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The Good News: Protection Is Possible
To select the right material, you’ll first need to take into account the strength, damage tolerance, reliability, safety and longevity you need for your project. In addition, you must also consider chloride concentration, temperature, oxygen, and biology which can be challenging as these variables are ever changing and can affect one another.

• Chloride:  The level of chloride ions in salt water, also referred to as salinity, is one of the most aggressive causes of seawater corrosion. Many things affect the salinity including evaporation (increasing saline levels), precipitation (decreasing), and dilution (decreasing). The chlorides can also increase pitting corrosion in stagnant water.
• Temperature:  Seawater temperature varies greatly from 28.4 F at the poles, up to 95 F in the tropics.  As for any type of water, the warmer it is, the higher the attack of corrosion due to the fact that heat enables the oxide reaction. As a result, applications where there are hot engines or are located in tropical areas will see a higher rates of corrosion.
• Oxygen:  The rate of corrosion in sea water is largely controlled by oxygen diffusion. Corrosion rates will increase with heighted dissolved oxygen concentration.
• Biosphere:  Biofilms in particular affect local corrosion as well as the propagation rate at temperatures below 30-40°C. The effects of the biofilm is also dependent on the existence of crevices, surface deposits, welds, aeration, longevity of seawater exposure and flow conditions. Organic matter and marine organisms are also more prominent in coastal areas and closer to the surface where light can reach, hence enabling plant growth.

Materials for Seawater Rescue
There are a vast enormity of materials which can assist in helping to prevent sea water corrosion, but in this paper we are going to focus on the three we feel are best suited to effectively and economically operate in marine environments.

Monel – Resistant in Rough Waves & Rapidly Flowing Seawater
Monel is extraordinarily resistant to rapidly flowing seawater, with pitting and cracking typically only occurring in a marine environment if the saltwater is stagnant. This characteristic, combined with its ability to prevent bio-fouling and microbial induced corrosion, makes it a durable, cost-effective alloy to use in applications that need wave protection.

Though Monel is extremely resistant to seawater, be cautious when utilizing it alongside steel, iron, zinc and aluminum, as these metals (not Monel) will corrode because of the problem of electrolytic action in salt water (also known as Galvanic corrosion). Monel is a popular choice for applications such as off-shore platforms, as well as power and process plants which use seawater as a coolant.

Titanium – Ideal When Light Weight Is Needed
Titanium has for many years been a gold standard for salt water corrosion resistance, being almost completely unaffected by marine environments. Experiments have been repeatedly performed where titanium was utilized in seawater and sea air situations for years at a time with no change at all. This corrosion resistance is due to the formation of a thin film which is formed by the oxidation of the metal referred to as TiO2. This material is resistant against any liquids containing chlorine.

Titanium is resistant to seawater up to as high as 500F (260C) and has been shown to last almost two decades in tests of polluted seawater. It has been used up to a mile in depth and has shown no signs of pitting or crevice corrosion, even after years of exposure. It has even been shown to resist the agitated effects of tides and currents. In terms of high velocity marine environments, titanium is practically completely resistant to any erosion even up to a velocity of 120 ft./sec.

AL-6XN – The Ultimate for Strength, Weldability & Formability
Designed within the past 30 years, this alloy was specifically formulated to combat seawater corrosion – its sole developmental goal. It is not only economical compared to other options, but it is the ultimate performer when it comes to strength, weldability, and formability in saltwater environments. It’s tensile strength demonstrates 75% higher allowable stresses than stainless steel 316 and more than twice as much for copper-nickel alloys by ASME standards. Also unlike steels, AL-6XN is resistant to SCC (stress corrosion cracking) in chloride. It is also resistant to microbial induced corrosion (MIC) which is common in a biosphere like the ocean – in fact it is preserved against corrosion to about +0.5 VSCE.  Common uses include reverse osmosis desalinization units, power plant service water systems, and seawater heat exchangers.

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Differing analysts predict higher and lower nickel prices in the coming months, but already there is “one thing for sure, the world of stainless fasteners will begin to see higher prices and longer lead times,” Wheeler told FIN. “The recent surge of nickel prices has prompted heavy purchasing from the serious stainless buyers causing producers to become very busy and lead times to stretch out.” pricegrid

Wheeler cited the January export ban of unprocessed nickel laterite ore from Indonesia as starting the nickel price increase. “Combine this with trader speculation of the current situation taking place in Russia and prices have jumped significantly in the last 90 days,” Wheeler told GlobalFastenerNews.com.

