ASTM B163 / ASME SB-163 / ASTM B167 / ASME SB-167
Inconel seamless tubes are drawn in four grades by Thaida Stainless Steel Manufacturing (Thailand) Co., Ltd. at Ban Bueng, Chonburi, Thailand, and each grade is made to the ASTM tube standard that suits its duty. Our Bang Phli, Samut Prakan office prepares quotations and issues the test certificates. UNS N06600 seamless tube, listed on European datasheets as seamless WNR 2.4816 tube, is the condenser and heat-exchanger grade, and the range continues through the 601 and 625 grades to precipitation-hardened 718.
Inconel seamless tubeASTM B163 / ASME SB-163 / ASTM B167
EN 10204 3.1 certificate / 3.2 on request
A tube item is defined by its finished diameter, wall and length rather than a nominal size, so the table pairs those limits with each grade's standard and delivery condition. Note the second figure in the diameter and wall rows: three grades stop short of the family maximum.
Every heading below pairs a grade with the tube standard it is ordered to, because that pairing decides which tests, tolerance table and certificate rules apply. The grade itself is chosen from what flows through and around the bore: the chemistry, the heat and the pressure.
Inconel 600 is the condenser and exchanger grade for fatty acids, chlorine compounds and caustic solutions, and it resists chloride stress-corrosion cracking. It is our one grade made to ASTM B163, supplied annealed, with a flare test sampled from every lot of seamless 2.4816 tube; its tolerance bands sit on Inconel 600 seamless tubes.
Inconel 601 is the grade we draw for hot gas duty: burner nozzles, combustion liners, superheater tubes and reheater coils, where its aluminum-bearing chemistry holds back oxidation and carburization. It is ordered to ASTM B167 / ASME SB-167, annealed, and its tube envelope and wall options are set out on Inconel 601 seamless tubes.
Inconel 625 combines molybdenum and niobium with nickel and chromium, which resists pitting and crevice corrosion in marine hardware, offshore oil and gas service and chemical heat exchangers. ASTM B444 covers UNS N06625 seamless tube, cold worked, in two heat-treated grades; Europe calls it seamless WNR 2.4856 tube. See Inconel 625 seamless tubes.
Inconel 718 is the one grade supplied solution annealed and then precipitation hardened, which lifts its strength minimums above the other three and adds the only hardness ceiling. Order it to ASTM B983 as UNS N07718 seamless tube or seamless WNR 2.4668 tube, and see Inconel 718 seamless tubes for the limits.
When an exchanger or condenser is tubed in the 600 grade, the standard to name is ASTM B163, Standard Specification for Seamless Nickel and Nickel Alloy Condenser and Heat-Exchanger Tubes, with ASME SB-163 as its code counterpart. Of the four tube standards in this family it is the only one written for condenser and exchanger tube, and in our range it applies to the 600 grade alone. An ASTM B163 seamless Inconel tube is delivered annealed and checked against the diameter and wall table and the cut-length clause of its own standard. B163 is also the only one of the four that makes a flare test compulsory on every lot. Where a bundle design needs them, the purchase order can invoke B163's supplementary requirements for U-bent tubes or a higher yield strength.
The other three grades are ordered to standards that cover pipe and tube together. Tube in the 601 grade follows ASTM B167 / ASME SB-167. Tube in the 625 grade follows ASTM B444 / ASME SB-444, whose scope is cold-worked product only and which splits UNS N06625 into Grade 1 annealed and Grade 2 solution annealed; when an order names neither, Grade 1 is supplied. An ASTM B444 seamless Inconel tube can also be ordered with supplementary grain size, intergranular corrosion or pitting and crevice corrosion tests. Tube in the 718 grade follows ASTM B983, which has no ASME counterpart, so that line carries the ASTM number alone.
All four product standards draw on ASTM B829, Standard Specification for General Requirements for Nickel and Nickel Alloys Seamless Pipe and Tube, for what they leave unset: permitted variations in diameter, wall and length for the 601 and 625 grades and for precipitation-hardened or cold-worked 718, lot and marking rules where the product standard is silent, and the electric examination method that B163 calls for. Trade names appear in none of these documents. The UNS number is the only alloy identifier any of them prints, and our marking and certificates repeat it.
A tube line is written in the dimensions the tube actually has: outside diameter, wall thickness and length. The wall is given either as a minimum or as an average (B167 and B444 call it nominal), and the permitted variation is applied to whichever basis the order states, not to both, so the choice belongs on every line. Across the family, outside diameters reach up to 457 mm, wall thickness up to 65 mm and cut length up to 22 m, but the 601, 625 and 718 grades stop at up to 257 mm outside diameter and up to 35 mm wall. Diameter and wall variations come from a different table depending on the grade's standard and finish, which is why the tolerance band follows the grade rather than the size alone. A cut length is never supplied short of the figure ordered. Requirements written in nominal pipe size and schedule are quoted as Inconel seamless pipes.
