ASME SA210 Grade A1 Carbon Steel Seamless Boiler Tube and Superheater Tube

ASME SA210 GR.A1 is a medium carbon steel pipe under the ASME SA210 standard. It is usually used as water-cooled wall tubes, economizer tubes, low-temperature superheater tubes and various heat exchanger tubes for manufacturing power station boilers, industrial boilers, and marine boilers. The working environment temperature usually does not exceed 450°C (840°F). In higher temperatures or more demanding environments, materials with higher alloy content such as ASME SA213 T11 and T22 will be selected. GR.A1 is the minimum strength grade specified in the ASME SA210 standard. It is a medium carbon steel with a higher carbon content than low carbon steel such as A53 and lower than high carbon steel. It is manufactured by cold working or hot working processes and undergoes necessary heat treatment to obtain the required structure and properties.

ASME SA210 GR.A1 belongs to medium carbon steel with a carbon content of less than or equal to 0.27%. Compared to low carbon steels such as ASME SA178 GR.A and ASME SA192, it maintains higher strength while still having relatively good weldability and formability, which is to some extent superior to higher carbon or alloy steels. On the other hand, a silicon content greater than or equal to 0.10% ensures that ASME SA210GR.A1 has a good deoxidation effect.

ASTM A210/ASME SA210 Grade A1 Boiler Tube Mechanical Properties

ASTM A210/ASME SA210 Boiler Tube Wall Thickness Tolerance

Comparison between ASME SA210 GR.A1 Carbon Steel Tubes and Other Grades

• SA210 GR.A1 vs SA210 GR.C: Compared to ASME SA210 GR.C, which has a carbon content of ≤ 0.35%, GR.A1 has a lower carbon content (≤ 0.27%), resulting in a relatively lower strength of the tube. It is suitable for working environments at medium to low temperatures and medium to low pressures, while GR.C is suitable for slightly higher temperature and pressure environments. However, due to its lower strength, GR.A1 has better weldability and formability than GR.C. GR.C typically requires preheating and post weld heat treatment.
• SA210 GR.A1 vs SA192: Compared to SA210 GR.A1 medium carbon steel tubes, SA192 belongs to low-carbon steel pipes (C ≤ 0.06-0.18%) with the lowest strength, but has excellent ductility, weldability, and thermal conductivity. It is commonly used in economizers and water-cooled walls of low-pressure boilers.
• SA210 GR.A1 vs SA106 GR.B: Although both SA106 GR.B and SA210 GR.A1 belong to medium carbon steel (C ≤ 0.30%), they are mainly used for high-temperature and high-pressure process pipelines (such as petrochemical and power plant main steam pipelines). Their chemical composition, heat treatment requirements (usually normalizing+tempering or quenching+tempering), and mechanical properties (especially high-temperature performance) are different from SA210 carbon steel boiler tubes. The two are not directly interchangeable.

The cost of ASME SA210 GR.A1 is lower than that of alloy steel tubes, and the market process is sufficient. At the same time, it has good processability, and is relatively easy to process such as welding, bending, and cutting. It has good strength and plasticity, and can meet the basic requirements of medium-parameter boilers and heat exchangers for strength and plasticity, and has better thermal conductivity than stainless steel.

When choosing ASME SA210 GR.A1 carbon steel tubes, it should be noted that ASME SA210 GR.A1 has limited high temperature resistance. Its maximum operating temperature is usually below 450℃. When it exceeds this temperature, the strength of the pipe will decrease significantly, and the anti-oxidation ability is insufficient. When working for a long time in a high temperature environment, ASME SA210 GR.A1's creep deformation resistance will be inferior to that of alloy steel. At the same time, in corrosive media such as oxygenated water, acid, and alkali, ASME SA210 GR.A1 requires good water chemistry control to maintain performance.

ASTM A210/ASME SA210 Boiler Tube Application

Boiler

Super heater

Heat exchangers

Condensers

Marine application

Refineries

Paper pulping

Petrochemical applications

Pressure vessels

General engineering applications