GPIC Announces First Application Of ATI OmegaBond Advanced Tubing

Pittsburgh, PA - Allegheny Technologies Incorporated announced recently that it has reached an agreement with Gulf Petrochemical Industries, Co. (GPIC) to supply ATI OmegaBond advanced tubing for GPIC's fertilizer production complex in the Kingdom of Bahrain. GPIC is the first company to adopt the OmegaBond technology for a full-scale plant application.

GPIC produces urea, one of the most important nitrogenous fertilizers, commonly used throughout the world for the production of food and biofuels. Urea is stable, safe, and easy to transport.

GPIC selected ATI's new OmegaBond advanced tubing for use in its urea stripper. A stripper is a high temperature, high pressure vertical falling-film heat exchanger. ATI Wah Chang developed an OmegaBond tube design using Zircadyne 702 alloy and Titanium Grade 3 alloy specifically for the stripper in Snamprogetti-licensed urea plants.

ATI Wah Chang, an ATI company, will begin supplying OmegaBond advanced tubing to GPIC in early 2008. GPIC's urea stripper is expected to be in operation in the second half of 2009. GPIC chose OmegaBond advanced tubing because of its reduced operating costs (energy savings), reduced down time, and extended equipment life.

OmegaBond technology is a product platform that enables the use of dissimilar metals in the same tube or pipe by use of advanced materials joining technologies, such as extrusion bonding or inertia welding. These joining technologies allow the optimization of material properties where they are specifically needed in a process component.

Snamprogetti, S.p.A., based in Milan, Italy, is a company of Saipem. ATI Wah Chang and Snamprogetti are collaborating to commercialize new materials solutions for Snamprogetti-licensed urea plants. OmegaBond products are designed to increase urea plant efficiencies, reduce plant maintenance costs, improve plant operating costs, and eliminate corrosion and erosion problems. ATI Wah Chang is a world leader in the manufacture of specialty metals including titanium, zirconium, niobium, and hafnium alloys in a variety of flat-rolled and long product forms. The company also produces cast and engineered parts as well as specialty chemicals. ATI Wah Chang provides customers in the chemical processing, nuclear electrical energy, aerospace, and medical markets with the alloys, technical assistance, and laboratory services necessary to support current and future industry needs.

SOURCE: Allegheny Technologies Incorporated