Development of Zirconium for Use in the Chemical Processing Industry

Zirconium alloys have been used in various applications for the past 60 years. The development of this material for use in the chemical and petrochemical industry, however, has taken more of a focused effort over the past four to five decades. This major effort has included significant production development from the zirconium sponge to the final product forms and then through the major processes required to qualify these products for use in international material standards. As the commercialization of these industrial-grade alloys continued into newer applications and much larger equipment, it required significant effort to develop unique equipment fabrication procedures and welding processes for this material. This included working with chemical producers, design companies, and equipment fabricators worldwide to identify the optimum chemical environments and to develop fabrication procedures and welding processes to construct the needed equipment. Thousands of corrosion tests were performed in corrosion laboratories and in-service environments to fully document the optimum corrosion properties of zirconium to bring this material to where it is today. This article describes the history of how the zirconium alloys were developed for industrial uses. It includes the development and approval of the zirconium products and covers the design work and fabrication needed for equipment fabrication. Finally, it reviews how and when zirconium's excellent corrosion resistance was identified and describes some of the major corrosive media that this material is currently being used in.