Common in factories and plants, stainless steel pipes and tubes are something we frequently see in our removable insulation installation calls. In these industrial settings, stainless steel pipes are frequently exposed to extreme temperatures and conditions; thus, insulating them is important to energy savings. Perhaps equally important is inspecting stainless steel pipes.
Stainless steel is resistant, but certainly not immune, to corrosion. In a previous article, we examined the need for inspecting stainless steel pipes further, including a discussion of conditions which encourage corrosion. When corrosion does occur in stainless steel, the corrosion often manifests in a very localized manner rather than uniform (or “general”) corrosion. Two forms of corrosion...