Sanitary Stainless Steel Fittings: The History Of Sanitary Stainless Steel

As far as the materials science world goes, it turns out that the invention of stainless steel is actually relatively new. In fact, stainless steel was produced only a little over 100 years ago. In comparison to naturally occurring metals, like iron, stainless steel is the new kid on the block amongst metal giants. Known as ‘the miracle metal’ by one prominent metallurgist, stainless steel would help shape the industrial landscape of the world from its inception to modern day.

At first, this seems hard to believe, given the prevalence of stainless steel in the modern era. Stainless steel dominates our kitchen as part of our refrigerators, ovens, sinks, and countless other surfaces. The ubiquity of stainless steel is certainly a testament to what an important breakthrough that it was - after all, your friendly providers of stainless steel sanitary valves and other stainless fittings here at Chemseal couldn’t manufacture and distribute our stainless steel sanitary fittings without, well, stainless steel. In today’s post, we pay homage to the modern, sanitary material we all know and love as stainless steel by outlining the history and origins of sanitary stainless steel.

WHY STAINLESS?

Before we trace the outline of stainless steel’s history, what’s the importance of stainless steel? Well, the secret to the success of stainless steel lies in its incredible physical and chemical properties. Stainless steel has very high corrosion resistance, a heat resistance of up to 1200 degrees celsius, and superior weldability. Additionally, as most people know, stainless steel does not rust and is extremely durable.

On top of all these awesome stainless benefits, stainless steel does not readily react with many substances and is actually relatively cheaper than other specialized, non-corrosive alloys. It’s no wonder that the presence of stainless steel is so widespread in many products!

HUMBLE BEGINNINGS

The very beginnings of stainless steel can be roughly traced back to the discovery of ‘rustless’ steel, a durable material that wasn’t affected by oxidation. Though there were many prior attempts, in 1913, Harry Brearley of Sheffield, UK discovered this so-called ‘rustless’ metal. The first true stainless steel that Brearley invented contained a chromium content of 12.8 percent. Let our sanitary stainless steel fittings company stress that chromium is an extremely important aspect of stainless steel, as it acts as the resistance to corrosion. To get chromium in his rust-proof steel, Brearley successfully added chromium to molten iron.

Brearley stumbled upon this discovery during the early onset of the First World War, while trying to figure out why the internal surfaces of gun barrels were eroding so fast. Finally, it looked like Brearley had figured out a solution for rust-proof gun barrels, and eventually a host of other rust-proof items. With this seemingly simple addition of one metal to another, stainless steel would soon be on its way to becoming an industry-standard material with countless practical applications.

IMPROVEMENTS

After Brearley’s initial discovery of stainless steel, improvements to rudimentary stainless steel began to take place at a fairly rapid pace. Just six years after Brearley’s discovery of stainless steel in 1913, Elwood Haynes obtained an official patent on martensitic stainless steel, which refers to a very hard form of a steel crystalline structure, or a crystal structure that is formed by diffusionless transformation, according to “The History of Stainless Steel” by Harold M. Cobb.

Ten years after Haynes obtained his martensitic stainless steel patent in 1919, William J. Kroll of Luxembourg was the first person to discover precipitation-hardening stainless steel, a heating technique used to increase the yield strength of various malleable materials. One year after Kroll’s discovery, duplex stainless steel, a microstructure material composed of roughly 50 percent austenite and 50 percent ferrite steel, was first produced in Sweden at the Avestra Ironworks. In a matter of less than two decades, stainless steel was already becoming stronger, more advanced, and more applicable to a variety of uses.

THE FINER THINGS

In the early days of stainless steel, before stainless steel sanitary valves and other sanitary stainless steel fittings of today, stainless steel was often used to produce the finest, most durable and best-looking product that money could buy. In 1929, the Rolls-Royce automobile company was the first to use stainless steel on an automobile. They used stainless steel in the radiator grille of one of their models, and it produced the most striking grille imaginable for that point in time.

One year later, The Chrysler Building opened up in New York City. At the time, The Chrysler Building was the most ornate and tallest skyscraper on the planet. Sure enough, the top 100 feet of the tower was constructed with Nirosta stainless steel, which made it the most visible and prominent building in the iconic New York City skyline.

METAL AT A COST

Before the 1970’s, stainless steel was an extremely expensive material - costing roughly 15 times more than it’s traditional, ordinary steel counterpart. One metallurgist in 1970 discovered a process that would cut the cost of stainless steel in half and produce better, more durable steel.

However, this process was discovered in a lab, and the metallurgist found it difficult to reproduce on a larger, industrial scale. Although the process took twelve years, the process of stainless steel production was eventually optimized for large-scale production.

DIFFERENT GRADES

Over the last 100 years or so, about 100 grades of stainless steel have been discovered and eventually made commercially available. These grades fall under four main family groups: martensitic, ferritic, austenitic, and duplex. Ferritic and martensitic stainless steels are magnetic while austenitic stainless steels are nonmagnetic.

Different types of stainless steel have varying quantities of other alloying metals such as nickel, titanium, and copper, added to them. Generally, carbon and nitrogen are also added to enhance the overall characteristics of stainless steel.

A GREENER METAL

Due to the durability of stainless steel, it has prolonged service life for many machines and products, and as such, it does not require frequent replacements and repairs. Stainless steel is also 100 percent recyclable and does not degrade when reprocessed, which allows for multiple life cycles. Compared to other steels, the sustainability of stainless steel is unmatched.

As the sustainability benefits of stainless steel become more widely known, the growth of stainless steel is likely to increase. Recently, researchers have even found that coating stainless steel with certain bio-inspired adhesives makes the surface anti-bacterial, which adds even more value to the long list of benefits associated with stainless steel.

TODAY

China is the largest producer of stainless steel in the world. Stainless steel has a massive range of applications, from the stainless steel sanitary butterfly valves and stainless steel sanitary ball valves that Chemseal provides, all the way to producing massive architectural structures, like the Cloud Gate sculpture in Chicago.

Stainless steel has no doubt revolutionized the modern world and has found many applications in nearly every manufacturing sector, including healthcare, catering equipment, automotive industries, construction, and naturally, stainless steel sanitary fittings. Without stainless steel, Chemseal would not be able to provide many industries with niche products like stainless steel pipe clamps, stainless ball valves, and other sanitary stainless steel tube fittings.

So the next time you’re in your kitchen or picking up some milk, or even taking your prescription medication, be sure to thank stainless steel for efficiently powering industries with sanitary tubing and non-oxidizing components for the past several decades. Though it might seem indirect, stainless steel makes our everyday lives easier and more efficient.

Mar 9th 2017 Chemseal