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Applications

Fourteen industries where wet, salty or acidic service would destroy a carbon steel wall and where an all-alloy wall would cost more than the project can carry. For each one, the configuration we would recommend.

Discuss your application Steel grade data sheet

Stainless steel storage tanks and process piping at a chemical plant

The rule that decides everything

If the corrosion is coming from the process side, clad plate and clad pipe give you alloy performance at steel cost. If the corrosion is coming from the outside — salt spray, soil, marine atmosphere — the answer is usually a different finish, a coating or a higher-alloy base pipe, not more cladding. Tell us which side is doing the corroding and we will point you at the right configuration.

By industry

Fourteen service environments

Where the service is flow, the answer is clad pipe. Where the service is containment — a column, a tank, an absorber, a digester, an autoclave or a decorative panel — the answer is clad plate. Every environment below has at least one clad-plate service alongside the piping; each card notes the form we would supply.

Refinery vacuum distillation tower with overhead vapour duct and condensers

Hydrotreater reactor vessel and sour water stripper column

1 · Petrochemical & refining

Vacuum tower overheads, hydrotreater and sour-water columns, amine regenerators and caustic service. The process side needs alloy; the pressure shell does not. Clad plate lets a vessel be designed to the same wall thickness as carbon steel while the wetted surface stays resistant to naphthenic acid, H₂S and chloride salts.

Typical: 316L, 317L, 825, C-276 cladding on SA516 Gr.70 or Q345R

Clad steel plate & dished headsClad pipeAlloy tube

Amine regenerator column with reboiler piping — Amine regenerator

Caustic evaporation bodies with nickel clad shells — Caustic concentrator

Gas field gathering flowlines over arid terrain

Slug catcher with horizontal separator vessels

2 · Oil & gas gathering

Wet CO₂ and H₂S in gathering lines, flowlines and trunk lines corrode carbon steel from the inside at a rate that requires inhibitors, frequent pigging or replacement. A metallurgically bonded clad line removes the corrosion allowance entirely and keeps the pressure rating of the base steel. On the same system, slug catchers, test separators and scrubber vessels are clad plate — the same liner alloy over a pressure-vessel steel shell.

Typical: 316L, 2205, 625 liner in API 5L X52–X70

Clad pipeClad plateBends & fittingsPrefabricated pipe spools

Clad pipe spools and induction bends in a fabrication yard — Clad pipe spools & bends

Inlet scrubber vessel with open manway showing internals — Inlet scrubber internals

Offshore platform topsides process piping and risers

Three-phase production separator on platform deck

3 · Offshore & subsea

Seawater at elevated temperature defeats 316L through chloride stress corrosion cracking, and weight drives installation cost. Super duplex and nickel-alloy clad line pipe solves both at once: cracking immunity, higher yield strength, and a wall that does not have to be all-alloy. The same construction carries into plate: topside process vessels, seawater coolers and riser components are clad plate or clad forgings.

Typical: 2507, Zeron 100, 625 or C-276 liner; DNV-OS-F101

Clad pipeClad plateRiser sectionsSeawater systems

Subsea production manifold on the seabed — Subsea manifolds

Seawater cooling skid with pumps and piping — Seawater cooling skid

Reverse osmosis membrane pressure vessel rows

4 · Desalination & seawater

High-pressure brine piping, reverse-osmosis seawater headers, evaporator shells and brine heaters. Chloride pitting and crevice corrosion make 316L a two-season material here. Duplex 2205 handles ambient seawater; 2507 covers the high-temperature brine stages. Where a partition or chamber wall sees brine on both faces, that is a double-sided plate — 2205 on each face, and because the section is permanently wet the core is specified to a vessel-grade steel and the cut edges are sealed rather than an economy core used.

Typical: 2205, 2507 cladding and pipe made entirely of duplex

Clad plateDouble-sided cladClad pipeDuplex tube

Large brine discharge pipelines by the coast — Brine discharge piping

Deaerator vessel with steam piping — Deaerator vessel

5 · Chemical & fertiliser

Sulphuric and phosphoric acid service, ammonium nitrate solution tanks, evaporator bodies and acid coolers. These are the environments that justify 904L, 825 or C-276 — and the ones where cladding pays back fastest, because the alloy being saved is the most expensive one in the catalogue.

