Selling Hastelloy Scrap: How to Sort, Prove and Prepare C-276, C-22, B-2 and X

Which Hastelloy Grades Turn Up as Scrap?

Four grades turn up most often as Hastelloy scrap: C-276, C-22, B-2 and X. They share a trade name and a nickel base, but they are different alloys with different buyers, and a lot that mixes them is valued as a mixture.

Notice that Hastelloy X is chemically closer to a heat-resisting alloy than to the C-family. It carries roughly three times the iron of C-276 and comes from a completely different industry, so it should never be described as “Hastelloy C” on a stock list.

Why Is Hastelloy Scrap Valued for Its Molybdenum?

Hastelloy scrap is valued for what it contains: a nickel base plus large amounts of molybdenum, and in the C-grades some tungsten. A melter making a corrosion-resistant heat would otherwise buy those elements as primary metal or ferro-alloys, so scrap that brings them in at a known level saves money.

The chart explains why grade separation matters so much. A tonne of B-2 carries far more molybdenum than a tonne of Hastelloy X, and both carry more than Inconel 600, which has none. If the two are mixed, the buyer cannot credit the B-2 for its molybdenum because the melt chemistry of the mixture is unknown. You can work out the contained metal in your own lot with the contained metal calculator.

Value is then adjusted for certainty and condition: how sure the buyer is of the grade, how clean the material is, its form and the size of the lot. Those are the parts of the offer you control.

How Do You Tell C-276 from C-22 on an XRF Reading?

Look at chromium and molybdenum together: C-276 reads about 15.5% chromium with 16% molybdenum, while C-22 reads about 22% chromium with 13% molybdenum. Tungsten is present in both, a little higher in C-276. A grade call alone is not enough, because some instrument libraries confuse the two on a dirty surface, so check the element values themselves.

The other common confusion is C-276 against Inconel 625. They come out of the same plants and are both non-magnetic. Inconel 625 shows about 3.6% niobium and no tungsten; C-276 shows tungsten and no niobium. The 625 vs C-276 comparison sets out every separating element. The magnet test is no help here: all four Hastelloy grades are non-magnetic.

The B-2 and B-3 Question

B-2 is not the only nickel-molybdenum Hastelloy. A later grade, B-3 (UNS N10675), was developed to be more stable during welding and fabrication, and it reads very close to B-2 on a handheld XRF. In practice, the separation comes from paperwork and stencils rather than chemistry, so record the UNS number from any marking you find. The B-2 vs C-276 comparison covers the easier split between the B and C families.

Where Does Hastelloy Scrap Come from, and What Does Each Source Bring with It?

Each source of Hastelloy scrap leaves its own fingerprint of contamination, and knowing it tells you what to clean off before you ask for an offer.

• Flue-gas scrubbers and stacks. C-276 and C-22 sheet and plate, often coated with gypsum, fly ash and acidic deposits. Some of it is thin lining sheet welded over carbon steel (see the next section).
• Chemical reactors and columns. Heavy C-276, C-22 and B-2 plate and dished ends, sometimes with process residues inside nozzles. Expect a buyer to ask for a written decontamination declaration, as explained in handling scrap from chemical plants.
• Heat exchanger retubes. Tube bundles where the tubes are Hastelloy but the tube sheets, baffles and shell may be carbon steel or a different alloy.
• Gas turbine and furnace overhauls. Hastelloy X combustor liners, transition ducts and sheet trim, often oxidised and sometimes coated. See power generation scrap.
• Valve and fitting machining. Turnings and bar ends, usually C-276, from shops that make chemical plant components.

Clad, Lined and Weld-Overlaid Hastelloy: What Must Be Declared?

Any material where Hastelloy is only a layer on carbon steel must be declared and sold separately from solid alloy. A buyer pays for the alloy that is actually there, and a piece of lined plate can look identical to solid C-276 plate on the face that was in service.

