Viabilidade técnica e econômica da substituição do aço carbono por aço inoxidável nos tubos de transporte de trigo lavado

Abstract

In grain processing companies, specifically wheat for the production of flour and derivatives, the most critical operation is washing them, since transport through tube guides and screws without end, still in the wet state and causing different types of corrosion in the equipment. The solution usually adopted is the simple replacement of damaged pipes with carbon steel ones, just as palliative maintenance, though the company is aware of the benefits of using stainless steel, as an example of which parts of the pipe have already been replaced by stainless steel tubes. As part of the company's budget, it is of great interest to increase the service life of parts exposed to this type of wear. For this purpose, it was necessary to analyze and relate the types and possible causes of corrosion, thus being able to determine the most appropriate forms of prevention and materials, evaluating the technical and economic feasibility, which was the objective of this end-of-course work. The most common and used means of corrosion protection in the industry in general were discussed. Within the scope of the study, an analysis of the corrosive mechanisms at work was carried out, considering their consequences in practice. Through the obtained budgets, a comparison can be made between the current adopted practice of palliative maintenance and simple replacement by parts of the same carbon steel, with the other proposal of using stainless steel parts, evaluating if the gain in equipment life is enough to bear the costs of such a more durable material.