Stainless steel is the best of materials for the kitchen, including utensils, stoves, surfaces of refrigeration units, technological elements for processing products. An ordinary stainless steel does not necessarily have all the properties that meet hygienic, toxicological, aesthetic requirements.
For these purposes, environmentally friendly wear-resistant alloys are designed that meet stringent dissolution standards for heavy metals.
Definition and chemical composition
There are specific requirements for containers and equipment in contact with food. Sanitary processing, storage, transportation, preparation of products are carried out under conditions that adversely affect the properties of materials. Food stainless steel has a special composition, which determines the scope of its application.
Chrome and alloying additives that increase the corrosion resistance of metals are present in stainless steel. Its surface is formed with the participation of chromium oxides, forming an insoluble self-healing layer resistant to aggressive and chemical influences.
The basis of the elements that increase anti-corrosion properties include copper, cobalt, sulfur, manganese, nickel, phosphorus, niobium, molybdenum, titanium. Their presence directly affects the cost of products.
Application
Scopes of a stainless steel:
- food industry, kitchen appliances; with an increase in living standards, the use of steel in everyday life and food production only increases;
- stainless metal is widely in demand in the chemical industry - tanks, tanks, reactors, pipes (here, stainless steel food grade 316 steel containing from 6% molybdenum is acceptable);
- Pulp and paper production uses stainless steel with molybdenum in the composition along with AISI316;
- power industry - the burning of oil, coal, gas - requires stainless steel, starting from small enterprises to energy complexes;
- environmental protection - steel is a consumable during the construction of new plants in accordance with environmental requirements;
- transport engineering - to ensure safety during transportation of goods, in which containers made of AISI316L steel are widely used.
How to choose dishes
In Russia, there are no standards specifically for food stainless steel. According to experts, such alloys can be attributed to any, it is only important to take into account the operating conditions, based on which to choose the brand, cost and properties.
During cooking, dishes are exposed to water and steam, caustic soda, sulfamic acid, salt solution. To counter all this, a special composition is needed. The stability of the metal is determined by the percentage of chromium, nickel and other alloying elements (12-27%).
Food grade stainless steel made of AISI 304 steel, containing from 13 to 18% chromium, is quite suitable for slightly aggressive solutions, like its analogues AISI 321 (121810), AISI 430 (1217), AISI 410, which provide cost savings.
To counteract the salty environment, a chromium content higher than 18%, the presence of nickel and molybdenum additives are necessary. With a short exposure to caustic soda solutions and acids, food grade stainless steel AISI 316 (03X17H13M2) is quite suitable.
L in product labeling means a low percentage of carbon in the composition. For continuous operation in the food industry, food stainless steel made of AISI 316Ti (10X17H13M3T), AISI 316L and AISI 304L steel stabilized with titanium is appropriate.
Features and Benefits
The food grade stainless steel AISI used for the manufacture of cookware and pipelines has the following characteristics:
- resistance to aggressive chemical environment;
- ensuring long-term operation;
- anticorrosion resistance of the entire surface;
- environmental Safety;
- compliance with the standards for the migration of heavy metal salts;
- preservation of original properties that facilitate cleaning and care.
When choosing a steel grade for food stainless steel, the requirements of international standards that determine the material, dimensions, quality and labeling of products, in particular DIN 11850-1999, are taken into account. How acceptable these characteristics are depends on the operating conditions, you can focus on the requirements for the properties of the metal, which provide alloying components.
Popular brands
In some cases, another brand may fall under the concept of food, which does not involve contacting products with prolonged exposure to aggressive environments. For the manufacture of dining appliances use steel with less corrosion potential.
Types of stainless steel:
- 08X18H10 (AISI 304) is a common food grade steel, stainless steel used in the food industry, which does not interact with caustic soda and active sulfamine solutions. The unique composition 08X18H10 allows electric polishing of products, provides strength with intergranular corrosion and a high level of weldability.
- 0813 (AISI 409) is a popular steel grade of food stainless steel for the manufacture of kitchen household utensils, characterized by high performance properties.