Typical: 904L, 825, C-276, 254SMO cladding

Clad plateClad pipeNickel alloy plate

Ammonium sulphate crystallizer with agitator — Ammonium sulphate crystallizer

Acid unloading skid with stainless transfer piping — Acid transfer skid

Sugar mill clarifier and evaporator vessels

6 · Food, beverage & sugar

Juice and syrup tanks, evaporators, crystallisers, molasses storage and CIP circuits. Sugar processing is particularly aggressive to carbon steel, and hygiene rules out any coating that could flake into product. Clad plate gives a genuine stainless bore with no rust, no metallic taste and no coating to fail.

Typical: 304, 304L, 316L cladding on Q235B or A516

Clad plateTanks & vessels2B / BA finishes

Falling-film juice evaporator columns — Juice evaporators

Molasses storage tanks with agitators — Molasses storage

Polished stainless process vessels in a clean room

Water for injection storage and distribution loop

7 · Pharmaceutical & biotech

Reactors, fermenters, WFI storage and clean steam systems. What matters here is a smooth, cleanable, corrosion-free contact surface with full traceability — which is why 316L, BA or electropolished finishes and EN 10204 3.1 certificates are the standard request.

Typical: 316L clad plate, 316L plate and tube, BA finish

Clad plate316L tubeFull traceability

API crystallizer vessel with jacket piping — API crystallizer

Purified water distribution skid — Purified water skid

8 · Pulp & paper

Digesters, bleach plant washers, chlorine dioxide stages and black liquor handling. Chloride and chlorate service in the bleach line is where 317L, 904L and duplex grades displace 316L, and where large vessel shells make cladding the economical answer.

Typical: 317L, 904L, 2205, 254SMO cladding

Clad plateDigester shellsDuplex pipe

Black liquor evaporator bodies and vapour ducts — Black liquor concentrator

Chlorine dioxide process piping and scrubber — Chlorine dioxide piping

Large flue gas ducts entering a wet stack

9 · Power generation & FGD

Flue-gas desulphurisation absorbers, ducting, stack liners, chimney dampers and condenser water boxes. Wet SO₂ with chlorides is aggressive to everything except the higher alloys, and these are large, lightly loaded structures — exactly the case where clad steel plate beats all-alloy construction on cost by a wide margin.

Typical: 316L, 2205, C-276, 625 cladding

Clad plateDuctingAbsorber shells

Gypsum slurry pumps and pipe manifolds — Gypsum slurry piping

Absorber spray headers and mist eliminator modules — Spray headers & demisters

Water treatment basins with stainless weirs

Egg-shaped sludge digesters with gas piping

10 · Water & wastewater

Municipal water tanks, clarifiers, sludge digesters and sewerage headworks. Sulphate-reducing bacteria in sewage generate H₂S that destroys the crown of a carbon steel tank in a few years. A 316L or duplex clad crown and shell ends the maintenance cycle.

Typical: 316L, 2205, 2304 cladding

Clad plateTank shellsStainless pipe

Aeration basin with stainless air piping grid — Aeration piping

Chlorine contact channels with steel weirs — Chlorine contact channels

Chemical tanker deck with cargo tank domes

11 · Marine & shipbuilding

Ballast water treatment systems, exhaust-gas scrubber towers, seawater cooling lines and chemical-tanker cargo interfaces. Constant salt spray and immersion. Solid duplex covers the small parts; large scrubber shells, tank bulkheads and deck structures are clad plate — corrosion face where the medium is, shipbuilding steel where the strength is.

Typical: 2205, 2507, 625; GB/T 43109 ship & offshore clad; class society approvals

Clad pipeClad plateDuplex plateFittings

Ship exhaust gas scrubber tower — Exhaust scrubber tower

Chemical tanker cargo manifold valves — Cargo manifold

Mine slurry pipeline across rugged terrain

12 · Mining & mineral processing

Slurry transport, tailings lines, thickener overflow and acid leach circuits. Abrasion and corrosion arrive together, which is what a clad or composite pipe with a wear-resistant or corrosion-resistant bore is designed for. In plate, the same logic runs bigger: HPAL autoclaves and acid-leach vessels are among the most demanding clad plate applications — 625 or titanium over a pressure-vessel shell — while thickener decks, hoppers and chutes take clad or wear plate. Service life several times that of carbon steel is routine.

