:36 PM
 Specialty materials cost comparison cialty metal valves being metal is used very efficiently, the costs
versus stainless steel manufactured on an as- are actually less than other special
Tantalum order basis. The result metal solutions.
of this market dynamic
Zirconium is that it is common to Conclusions
Titanium see delivery times rang- When considering valves and specialty
ing from 12 to 24 weeks. materials for your operation, there
Hastelloy
In many manufacturing are always tradeoffs. Historically, the
Tantalum surface
treatment on stainless
environments, this is optimal properties of value, life, reli-
undesirable because the ability, availability, and material costs
316 SS
inventory burden is high are rarely realized in one single mate-
0 10 20 30 40 50 60 for the end user. rial set. More often than not, in harsh
316 stainless-steel cost factor
If lead times are a environments the best corrosion resis-
Figure 3. While metals prices are continuously fluc- concern and a specialty tant materials are the most expensive
tuating, the latest estimates for a solid specialty metal metal solution is desired, and the most difficult to procure. In
is anywhere from 4.5 to 10 times the cost of 316 stain-
one option might be to addition to the process requirements,
less steel with the exception of solid tantalum valves,
which could be more than 50 times that of 316 stainless consider specialty-metal organizational goals may influence
surface treatments. For your valve material selection by more
the additional cost usually associated instance, commercial processes exist strongly emphasizing different aspects
with materials that are more corrosion that take standard, stainless-steel such as safety, process reliability, and
resistant is invariably less than the valves and treat them with a tanta- cost reduction strategies. In any case,
disruptions and distractions caused lum metal vapor. This process creates compromises need to be made and it
by failed valves. This is especially true a valve with the corrosion performance ultimately comes down to corrosion
for large processing plants with sev- of tantalum and takes advantage of the protection versus costs.
eral dependent operations. However, availability of standard stainless steel Fortunately, advances in the mate-
this may not be the case for pilot scale materials. The lead times for these rial science are opening up new pos-
production or laboratory settings. In valves ranges from 3 to 6 weeks. sibilities in specialty valve materials.
these situations, it may very well be Through material developments, com-
more cost efficient to replace cheaper Material and product costs binations of materials are being engi-
valves more often. In other settings, When looking at material costs it is far neered to minimize the tradeoffs we
where the scope and specifications of more advantageous to look at the cost face in material selection for valves. ■
a project are not certain and are sub- of ownership versus the initial out-of- Edited by Rebekkah Marshall
ject to change, investing in the more pocket costs. In most cases it is more
robust solutions could provide the en- cost effective to specify materials that References
gineer with greater flexibility and ro- will provide an extended valve life, and 1. Roberge, P. R., “Handbook of Corrosion Engi-
neering”, McGraw Hill, New York, 2000.
bustness of design. this is especially true in areas that are
2. Burstein, G. T., others, “Corrosion Volume 1 &
difficult to replace or are critical to the 2”, Butterworth Heinemann, Oxford, 1994.
Availability and delivery time safety and performance of the opera- 3. Asphahani, A.I., Corrosion of Nickel-Base Alloys
in “Metals Handbook: Corrosion”, Metals Park,
Unfortunately, the availability and de- tion. Usually the increased costs of a Ohio, ASM International, 1987, pp. 641–657.
livery time for many specialty metal specialty metal valve are insignificant
valves is suboptimal. There are several compared to the costs associated with Author
conditions in today’s market that have loss of production time, out of specifi- Dean Gambale is chief ex-
ecutive officer, Americas, of
contributed to this problem. First, spe- cation products and maintenance. Tantaline Inc. (1050 Winter
St, Suite 1000, Waltham MA
cialty metal prices are relatively high Compared to 316 stainless steel or 02541; Phone: 888-268-2586
and fluctuating. Because of this con- even polymers, specialty metals are or +45-7020-0679; Fax:
888-292-9243; Email: dgam-
dition, most manufacturers and dis- relatively expensive and are therefore bale@tantaline.com; Website:
tributors are not willing to stock these reserved for applications that require www.tantaline.com). Tanta-
line’s technology focuses on
materials in any significant quantities. specialty metal properties and charac- the creation of rugged, durable
Therefore, much of the supply chain teristics (Figure 3). While metals prices and extremely corrosion-resis-
tant tantalum metal surface alloys for use in the
is worried about getting caught with are continuously fluctuating, the latest chemical-process, oil-and-gas and pharmaceutical
industries. Gambale has spent 13 years of his pro-
inventories that don’t have the value estimates for a solid specialty metals is fessional career focusing on cutting edge materi-
they once did at the date of acquisition. anywhere from 4.5 to 10 times the cost als and creating useful products that solve real
problems and bring value to the customers. Prior
Hence, materials are typically pur- of 316 stainless steel with the exception to his tenure at Tantaline, he worked at W.L. Gore
chased on an as-ordered basis. of solid tantalum-lined valves, which & Associates for 10 years in product development
and product management, focusing on materials
Second, since valves come in such could be more than 50 times that of 316 utilizing PTFE composites and surfaces. He also
a wide range of size, type, and style, stainless steel. As a cladding, tantalum spent three years at H.C. Starck as business de-
velopment manager focusing on tantalum metal
stocking all these combinations in the is still significantly more expensive than products and technologies. He holds a B.S.Ch.E
from Penn State University and an M.B.A from
various specialty metals is cost prohibi- any of the specialty alloys; however as a the University of Delaware. He currently is an of-
tive. This reinforces the practice of spe- surface treatment, since the tantalum ficer of his local Boston AIChE chapter.

Chemical Engineering www.che.com October 2008 41

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