Application of Titanium Materials in Petroleum Components

Under the mechanical processing conditions of the petroleum industry, titanium alloys have been used to manufacture various titanium equipment, including titanium heat exchangers, filters (precipitation tanks), storage tanks for petroleum and petroleum products, sealing devices, wastewater pipelines, and crude oil pipelines.

Several petrochemical enterprises and petroleum processing industries have gained manufacturing and operational experience with titanium alloy equipment. For example, the Moscow Petroleum Refinery has utilized BT1-0 grade titanium alloy to produce equipment such as propylene polymerization reactors, decomposition pulsators, condensers, and screening towers.

Titanium-lined vessels are suitable for operations such as evaporation (concentration), distillation, or chemical reactions in weak acids or other chloride-containing solutions. Such vessels are also used in processes involving nitration of organic materials with nitric acid or reactions with other oxidizing agents. In reactions involving chromic acid solutions or sulfuration using chromic acid, titanium-lined vessels are selected based on the required reaction temperature.

In certain applications in the chemical raw materials industry, titanium has proven effective in catalytic oxidation of chlorinated hydrocarbons using copper and other solutions containing volatile substances at specific pH levels. For catalytic reactions at temperatures around 150–200°C, specialized equipment is required. Titanium-made acetaldehyde production equipment is widely used under such conditions. Towers, pipelines, and valves lined with titanium, as well as acid pumps composed of rotors and stators, are all made from commercially pure titanium.

Distillation columns used in acetic acid purification often include titanium components in most separation stages, such as intermediate layers and connectors in the distillation apparatus. Titanium is also used in serpentine tube heaters, which prevent the formation of metal sulfates.

These heaters have been proven to increase heat transfer efficiency by 30% compared to aluminum-coated copper coils.

For urea reactors and systems for carbon black recovery and stress elimination, large titanium-made reaction towers are used-measuring 4.3 meters in diameter and 8.2 meters in length-to withstand temperatures of up to 120°C and pressures of 130 kPa. These towers are designed to reduce the pressure of various gases, and titanium's properties make it well-suited for such demanding conditions.

Titanium's applications have further expanded into crude oil and petroleum refining industries. Desalination units for converting seawater into fresh or potable water, and equipment for producing organic acids, often use titanium. Welded titanium tubes are used in pumps, pipelines, and heat exchangers, all of which have been proven reliable and durable in practice.

In copper electrolysis, titanium seed plates are used as cathodes, demonstrating titanium's versatility and durability in electrochemical applications.