Q: I’ve got in a high pressure sour gas well. We’ve been having trouble with 316 stainless steel components breaking. I need a solution but not sure what to use.
A: High pressures and sour gas combined can cause cracking and corrosion in most standard stainless and alloy steels. Depending on how severe the temperatures, pressure and conditions are in your sour gas environment you there are two good options to consider.
First there is 17-4 PH which is actually an age hardened form of stainless steel. It is widely used in sour gas wells and is about 4 times stronger than 316. Depending on the aging treatment it delivers between 125-200 ksi in ultimate tensile strength. While it has decent corrosion resistance, if corrosion is your main problem a different alloy may be better.