A Brief Primer on Seamless Stainless Steel Tubing

I'm willing to bet that at some point in your life you had a seamless stainless steel tube inserted into your body. Don't believe me? Let me ask you this then, have you ever received a shot or given blood? If so then you have had a needle inserted into your arm and modern medical needles are made of seamless stainless steel tubing. So now that we have given you the stainless steel trivia question of the day let's talk more about seamless stainless steel tubing and where you might find it and how it is used and why.

Seamless stainless steel tubing is used in a variety of applications where certain criteria must be met. First, the tubing must not be corrosive or subject to rust when exposed to liquid or environmental influences. Second, the tubing must be able to transport the liquid or gas without exposing it to the air where it could possibly be contaminated. Lastly, the tubing must be strong and sturdy and be able to withstand high pressure without failing or bursting. All of these items are what make seamless stainless steel tubing unique in its form and application. It has the ability to withstand a wide range of chemical and environmental factors with high tensile strength that can withstand large amounts of pressure.

So where might you find seamless stainless steel tubing being used besides at the local hospital? Food manufacturers use it for mixing and transporting both liquids and semi-solids throughout the manufacturing plant. The seamless tubing protects the contents from exposure to the outside air and also maintains the integrity of the product being moved. Because of strict governmental guidelines covering food manufacturing facilities it is next to impossible to walk into one without seeing not only seamless stainless steel tubing running from machine to machine but also the majority of the machines that have direct contact with the food made out of stainless steel as well.

Back at the hospital we can find more seamless stainless tubing being used down in the operating room. Stents are used to prop open arteries during heart bypass and angioplasty surgery. Because of the extreme bacteria awareness factor here it is important that anything being used to help transport blood be uniform and able to withstand exposure to a wide variety of body fluids. Again, stainless steel comes to the rescue by providing all these benefits in a seamless tube. Of all the materials on the market, stainless steel has the least rate of allergic reaction by the body which is why it is used in this procedure and so many other medical procedures.

Finally, your kitchen probably contains at least once a device that has seamless stainless steel tubing it in – your refrigerator. The refrigerant lines in most boxes today are made of stainless steel replacing more expensive copper that was used in the past. The stainless steel tubes in these refrigerators are exposed to a wide range of temperature cycles and are exposed to high humidity levels twenty four hours a day. Yet one thing is for certain, long after that refrigerator has went to the big appliance junkyard in the sky the seamless stainless steel tubes that carry the refrigerant will still be holding up.