Stainless Steel Passes the AcidTest
October 22, 2004 -- Whether it is cola or soy sauce, food and drink manufacturers
around the world rely on stainless steels to resist acid attack and to keep their products fresh.
Presenters from Mexico and Japan told their stories at the Stainless Steel World - America Conference in
Houston, Texas, U.S.A. Presentations illustrated how by proper selection, stainless steels are able to
give excellent service in very different food environments.
Professors Benjamin Salas and Michael Schorr of the University of Baja California, Mexico reported on the
extensive use of austenitic stainless steels, particularly types S30403 (304L) and S31603 (316L), for a
variety of food equipment applications. In addition to the usual dairy and food manufacturing equipment,
there is a large demand for stainless steel equipment for water bottling and soft drinks such as cola. Mexico
claims to be the world's largest consumer of cola.
Nippon Yakin Kogyo Co. Ltd. presenter, Yutaka Kobayashi, reported on the success of using 6% molybdenum super austenitic stainless steel NAS254N (UNS N08367) in the manufacturer of soy sauce. Soy sauce contains about 17% salt (sodium chloride) along with other ingredients and typically has a rather low pH of about 4.7. A number of stainless steels including the duplex alloys were evaluated for the soy sauce application before selecting NAS254N as most suitable for the service. The soy sauce equipment market in Japan is a significant one, for example one of the leading manufacturer has used 900 tonnes of the alloy.
For more information, please contact:
Richard E Avery
Consultant to
Nickel Institute
117 Winterwood Drive
Londonderry, NH 03053
Tel. 1-603-434-2625
