Will fire corrode stainless steel?

I am considering building a stove out of stainless steel. I want to us stainless steel because the stove will have a double outer jacket to pass water through and heat it.


Will a wood fire sitting directly on stainless steel corrode it? Would a higher grade of stainless steel, say 316 instead of 304, prevent this?


Should the stainless steel be protected in some way, perhaps by a bed of fire bricks (at least) under the fire, to prolong its life? Or will stainless steel stand up to exposure to fire without corroding for a long time?




Get a pad of steel wool. This is stainless steel, because it's made for use in a sink, washing dishes. Take a 9-volt battery and briefly touch both terminals to the steel wool. *It will catch on fire.* (Warning: don't try this at home, kids! But it totally will.) When the fire goes out, you'll be left with a pad of rusty steel wool.


Therefore, the answer is yes: fire can corrode stainless steel.


If your stainless steel is a big solid block rather than a super-high-surface-area pad of steel wool, the process will be a lot slower, but it will still happen over time.


 3

Here's a device that's been around for at least several decades, as far as I know:


[![water heater](https://i.stack.imgur.com/KERkJ.jpg)](https://i.stack.imgur.com/KERkJ.jpg)  

(source: [teploterm.ru](http://www.teploterm.ru/public/files/000001.jpg))


I've been using something similar for around 15 years. The idea is you put firewood into the oven you can see at the bottom, and the chimney goes through a 90 liter water tank. The bottom is something like .5 - 1 cm thick cast iron, the rest is made from stainless steel sheet metal.


There are variants to the construction, but I think here are the two main points, coming back to your question:


1. This thing needs replacement around once a decade, being in use around 500-1000 hours a year.
2. If the stainless steel is thick, then rusting gradually becomes irrelevant. Does make the thing heavy, though.
3. Yes, there is corrosion, especially around the fiery hot parts.


Also, note that the plumbing within this thing is kind of special, as it needs to refill cold water while simultaneously mixing your hot and cold water. I remember that it was very damaging to run it empty.


And yeah, this is more engineery than chemicky...


 3

A wood fire will not be hot enough to cause more than about 0.02" of metal loss in a year of continuous use. This is assuming about 1500 °F. It would make no difference if 410 (13 Cr - exhaust pipes) or 304 or 316 ss is used. If is has a complete water jacket, the life would be much longer.


Boilers are usually carbon steel; electric utility boilers have 1% or 2% Mo and maybe 1% to 2% Cr, not for oxidation resistance but for higher strength. With water in the tubes they are at a much lower temperature than the flame (roughly 700 °F to 1000 °F). However the wood will contain sulfur and other components that can increase oxidation rates.


 2

Not easily from what I can find. But remember it is Stain-less not Stain-impossible.


Actually there are different type of stainless steel used for different stuff. Like for protect it from fire I feel A typical composition of **18% chromium and 10% nickel**, commonly known as **18/10 stainless**, is often used in cutlery and high-quality cookware will be good.


Source: [Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stainless_steel#Types_of_stainless_steel)


If you see [here](http://www.hgtvgardens.com/metal-and-steel-fire-pits-options) fire pits are also made up of stainless steel. 


 2