Typical: Cr26 wear alloy, 316L, 2205 liner in Q235B pipe

Clad pipeClad plateWear plateBends

Large circular thickener tank — Thickener

Reagent tank with agitator and dosing pumps — Reagent tanks & agitators

Elevator car interior with decorative clad panels

Building entrance with clad columns and facade panels

13 · Architecture, elevator & interiors

Cladding panels, elevator doors and interiors, façade louvers, column covers and feature walls. A genuine stainless face in hairline, mirror, embossed or PVD colour over a structural steel core — lighter, stiffer and cheaper than solid stainless of the same rigidity, and available double-sided and perfectly flat. Dry interiors and elevator cars can run an economy 201 core; coastal façades and any panel that gets wet stay on 304 or 316L faces over a weathering or vessel-grade core layer.

Typical: 304, 316L; No.4, 8K, embossed, PVD, AFP finishes

Double-sided cladDecorative finishesGrooved & folded panels

Hotel lobby PVD stainless feature wall — Lobby feature walls

Escalator with brushed stainless balustrade panels — Escalators & door frames

Amine absorber column at a carbon capture plant

14 · Hydrogen & carbon capture

A newer service with the same logic. Hydrogen embrittlement limits the base steel grade, while CO₂-rich and amine environments attack the bore — so the specification tends towards a lower-strength, embrittlement-resistant base metal with a 316L or nickel-alloy liner, and often a hardness-controlled weld. On the capture side, amine absorber columns and CO₂ storage vessels are clad plate with the same liner grades.

Typical: 316L, 825 or 625 liner inside an L245–L450 base pipe

Clad pipeClad plateProject-specific

Hydrogen compressor station piping — H2 compressor station piping

Liquid CO2 bullet storage tanks — CO2 storage vessels

Global supply

Designed for the world's
toughest climates

High humidity, monsoon rain, coastal salt spray and year-round temperatures above 30 °C. These are the conditions that turn a specification that works in northern Europe into a maintenance problem on a tropical coast or a desert refinery.

Passivate before you ship

Fabrication leaves free iron on the surface. Acid passivation restores the passive film so the material starts its service life already protected, rather than corroding from the first rainfall.

Moisture-barrier export packing

VCI film, desiccant and sealed crating for the sea voyage. Condensation in a container crossing the tropics is one of the most common causes of white rust on arrival.

Duplex where chlorides are elevated

Hot coastal service keeps chloride stress corrosion cracking within reach of 316L in concentrated brine. 2205 removes the risk for a modest premium.

Recommended for demanding projects

Coastal & marine structures2205 / 316L

Food, beverage & sugar mills304L / 316L

Petrochemical estate piping316L / 825

Seawater & desalination2205 / 2507

Elevator & interior panels304, No.4 / PVD

Water & wastewater tanks316L / 2205

FGD & power plant ducting316L / C-276

Shipping to Bangkok, Laem Chabang, Songkhla and other ASEAN ports on FOB or CIF terms. Form E / RCEP certificates of origin available.

At a glance

Clad steel plate, or all-alloy?

A blunt guide. Cladding is not always the answer, and we will tell you when it is not.

Situation	Best answer	Reason
Large flat or cylindrical surfaces, alloy on one side	Clad plate	Maximum alloy saving; fabrication is unchanged from carbon steel.
Long pipe runs, medium to large diameter	Clad pipe	All-alloy pipe becomes scarce and expensive above DN600; clad pipe does not.
High pressure with corrosion on the bore only	Metallurgically bonded clad pipe	The liner is counted in the pressure design, so the pipe wall is not wasted.
Corrosion on both sides, or two-sided appearance	Double-sided clad plate	Symmetrical construction, alloy on both faces, minimal distortion.
Small components, valves, pumps, fasteners	Solid stainless or alloy bar	Too small for cladding to make sense; buy the steel grade you need.
Low-pressure, low-consequence water lines	Cement-lined or coated carbon steel	No reason to pay for alloy performance you will never stress.
Corrosion coming from outside, not inside	Coating, wrapping or cathodic protection	Cladding protects the wrong surface.

Your application

Describe the operating conditions,
and we will spec the material.

Process medium, chloride level, temperature, pressure and quantity. That is enough for us to recommend the configuration, the steel grade and the finish — and to tell you honestly if a simpler material would do the job.

Talk to us Clad plate range

Mr. Cui — Sales Manager

+86 158 5280 5117

sales@relyonmetals.com