Langley Alloys is to be part of the innovative Adv-Flow project consortium

The ‘Development of Advanced, Highly Corrosion Resistant Coriolis Mass Flow Meters (Adv-Flow)’ is an innovative research project supported by Innovate UK, led by KROHNE Limited, with partners TWI and Langley Alloys.

Adv-Flow Explained

The project will investigate advancements in the manufacture of large size Coriolis mass flow meters to meet demanding operating conditions. The project will focus on the development of a suitable manufacturing route to manufacture the flow meters from super duplex stainless steel.

KROHNE’s state of the art Coriolis flowmeters is recognised as being world-leading with total annual sales of 18,000 of which 15,000 is from UK-based manufacturing. The large line size products that this project is targeting are particularly suited to the oil and gas, and chemical markets. The increasing demand for operation in demanding and challenging departments has created the opportunity to develop new product lines based on advanced materials. In order to meet this business need, the technical challenges associated with developing products using highly corrosion-resistant materials e.g. duplex, super duplex and hyper duplex stainless steels is required.

TWI will lead activities related to heat treatment, vacuum brazing, and characterization using its large vacuum brazing facilities in Cambridge.

Langley Alloys provides the expertise of the manufacture and fabrication of super duplex stainless steels, has been responsible for the very first patented super duplex stainless steel – Ferralium 255-SD50 – more than 50 years ago. Brazing of joints required for these high-precision units involves temperatures and times that may negatively impact the integrity of these steel grades. Therefore, Langley Alloys will advise on ideal material selection and optimum process settings to achieve the objectives of the project.