Journal of Material Sciences & Engineering

Stainless Steel for Dairy and Food Industry: A Review

Abstract

Dewangan AK, Patel AD and Bhadania AG

Stainless steels (SS) were invented to overcome the problem of corrosion which is a major concern of food and many other industries. The alloy of steel containing iron-chromium-nickel is known as stainless steels. Stainless steels typically contain between 9 and 30 percent chromium and varying amounts of nickel, molybdenum, copper, sulfur, titanium, niobium, etc., may be added to obtain the desired mechanical properties and service life. Stainless steel is considered noble metal for use in dairy industry. Stainless steels are classified based on the chemical composition and it provides information to overcome many types of corrosion. Some of the limitations of SS employed in food and dairy industry are attack by lactic and malic acids at elevated temperature and poor thermal conductivity. However, these limitations may be overcome by carefully selection and fabrication, optimized operating condition, care and maintenance of the equipment. Stainless steels of various grades are widely used as engineering material for the fabrication of equipment. Stainless steels are corrosive resistant but under certain conditions the materials can stain and can corrode. Dairy and food industries are concerned with reliability of equipment and product purity. To achieve these, stainless steels are often the economical and practical materials of choice for process equipment. It is necessary to select most suitable grade of SS depending on the requirements for the specific application. The understanding of metallurgy and ways of fabrication are very essential to select right grade of SS. The food and dairy processing industries, corrosion becomes a critical factor directly influencing equipment and indirectly, overall equipment longevity. Key to minimizing corrosion impact needs better understanding of factors affecting corrosion as early as the equipment design phase and throughout subsequent processing operation.