Incoloy is a nickel-iron-chromium alloy, has less than 50% nickel content.
Incoloy, with its higher ferrous content and correspondingly lower cost, make it the ideal material in elevated temperature, but less critical, applications. A further feature is its relative ease of fabrication, employing the same machines and processes used for stainless steel.
This alloy also comes in a variety of grades, whose emphasis is more on resistance to aggressive forms of corrosion, particularly in aqueous environments. Whereas a basic form of Incoloy will find widespread general use, further alloying with enhancing elements provides added resistance to chemical and environmental corrosion, as well as physical deterioration, such as surface pitting and cracking.
Excellent resistance to seawater, brine, sour gas and high chloride environments make it a popular choice in the oil and gas industries. The most specialized Incoloy alloys, however, are widely used in the harshest chemical environments of all, involving among others, acids, wet scrubbing, nuclear fuel and the reactive atmospheres of furnaces.
Characteristics of Incoloy:
• Good corrosion resistance in aqueous environments
• Excellent strength resistance in high-temperature settings
• Excellent oxidation and carburization resistance in high-temperature settings
• Good creep-rupture strength
• Ease of fabrication
Applications of Incoloy:
• Process piping, heat exchangers, carburizing equipment, heating-element sheathing, nuclear steam-generator tubing
• Chemical and petrochemical processing, power plants, industrial furnaces, heat-treating equipment
• Pollution-control equipment, oil and gas well piping, nuclear fuel reprocessing, acid production, pickling equipment