- 2013–4013 (AISI 420) - this composition is acceptable for all types of sinks for domestic and industrial use, dishes for thermal and hygienic processing of products. Alloys of this type perfectly resist rusting at high temperatures, are highly plastic and wear-resistant.
- 1213 (AISI 410) - a food grade of stainless steel as part of equipment in the field of winemaking, the manufacture of alcoholic beverages, and waste processing. The alloy has increased heat resistance in a slightly aggressive environment, corrosion resistance, impact strength.
The stainless steel of types 12X18H10T and 08X18H10T is easy to process, weld, polish, it is used in medicine, food, alcohol, oil industry.
Popular grades of food steels
| EN10088-2, EU | GOST, RF | AISI, USA | JIS, Japan | Germany, DIN |
| 1.4301 | 08X18H10 | 304 | SUS304 | XBCrNi18-10 |
| 1.4016 | 12X17 | 430 | SUS430 | XBCr17 |
| 1.4401 | 03X17H13M2 | 316 | SUS316 | X5CrNiMo17-12-2 |
| 1.4541 | 12X18H10T | 321 | SUS321 | XBCrNiTi18-10 |
As part of the moonshine
Stainless steel is an ideal material in the composition of the moonshine. It has many advantages over silicone, copper, and brass due to its inertness to temperature and alcohol vapors, excellent thermal conductivity, and long service life.
The advantages of stainless steel for brewing:
- wear resistance;
- light weight;
- yielding to twisting, the ability to perform turns of any diameter;
- safety, stability of chemical characteristics;
- lack of risk of depressurization.
But before acquiring all the components, it is necessary to determine the steel grade of the food stainless steel for the moonshine still, taking into account the peculiarities of some types that can not withstand the effects of aggressive liquids or are not amenable to bending.
In moonshining, the most common brands are:
- AISI 304 (08X18H10) - contains chromium and nickel, increasing its cost, has high anti-corrosion properties, which together increases the operational properties of the devices;
- AISI 430 (12X17) - easily amenable to mechanical stress, due to the content of chromium products are flexible and ductile, although the chemical inertness does not decrease from this;
- AISI 201 (12X15G9ND) is an economical brand with nitrogen and manganese in the composition, not inferior to more expensive options.
Condensate coil
In the manufacture of a coil for a distiller or moonshine still, some difficulties arise: when you try to bend the material, it flattenes, and due to differences in the diameter of the tube along the entire length, a pressure drop in the system and uneven condensation occur.
To maintain a stable diameter, the tube is filled with dry sand, tamping it with a tap, and the ends are closed with cone-shaped wooden corks. In this state, the coil is wound on a pipe segment. Then the plugs are burned out or drilled with a drill, and after washing, the coil is ready for use.
Brands of heat-resistant stainless steel
Consumers are mistaken in thinking that a stainless steel product will not collapse under conditions of elevated temperatures. For operation in high-temperature conditions and under the influence of electric current, heat-resistant steel grades of food stainless steel are provided, characterized by creep and strength.
The creep rate implies the property of the material to withstand the effects of continuous deformation in adverse conditions, high temperatures. Strength is responsible for resisting external influences. Of these alloys are made heating elements of furnaces, exposed to a temperature of more than 550 degrees. Plain steel forms ferrum oxide on the surface.
For resistance to temperatures of 1000 degrees and above, alloys must contain from 17% chromium and a certain percentage of nickel, other components. Heat-resistant steel contains chromium, aluminum, silicon, titanium, and the most durable - nickel.
The following stainless steel grades are heat resistant: 20X23H18 (AISI 310), 10X23H18 (AISI 310S), 20X20H14C2 (AISI 309), 20X25H20C2 (AISI 314), 95X18. They are used for the manufacture of combustion chambers, clamps, mounts, baskets in thermal furnaces.
Grades characterized by maximum heat resistance: 1525, 3618252, 156, 0817. The composition and marking of heat-resistant steels is regulated by GOST 5632-72.