Artificial Intelligence Presents New Opportunities for Stainless Steel Suppliers

Artificial Intelligence presents new opportunities for stainless steel suppliers to demonstrate the lower total cost of ownership of their materials in specific applications. The following example of stainless-steel opportunities in triple offset butterfly valves shows the level of detail relative to the performance of stainless which is now available. Stainless steel plays a crucial role in the design and construction of triple offset butterfly valves, a specialized type of industrial valve used to control the flow of various media, including gases, liquids, and slurries.

By Robert McIlvaine, President and Founder – The McIlvaine Company.

Here are some of the keyways that stainless steel contributes to the functionality and performance of triple off-set butterfly valves:

Corrosion Resistance:

Stainless steel alloys provide excellent corrosion resistance, allowing these valves to withstand exposure to a wide range of aggressive media and environments. This is important for applications involving corrosive fluids, chemicals, or high-temperature processes.

Durability and Strength:

The inherent strength and hardness of stainless steel make it well-suited for the demands of triple offset butterfly valve design. These valves experience significant mechanical stresses and wear during operation, and stainless steel components can withstand these forces better than softer materials.

Temperature Tolerance:

Stainless steel retains its mechanical properties and structural integrity over a wide temperature range, from cryogenic to high-temperature applications.

This allows triple offset butterfly valves made with stainless steel to be used in a variety of process conditions.

Sealing Performance:

The triple offset design of these valves relies on the tight sealing between the valve disc and the body. Stainless steel components can be machined to extremely tight tolerances, improving the sealing capability. Stainless steel also provides a smooth, corrosion-resistant seating surface for the valve disc, enhancing the overall sealing integrity.

Maintenance and Longevity:

The durability and corrosion resistance of stainless steel components in triple offset butterfly valves con-tributes to long service life and reduced maintenance requirements. Stainless steel parts are less prone to wear, pitting, or degradation, leading to extended valve lifetimes and lower overall operating costs.

The use of stainless steel is critical in the design and construction of high-performance triple offset butterfly valves, providing the necessary corrosion resistance, strength, and sealing capabilities required for reliable operation in demanding industrial applications. Stainless steel will be shaped by AI and applied to the various niches for the offset valves.

It is no longer acceptable to forecast just the butterfly valve market in Asia for the chemical industry. It is now necessary to forecast the segment where triple offset butterfly valves are the best choice. The chemical industry involves a wide variety of applications, therefore general forecasts are not very valuable. One segment is coal to chemicals. In Asia, much of the plastics start as coal. China is the largest producer of chemicals from coal, while Indonesia is embarking on a robust program.

A valve supplier determining whether to pursue this niche of triple offset valves for the coal gasification market must first refine the specific application. The coal gasification process is not only the basis of coal to chemicals but also of syngas used to replace liquefied natural gas (LNG).

Sinopec is continuing to pursue coal gasification to reduce LNG imports. In addition, small-scale LNG systems where coal is gasified and then liquefied are trucked to small power plants.

The decision to pursue a special market such as coal gasification in China is shaped by the competitive situation.

Offshore manufacturers have been encouraged to set up manufacturing facilities in China. About 75% of industrial valves used in China are manufactured locally.

Each market opportunity should be assessed based on the ability to reduce customer cost of ownership and at the same time achieve a high EBITDA despite competition. This involves assessment of manufacturing, distribution, and triple offset butterfly comparisons to competitor offerings. In cases where distribution may not be as strong as competitors, it may be necessary to focus on triple offset butterfly sizes larger than twenty-six inches and possibly even the very large special valve sizes. The applications have very severe abrasion potential, and this may make a specific design a better option.

Decisions can be made by energy companies such as Shell and Sinopec, who own their production facilities. Sinopec, based in China, is the world’s largest combined chemical and oil and gas company. Shell is European-based but has a major presence in coal gasification in China. Siemens and GE supply complete gasification systems and have their proprietary gasifier designs. Both have many installations in China.

KBR, based in the U.S., is an engineering company with a proprietary gasification system. It has large systems operating in China and ongoing projects. KBR has arrangements with equipment suppliers in the Chinese market to ensure the products are available as needed. The opportunities for triple offset butterfly valves are complex and an aggregate of specific niches. Coal to chemicals is a niche involving coal gasifiers, but this leads to other niches such as coal to syngas and coal to blue hydrogen. Smaller TOVs are available through stocking distributors and may limit competition. However, in large sizes shipped from the factory, this can be an advantage as factory inspection is often stipulated.

Political dynamics are another variable. A large part of the market is in Asia, therefore the policies for the Chinese government will be variable. The decision to pursue a particular opportunity must account for all these factors. Fortunately, with AI, information on all these variables is available.