Dear all,

what is the difference between the steel 316L & 304?
are there a food grade steel?
is it necessary to use the 316L in the piping which will be in a drinking water plant?

:)
regards,
:)

316L 00Cr17Ni12Mo2
304 0Cr18Ni9

We usually supply 316L pipe for food plant...

Grade 316 is the standard molybdenum-bearing grade, second in importance to 304 amongst the austenitic stainless steels. The molybdenum gives 316 better overall corrosion resistant properties than Grade 304, particularly higher resistance to pitting and crevice corrosion in chloride environments.

Grade 316L, the low carbon version of 316 and is immune from sensitisation (grain boundary carbide precipitation). Thus it is extensively used in heavy gauge welded components (over about 6mm). There is commonly no appreciable price difference between 316 and 316L stainless steel.

The austenitic structure also gives these grades excellent toughness, even down to cryogenic temperatures.

Compared to chromium-nickel austenitic stainless steels, 316L stainless steel offers higher creep, stress to rupture and tensile strength at elevated temperatures.

Therefore, 316L is necessary to be used for drinking water due to better anti-corrosion

What is the approx. (for a real dirty quote comparison) price difference in % between 304 & 316L. We had a quote for a 304 heat exchanger and they needed a quick quote for a 316L material. So we did a very very budgetary price adder of 20% do you think this was enough of a price increase between the two materials.