Every seamless Inconel alloy tube is proved individually, either under internal hydrostatic pressure or through a nondestructive electric check, eddy current or ultrasonic; under B163, B167 and B444 the mill chooses which unless the order names one. Chemical analysis and a tension test then represent the lot, meaning tubes that share a heat, a size and a condition, and the 600 grade adds its B163 flare test on sampled lengths. Results are reported on the EN 10204 3.1 (3.2 on request) certificate. ASTM B167 makes a certificate and test report part of every 601 order, whereas B163, B444 and B983 require one only when the order specifies it.
Tube from this family goes into heat transfer equipment, hot gas paths and high-pressure fluid lines. The duties below show which grade is usually written against each one.
Exchangers and condensers on fatty acids, chlorine compounds or caustic media are built from UNS N06600 seamless tube, the condenser-tube grade, while exchangers on chlorinated compounds and aggressive acids take seamless 2.4856 tube.
Muffles, retorts, roller hearths and heat-treating baskets use seamless 2.4816 tube, and reaction furnace parts, catalyst support grids and burner nozzles exposed to carburizing atmospheres take the aluminum-bearing 601 grade.
Superheater tubes and reheater coils in boilers are drawn in the 601 grade, and steam generator tubing, heat recovery units and condensers in conventional power plants use UNS N06625 seamless tube.
Hydraulic, pneumatic and gas turbine fluid lines are drawn in UNS N07718 seamless tube, and rocket propellant feed lines in seamless WNR 2.4668 tube. Jet engine fuel lines and exhaust systems take the 625 grade.
Downhole injection and control lines take seamless 2.4668 tube and offshore heat exchangers the 600 grade, while offshore oil and gas service is written in seamless WNR 2.4856 tube.
Semiconductor fabrication equipment, vacuum systems and chemical vapor deposition chambers use seamless 2.4856 tube, where the process depends on keeping a clean, high-purity bore.
Engine emission systems and heat barriers in the automotive industry use the 601 grade, which resists oxidation and carburization during combustion.
Make-up
Tubes of one grade, heat and diameter travel together, bundled and boxed in timber crates fitted to container dimensions.
Identification
Alloy or UNS number, specification number, heat number and size, shown on the tube or on the bundle tag, with your item code added if you supply one.
Bore protection
A plastic cap on each end keeps moisture and debris out of the bore until the tube reaches the tubesheet.
Documents
A packing list itemizing tube counts, heat numbers and net and gross weights, sent together with the certificate.
Terms
FOB, CIF or CFR, fixed when the order is acknowledged.
Delivery
By road within Thailand and by sea to Singapore, Malaysia, Vietnam, Indonesia, the Philippines and India.
Extrusion, drawing, heat treatment and testing all take place at our plant, 154 Moo.1 Map Phai, Ban Bueng, Chonburi 20170, Thailand. Commercial terms, packing lists and shipping instructions are settled at 89/18 Moo.15 Enterprize Park, Bangna-Trad Road, Bang Kaeo, Bang Phli, Samut Prakan 10540, Thailand. A bundle list that mixes grades still travels as one order, with each Inconel seamless tube item traced to its own heat number on the certificate.
Name ASTM B163 / ASME SB-163 when the bundle is in the 600 grade, as it is the family's condenser and heat-exchanger tube standard. An exchanger in another grade takes that grade's standard: ASTM B167 for 601, ASTM B444 for 625, ASTM B983 for 718. Quote the UNS number and its standard together on each line.
A tube line gives the measured outside diameter, a wall figure flagged as minimum or average, and the length, while a pipe line gives a nominal pipe size and a schedule. Two tubes of equal diameter but different wall bases are toleranced differently, so state the basis even when the drawing shows a single wall figure.
Seamless WNR 2.4816 tube, the 600 grade, covers the full family range, up to 457 mm outside diameter and 65 mm wall. Tube in the 601, 625 and 718 grades runs up to 257 mm outside diameter and 35 mm wall, so check a large or heavy-wall item in those grades with us before ordering.
Only an ASTM B163 seamless Inconel tube, meaning the 600 grade in our range. A sample of finished lengths from every lot is flared at one end and must not crack through the wall. B167, B444 and B983 set no flare requirement, so tube in the 601, 625 and 718 grades is flared only when your specification asks for it.
It depends on the standard and the finish. The 600 grade uses the condenser-tube table inside ASTM B163. An ASTM B444 seamless Inconel tube, always cold worked, follows the cold-worked table of ASTM B829, as do cold-worked 601 and precipitation-hardened 718. Hot-finished 601 takes the hot-finished tube table of B829, and hot-finished seamless 2.4668 tube the table in ASTM B983.
The EN 10204 3.1 (3.2 on request) certificate, the certificates for the raw material, positive material identification results for each tube, heat treatment charts, and the measured dimensions and surface roughness, plus a packing list showing heat numbers and weights. A third-party inspection report joins the set whenever your order appoints an inspector.
Straight lengths up to 22 m, each cut to the length on the order and never shorter. The permitted overrun is small and widens for longer tubes: the 600 grade follows the cut-length clause of B163, and the other grades follow the B829 table, which is keyed on diameter. Random lengths can be agreed when the bundle design allows them.
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