Ultramet CPT

Acid Resistant Valves

Acid resistant valves are required to handle hot strong acids like sulfuric acid (H2SO4) and hyrdrochloric acid (HCl). Because valves are sensitive to small amounts of acid corrosion, extremely corrosion resistant valves are utilized to avoid changes in valve tolerances that can lead to the inability to operate or control a valve. As a result, Ultramet CPT teamed up with leading valve OEM’s can provide the most corrosion resistant and acid resistant valves to industry. If you want to eliminate acid corrosion instead of just dealing with it, the Ultramet CPT tantalum diffusion surface applied to standard stainless steel valves does just that.

Corrosion resistant plug valves are a simple design that features, ¼ turn shut-off, a 2 piece design, no dead spaces and are easy to repair even in-situ. For these reasons, this is a preferred design for the best acid control and corrosion performance.

Corrosion resistant ball valves are the most common valve in industry used for the control of hot acids. Ball valves allow for good control and ¼ turn shut-off however they are a 3 piece design typically have the dead spaces where fluids could be trapped.

Common applications for acid resistant valves are the control of hot hydrochloric acid (HCl) as it extremely corrosive to most metal plug valves and its vapors diffusion through PTFE lined plug valves as well as other sulfuric acid mixed media.

Other Acid Resistant Valves

While we the majority of valves we deal with are ball valves and plug valves, if you have a particular valve or valve style that you need to make extremely corrosion resistant please contact one of our materials specialist. The Ultramet CPT technology can be applied to most styles of valves.

Sizes: ¼” -12”

Pressure Classes: ANSI 150 – ANSI 600

Connection Ends: Flanged, Threaded & Compression

Acid Resistant Heat Exchangers

Acid resistant heat exchangers are required to handle hot corrosive acids like sulfuric acid (H2SO4) and hydrochloric acid (HCl). By nature of their function these acid resistant heat exchangers are exposed to the hottest and most corrosive acids within a process. With Ultramet CPT’s technology applied to heat exchangers, we are able to create the most corrosion resistant heat exchangers available. These heat exchangers outperform nickel, titanium, zirconium and even solid tantalum*.

Acid Resistant Plate & Frame Heat Exchangers

Corrosion resistant plate and frame heat exchangers are a compact, highly efficient and flexible design that can be made extremely acid and corrosion resistant with Ultramet CPT’s tantalum surface technology. These designs are ideal for acid interchangers or when a flexible design is needed for varying heating/cooling requirements.

Acid Resistant Shell & Tube Heat Exchangers

Acid Resistant shell & tube heat exchangers are the preferred design for hot acids. When the shell & tube design is combined with Ultramet CPT’s acid resistant technology, we are able to produce a fully welded, easy to clean, low pressure drop and extremely corrosion resistant heat exchanger.

Common Applications Include:

Acid Heaters: Hydrochloric acid (HCl) and sulfuric acid (H2SO4) heating
Acid Chillers: To removing heat from sulfuric acid (H2SO4) after dilution
Overhead Condensers: Typically found in pharmaceuticals and fine chemical processing
Acid Interchangers: To heat and cool acids or other processing fluids simultaneously

Notes*: While a solid tantalum heat exchanger will have the same corrosion resistance as Ultramet CPT’s tantalum diffusion surface, mechanically it is inferior and it is more susceptible to hydrogen embrittlement. Solid tantalum metal is nearly 50% heavier than lead yet weaker than steel. Because tantalum metal could be embrittled through a process known as hydrogen embrittlement, solid tantalum can fail due to its own weight.

As a result, Ultramet CPT’s tantalum diffusion surface on steel is superior mechanically to solid tantalum metal.

Ultra-Safe Versions: For corrosion resistant fail safe heat exchangers, Ultramet CPT can offer graphite based heat exchangers with a tantalum surface. This make for an ideal base substrate as graphite has an excellent thermal transfer coefficient and is a secondary corrosion boundry. To learn more about this as an option please contact our corrosion experts.