Russia is home of Norilsk Nickel, which is the world’s largest miner of nickel and palladium, Wheeler noted.
Another factor is the Ukraine crisis, which has buyers worried about supply from Russia.
FT.com added that a mine shutdown in New Caledonia due to a spill and positive trade data from China also are driving up the nickel price. Nickel buyers in China are “scrambling to secure material for their processing plants” leading speculators to rush in, reporter Xan Rice of FT.com wrote.

Vale SA halted production at its Goro plant in New Caledonia. The mine was anticipated produce 40,000 tons of the world’s two million tons of nickel during 2014. Glencore Xstrata’s Koniambo mine in New Caledonia was producing at a rate below its 26,000-ton forecast.

Nickel for three-month delivery on the London Metal Exchange rose as high as $19,786 a ton May 8, 2014 – topping a peak in March 2012. “The market wants to be long so any sort of bad news acts as a catalyst,” analyst Colin Hamilton of Macquarie told FT.com.

“Nickel is the one commodity with tangible raw material constraints that people can see at this time.”

Indonesia supplies up to a quarter of global nickel production and the export ban is comes from high-grade Indonesian ore. The export ban is unlikely to be lifted analysts told FT.com. Most of the Indonesian nickel goes to China to be processed into nickel pig iron.
China’s inventories “are expected to run out later this year. There is no alternative supply to the Indonesian ore,” according to FT.com.

The nickel market frequently has significant price swings. For example, there was a four-fold price increase from late 2005 to May 2007. By the end of 2008 it was back down.
“We don’t yet know the seriousness of the Goro incident or how long the suspension will last,” said analyst Stephen Briggs of BNP Paribas told FT.com. “But in this market it does not take much to push nickel up.” ©2014 GlobalFastenerNews.com

Courtesy London Metal Exchange

Nickel 8% of Volume, But 60% of Stainless Cost

Excerpts from estainlesssteel.com on the history of nickel:
The global nickel market is dependent upon stainless steel production and stainless steel prices are likewise dependent on the price of nickel.
• Though stainless is mostly made of chromium, stainless pricing reacts primarily to nickel as it makes up 60% of cost even though it is only 8% of SS 304.
According to a historical summary of nickel by estainlesssteel.com, nickel was discovered in 1751, but had limited value until 1820 when it was discovered nickel could strengthen iron. In 1885 the U.S. military found nickel steel create superior guns.
• Wars increase nickel demand and during the Korean war, U.S. production fell short of wartime demand. The U.S. government took control of domestic production until 1957.
• Canada dominated nickel production as the Vietnam war ramped up, but 1969 labor strikes cut production and new mines and plants opened in Australia, Dominican Republic and New Caledonia.
• Nickel became the 7th medal to be traded on the London Metal Exchange in 1979.
• In 1987 stainless steel usage jumped and nickel demand and in Q2 of 1988 nickel produces set a record at $8.17 per pound.
• The collapse of the Soviet Union created a new producer, including today’s largest nickel producer – Norilsk Nickel.
• After a Canadian rebound in production, faster increasing demand in 1999 surprised producers. Canada’s Inco shut down again due to a strike and also lacked cash to re-open mines. Canada’s Falconbridge had smelter problems and Australia’s Western Mining Corp had to shut down for two months. An extended arctic freeze prevent Norilsk from shipping nickel. As demand exceeded supply, prices rose until 2000.
• The U.S. sold its stockpile of nickel in 1999 and is now 100% dependent on foreign imports and scrap.

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The ADP Regional Employment Report measures the change in regional and state nonfarm private employment each month on a seasonally adjusted basis.

April 2016 Report Highlights

Changes in New Jersey State Nonfarm Private Employment: 4,000*

By Sector *

• Goods-producing 200
• Service-providing 3,900
• By Select Industries
• Natural Resources/Mining and Construction 600
• Manufacturing -400
• Professional and Business Services 1,500
• Trade, Transportation and Utilities 0

* Sum of components may not equal total, due to rounding.

http://njbmagazine.com/njb-news-now/adp-new-jersey-added-4000-private-sector-jobs-april/

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