Peace of mind for H&I: The perfect balance between safety and performance

From oil rigs to petrochemical plants, operators are faced with the imperative of boosting output without sacrificing safety. The choice of hydraulic and instrumentation (H&I) tubing is critical when it comes to eliminating unnecessary risks, reducing downtime, preventing leaks and guarding against accidents. Combined with immediate support, that’s what we call the Sandvik Peace of Mind Standard.

It’s time to corrosion-proof your business

High humidity and high temperatures mean a high risk of corrosion. Lower quality H&I seamless tubing rapidly pits or corrodes under these conditions, and the presence of saltwater only makes things worse.

Inaccessible, chloride-rich environments dramatically reduce tube lifetime. Research shows that material that would last 100 years or more in dry conditions can have a service life of as low as five years. Field trials and lab results show that pitting and crevice corrosion occurs beneath clamps, support trays and connections.

Sandvik 3R60 is a grade that exceeds the international standard ASTM 316L when it comes to molybdenum content (2.6% vs 2.0%) as well as other properties, making it more corrosion-resistant. Super duplex grades like Sandvik SAF 2507TM are made for more corrosive chloride-bearing environments, where weight reduction is desirable.

As the chart below shows, Sandvik grades display higher pitting resistance equivalent (PRE) values than standard ASTM grades, meaning they are more resistant to pitting corrosion.

Zero tolerance for leaks

Leaks cause losses – of hydraulic fluids, chemicals, instrumentation control and ultimately of time and money as a result of shutdowns, replacement and repair costs. Tests from our laboratories and those of some leading connector and fitting manufacturers revealed significant deviations in dimensional tolerance. This means increased risk of leaks in H&I tubing.

The ASTM A269 tube has an outer diameter dimensional tolerance of +/-0.13 mm. But the comparable Sandvik tube has an allowable variance of just +/-0.08 mm. This stricter standard means that our tubes are far more leak-proof at the joint between connector and tube, allowing a vacuum-tight seal.

All bends, no breaks

Wall collapses and cracks in tubing are bad news for any H&I system. Controlled hardness is essential to ensure both easy bending and leak-free connections. Whether using a hand-held bender, automated bender or a simple spanner, it’s crucial to have a consistent hardness so that operatives can work quickly and with confidence.

The right hardness allows for accurate, tight radius bends of up to 180 degrees without wall collapse. One of the big potential problems is variations in hardness within the same tube batch. Sandvik tubing is optimized for hardness.

Acceptable standards of hardness vary. For ASTM 316L tube the maximum requirement is a hardness level of HRB 90. Sandvik was the first to achieve HRB 80 (lower numbers are better), as well as “30 HCR” with Sandvik SAF 2507TM super duplex tubes. These are strong yet softer than the standard.

‘Obsessed with technical challenges’

In a recent customer survey, we heard a common refrain: Our metallurgists are seen as being ‘obsessed’ with technical challenges. We take this as a huge compliment.

This commitment to finding great solutions has gone into our range of H&I tubing, expertly engineered to reduce downtime, prevent leaks and guard against accidents.

Find out more about hydraulic & instrumentation tubing from Sandvik