ITA committee working to remove restrictions on Grade 12 titanium use

Denver-based International Titanium Association’s (ITA’s) Industrial Applications Committee has achieved a significant first step in a project to remove restrictions on the use of Grade 12 titanium on NACE MRO 175, a standard for the petroleum and natural gas industries regarding the use and performance of industrial materials in a corrosive, hydrogen-sulfide work environment. The goal is to open up business opportunities for titanium alloy by removing certain restrictions.

The first step to move the project forward involves working with the Corrosion Centre of Exova Group Plc, West Midlands, U.K., which will conduct testing on titanium Grade 12 and present the findings to Houston-based NACE. Nickel alloys currently are the material of choice under the MRO 175 standard for use in hydrogen-sulfide environments for the oil and gas industry.

Applications for titanium Grade 12 in oil and gas production would include valves, pipes, fittings, and heat exchangers. Under MRO 175, such components must be certified to resist “catastrophic cracking” and failure when operating in a corrosive hydrogen-sulfide environment. The standard addresses an industrial material’s ability to withstand stress cracking in a hydrogen-sulfide environment, also known as a sour service or sour gas environment.

While titanium Grade 12, an alloy that includes nickel and molybdenum, is resistant to hydrogen-sulfide industrial environments, it currently is “not in harmony” with the MRO 175 standard, originally written in the 1980s, in areas such as basic mill practices, plate hardness, and heat-treating techniques, ITA reports. The association believes updating requirements for the production of Grade 12 titanium under the MRO 175 specification will have a positive effect on the global titanium industry.