Wind turbines are being constructed at taller heights — some as much as 100 meters high — so that they can take advantage of better and more consistent wind speeds. Larger rotor diameters also allow for more energy efficient energy generation. But these taller towers require extra-strong materials.  Increasingly, niobium-containing high-strength steel is meeting this need.  Niobium steels also are helping wind turbine gear boxes to operate longer and more reliably.

The addition of Niobium to steel improves grain refining, retards recrystallization, and helps with precipitation hardening of the steel. This results in steel that is tougher, stronger, and more weldable.  That’s why Niobium-hardened steel is often required for use in high-pressure natural gas transmission pipelines in order to improve their operating life and safe operation.

Superalloy metals such as Niobium and Titanium can be used extensively in energy exploration and distribution systems, such as offshore energy platforms, wind energy turbines, oil and gas drilling technologies, ocean-going transport vessels, distribution pipelines, and many other systems. Superalloy metals help to keep the world’s population with the energy its needs to live and thrive.

With the increasing structural demands placed on buildings today, the use of High Strength, Low Alloy steel is increasingly required.  HSLA steel with Niobium helps make today’s buildings safer, more energy efficient, and less costly.  It also provides building designers with significantly more flexibility in their designs.

High Strength, Low Alloy steels made with Niobium, and high-performance alloys made with Titanium, are allowing for more efficient and environmentally beneficial construction techniques.  Structures made with these materials can use less raw materials, make better use of available land,  more efficient floor space utilization, less emissions, and fewer environmental impacts during construction.