There are three common types. Wallpaper lining is thin sheet welded in strips onto a carbon steel wall. Roll-bonded or explosion-clad plate has a metallurgically bonded alloy layer. Weld overlay is alloy deposited by welding onto a steel component. In all three, the share of Hastelloy by weight can be small.

The quick check is simple: put a magnet on the back face and on a cut edge. Solid Hastelloy is non-magnetic throughout; lined or clad material will pull hard on the steel side. Then photograph the cut edge, where the two layers are often visible. Declaring this up front protects the rest of your lot: one undeclared clad plate found in a delivery makes a buyer re-check everything else.

How Should Each Form of Hastelloy Scrap Be Prepared?

Prepare each form so that what the buyer receives is clean, single-grade alloy that can go into a furnace without further work. Every hour of sorting or cutting the buyer must do comes off the offer.

• Plate and sheet. Wash or scrape off deposits, remove gaskets and insulation, and cut out carbon steel nozzles and supports. Keep solid crops apart from lined or clad pieces. See C-276 plate scrap.
• Pipe and tube. Cut tubes free of carbon steel tube sheets and remove flanges of other materials. Bundle by grade and diameter. See C-22 pipe scrap.
• Solids and castings. Valve bodies and pump casings may contain trim, seats or bolting in other alloys. Strip them before weighing.
• Sheet trim from turbine work. Keep Hastelloy X separate from Haynes and Nimonic trim that comes from the same overhaul; the Hastelloy X vs Haynes 230 comparison shows how to split them. See Hastelloy X plate and sheet scrap.
• Turnings. One grade per bin at the machine, dry, free of carbide tool fragments, and crushed if long and stringy. The reasons are set out in solids vs turnings.

What Markings and Paperwork Prove a Hastelloy Grade?

A stencil showing the product specification, the UNS number and a heat number is the strongest evidence you can offer, especially when it matches a mill certificate. C-276 and C-22 plate is made to ASTM B575, bar to B574, pipe and tube made without a weld to B622, and welded pipe and tube to B619 and B626. B-2 plate is B333 and bar B335. Hastelloy X plate and sheet is B435 and bar B572, with AMS 5536 common on aerospace sheet.

Most pressure-equipment material is dual-marked with the matching ASME SB number, as explained in ASME SB and SA specifications. The full list by grade is in ASTM B specifications for nickel alloys. If you have certificates, check that the heat numbers match the stencils before you send them; reading a 3.1 mill certificate shows what to look for. Paperwork without matching markings carries little weight.

Which Mistakes Cost Hastelloy Sellers the Most?

Most of the value lost on Hastelloy lots comes from description and mixing, not from the metal itself.

1. Calling everything “Hastelloy”. A lot described only by trade name is priced on the assumption that it could be the lowest-value grade in the family.
2. Mixing C-276 and C-22. They look identical and often sit side by side in the same plant. Turnings from the two cannot be separated after the fact.
3. Trusting the drawing. Plant drawings and equipment lists record the design material, not what was fitted during later repairs. Read every piece.
4. Leaving steel attached. Carbon steel nozzles and supports add weight the buyer will deduct, often with a margin for uncertainty.
5. Not declaring lining or cladding. Discovered on arrival, it puts the whole delivery into dispute.

The site’s Hastelloy scrap overview links every grade and form page if you need more detail on a specific alloy.

What Should You Send to Get an Offer?

Send enough for a buyer to judge the lot without visiting: grade and form, approximate weight, location, photographs of the whole lot and of markings, and any readings or certificates. Readings should list element values for several pieces, not only a grade name; how handheld XRF sorts nickel alloys explains what a useful reading looks like. If you only have readings and no grade call, the grade identifier will suggest the closest match.

A good description reads like this: “Hastelloy C-276 plate crops, solid, 6 to 20 mm, cleaned of scrubber deposits, about 3 tonnes, loose at site, XRF readings on 12 pieces attached.” A lot described that clearly gets a firmer first offer than “Hastelloy scrap, mixed”. When you are ready, send the details and we’ll review your enquiry.

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