High-pressure boiler steel tubes, as an important branch of specialty steel, are key materials in industries such as thermal power generation, petrochemicals, and nuclear power. Their performance is directly related to equipment safety and energy efficiency in high-temperature and high-pressure environments. With my country’s energy structure adjustments and industrial technology upgrades, the market demand and technical standards for high-pressure boiler seamless steel tubes are undergoing profound changes. This article will analyze these steel tubes from multiple perspectives, including technical characteristics, industry status, application scenarios, and future trends.
First, Material Characteristics and Technical Standards for High-Pressure Boiler Seamless Steel Tubes
High-pressure boiler seamless steel tubes must operate stably and for long periods of time at temperatures exceeding 600°C and pressures exceeding 30 MPa. Therefore, they must possess three core properties: creep resistance (resistance to high-temperature deformation), oxidation resistance (prevention of high-temperature gas corrosion), and microstructural stability (microstructural stability). Currently, the mainstream materials are alloy steels such as 12Cr1MoVG and 15CrMoG. Chromium-molybdenum-vanadium alloys enhance heat resistance through both solid solution strengthening and precipitation strengthening. Internationally advanced materials, such as ASTM A335 P91/P92, offer over 30% higher allowable stress values than traditional materials, enabling a 20% reduction in boiler design wall thickness and significantly reducing equipment weight. Leading domestic companies have achieved independent control over the entire production process: continuous casting of round billets → hot rolling piercing → cold rolling sizing → heat treatment. In particular, the ACC (accelerated cooling) technology used in the hot rolling process can control the grain size to above level 8, increasing the impact toughness of steel pipes by 50%. Industry news from July 2025 revealed that a central enterprise’s HR3C steel pipe for ultra-supercritical boilers passed a 168-hour continuous operating test, demonstrating a 650°C endurance strength exceeding 120 MPa, marking a breakthrough for my country in 700°C ultra-supercritical technology.
Second, the market landscape and supply chain challenges for seamless high-pressure boiler steel pipes.
Currently, global annual demand for high-pressure boiler pipes is approximately 5 million tons, with China accounting for 45%. Three major industrial belts have emerged in China: the Yangtze River Delta, the Bohai Rim, and the Southwest region. However, the industry faces two major structural contradictions: First, high-end products continue to rely on imports. A Japanese company’s T92 steel pipes account for 70% of the domestic supercritical power generation unit market. Second, raw materials are subject to external constraints. My country’s dependence on foreign sources for strategic metals such as nickel and chromium has reached 85% and 90%, respectively. Since the second quarter of 2025, the cost of high-pressure boiler steel tubes has increased by 18% year-on-year due to the surge in international ferromolybdenum prices.
Third, Innovative Applications and Cutting-Edge Breakthroughs in Seamless High-Pressure Boiler Steel Tubes
In the new energy sector, high-pressure boiler steel tubes are finding new applications:
1. Concentrated Solar Power Generation: The molten salt heat storage systems of tower-type concentrated solar power plants require 321H stainless steel pipes, which must withstand corrosion from molten salts at 565°C. Field tests at the 100MW Dunhuang project show that the annual corrosion rate of domestically produced steel pipes under thermal cycling conditions has dropped to 0.12mm/year, approaching international standards.
2. Hydrogen Energy Equipment: Pressure-resistant piping in water electrolysis hydrogen production units is now made of duplex stainless steel 2205, which has a chloride ion stress corrosion threshold three times higher than that of 304 stainless steel. 3. Fourth-Generation Nuclear Power: Helium conduits for high-temperature gas-cooled reactors require materials to maintain strength at 850°C. A research institute has developed a GH3535 alloy steel tube that has completed engineering verification.
Fourth, Future Development Paths for High-Pressure Boiler Seamless Steel Tubes
To meet the “dual carbon” goals, the high-pressure boiler steel tube industry needs to achieve breakthroughs in three dimensions:
1. Material Genetic Engineering: Establishing a composition-process-performance database. For example, a company is currently developing a “Vanadium Microalloying Intelligent Design System” to optimize new formulas that balance cost and performance.
2. Service Safety Monitoring: A research institute is promoting microwave non-destructive testing technology that can detect internal cracks as deep as 0.5mm, with a sensitivity four times higher than traditional ultrasonic testing.
3. Circular Economy Model: A company’s “Steel Pipe Recycling Program” is worth learning from. By adjusting the composition, it recycles scrap boiler steel tubes into construction steel, achieving a metal utilization rate of 92%.
It is foreseeable that with the advancement of ultra-supercritical power generation technology toward 700°C and the explosive growth of the hydrogen energy industry, high-pressure boiler seamless steel tubes will usher in a new round of technological iterations. Companies that proactively plan for material innovation, intelligent manufacturing, and full-lifecycle services are expected to dominate the future industry reshuffle. For downstream users, besides focusing on price, they should also pay attention to deeper indicators such as the steel pipe’s endurance strength data and the supplier’s R&D investment ratio when purchasing. These will be key to ensuring the long-term safe operation of equipment.
Post time: Aug-05-2025