Hi Elmira Fisherman
I found the link below to be helpful in trying to understand the difference between austenitic vs Ferritic stainless
http://www.westernstainless.com.au/austenitic-vs-ferritic-stainless-steel-preferred-uses/
Austenitic is the most popular type of stainless steel in most applications, while ferritic is more popular in restaurants.
We would like to explain the differences between austenitic and ferritic stainless steel and some of their preferred uses.
Austenitic Stainless Steel
Austenitic stainless steel is strengthened by cold work but not by heat treatment. It contains not only chromium, but nickel and sometimes manganese. Austenitic stainless steel exhibits great tensile strength, ductility and toughness, even at cryogenic temperatures. Austenitic is also the most easily-weldable of any classification of stainless steel.
As mentioned above, due to its combination of strength and workability, austenitic is very popular for both consumer and industrial applications. If you have a chemical plant, a food processing facility, a water plant or a dairy processing facility, you will probably use an austenitic grade stainless steel for most of your equipment.
Ferritic Stainless Steel
Ferritic stainless steel usually contains at least 12% chromium and is considered a “straight chromium” stainless steel. Ferritic grades have high ductility and are easily formed, but they do not retain their strength at high temperatures like austenitic stainless steel. However, ferritic stainless steel is great for restaurant and medical counters, tables and sinks.
There are two great advantages to ferritic stainless steel. It has a lower cost than other grades and it is very cleanable due to its high chromium content. This makes ferritic grade stainless steel a natural for uses in which high sanitation standards apply.
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It would make sense based on the limited applications for Ferritic stainless, for the Sault plant to one day make the Austenitic stainless steel, and to use the Outotec patented process. I see the smelter being in Timmins.
