Stainless Steel for Acid Service

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Most pipework for HCl these days is plastic.

I have to say yes. 316 ss. We have several scrubbers they where installed with plastic piping and pumps. The only thing original on any of the systems is the 316ss flex hose and suck tube that we put in the drum of acid. The plastic pumps where a nightmare we eventually raised our totes and drums and now gravity feed our scrubbers no plastic. 316 ss flex line which we change out every two years. Lot of headaches have disappeared since then.

No way! Stainless steels are susceptible to chloride corrosion.

Yes, they are, and plastic is susceptible to cracks, leaks and breaks, try keeping the plastic threads sealed if a guage or another piece of equipment is needed in the line. We use 99% and its been tried and true in my expierience you will have way far less problems with stainless steel with regular inspections and changing out the lines every couple years.