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 Critical Analysis & Prevention of Boiler Pressure Parts Failure

Introduction:
In this section; we would discuss the analytical steps to diagnose the reliability of
the pressure parts in the boiler system. This discussion is meant for the O&M
personnel, and not for the failure analysis experts. In fact, while a tube failure
analysis experts job is to investigate and identify the cause/(s) of a tube failure
„Post Mortem‟, the O&M personnel‟s job is to identify the indications/ conditions
prevailing in a running boiler and take preventive measures against the failure.
Again, in majority of these failure investigation reports; you may notice that the
„Damage Mechanism‟ has been identified in a very conclusive manner. But the
„correction‟ or the preventive measures would be seldom suggested.
The damage mechanisms are actually not too difficult to identify, particularly with
the array of NDT and metallographic test facilities available these days. It‟s like
finding out the cause of death after a person dies. But to identify what has led to
that „cause of death‟ is a different challenge all together.
Various „Damage Mechanism‟s due to which a boiler tube fails can be broadly
categorized as under:
1. Stress
2. Over Heating
3. Erosion
4. Corrosion
5. Fatigue
6. Combination of stress & corrosion
While the tube finally fails due to stress; in most cases the limitation is breached
due to any, or, combination of the other mechanisms as mentioned above. Very
rarely it would be a purely stress failure, unless, there is a design failure, or,
wrong metallurgy has been used by mistake.
Successful, reliable operation of steam generation equipment requires the
application of the best available methods to prevent overheating, erosion,
unwarranted stress, scale and corrosion. When equipment failures do occur, it is
important that the cause of the problem be correctly identified so that proper
corrective steps can be taken to prevent a recurrence. An incorrect diagnosis of a
failure can lead to improper corrective measures; thus, problems continue.
There are times when the reasons for failures are obscure. In these instances,
considerable investigation may be required to uncover the causes. However, in
most cases the problem area displays certain specific, telltale signs. When these
characteristics are properly interpreted, the cause of a problem and the remedy
become quite evident.
So the point is, “Why wait for a failure to occur first?”
In fact, in most case, when the similar type of failure in any particular location recurs a
number of times, then only we start investigating, doing the post-mortem, calling the
experts, finding the root cause, etc., etc.
But a boiler tube seldom fails immediately after it starts getting damaged.
In 99.99% cases, an imminent tube failure would start giving indication long before it
happens. The various damage mechanisms like overheating, corrosion, erosion, fatigue,
etc. are initiated in the pressure part due to some undesirable conditions taking place in
the system where they are working. When the O&M personnel start identifying these
conditions, they can take necessary precautions to stop the tube failure.

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 Critical Analysis & Prevention of Boiler Pressure Parts Failure

To predict on the reliability of the pressure parts and take preventive actions, the
engineer needs to know:
 What adverse conditions are present in the boiler system?
 What are the metallurgies of the pressure parts and what are their
limitations to such adverse conditions?
 What are the indications which will suggest that the limitations could be
breached?

Adverse Conditions in Boiler System:

The first two things that come to your mind when you think about the adverse
conditions in a boiler system are the HEAT and PRESSURE. Let us discuss about the
heat first. The heat inside the fuel fired furnace is immense! The furnace
temperature in most of the conventional fossil fuel fired boilers is in the range of
1100 – 1200oC. Even in a FBC system, where the furnace temperature is controlled
by the bed material, the furnace temperature remains in the range of 850 – 950oC.
Whereas temperature limit for Oxidation characteristics of various metals used in Boiler
are:
 Carbon Steel: 425oC (456oC)
 LAS T11: 550oC
 LAS T22: 580oC
The problem is not just heat. These are „Pressure Parts‟; therefore subjected to
continuous pressure resulting stress in the materials.
When the metal is expected to be stressed, then the selection of size and thickness are
made on the basis of minimum allowable stress of the material under the specified
condition. The ASME section II, Part D [8] gives a trend curve on condition of tensile, yield
stress and certain percentage of creep as under.

The above trend curve would suggest that above 700oF; i.e. 370oC temperature,
the creep would become dominant factor for the CS and LAS materials used in
boiler pressure parts.
The first thing we therefore would need to focus on is „Creep‟. What is creep?
Creep may be defined as a time-dependent deformation at elevated temperature
and constant stress. It follows, then, that a failure from such a condition is
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 Critical Analysis & Prevention of Boiler Pressure Parts Failure

referred to as a creep failure or, occasionally, a stress rupture. The temperature

at which creep begins depends on the alloy composition. It should be pointed out
that the actual operating stress will, in part, dictate or determine the temperature
at which creep begins.
The end of useful service life of the high-temperature components in a boiler (the
super heater and re heater tubes and headers, for example) is usually a failure by
a creep or stress-rupture mechanism. The root cause may not be elevated
temperature, as fuel-ash corrosion or erosion may reduce the wall thickness so
that the onset of creep and creep failures occur sooner than expected.
However, regardless of the cause, the failure will exhibit the characteristics of a
creep or stress rupture. Indeed, the ASME Boiler and Pressure Vessel Code
recognizes creep and creep deformation as high-temperature design limitations
and provides allowable stresses for all alloys used in the creep range. One of the
criteria used in the determination of these allowable stresses is 1% creep
expansion, or deformation, in 100,000 hours of service. Thus, the code recognizes
that over the operating life, some creep deformation is likely. And creep failures
do display some deformation or tube swelling in the immediate region of the
rupture.
The allowable stresses permitted by the various construction codes are based in
part on time-dependent creep properties. For carbon steels, these time-dependent
properties dominate the allowable stress above about 750ºF (400ºC), although
creep begins to occur in carbon steels at about 700ºF (370ºC).
Figure below shows a schematic creep curve for a constant load; a plot of the
change in length verses time. The weight or load on the specimen is held constant
for the duration of the test. There are four portions of the curve that are of
interest:

 An initial steep rate that is at least partly of elastic origin, from point "0" to
point "A".
 This is followed by a region in which the elongation or deformation rate
decreases with time, the so-called transient or primary creep, from region
"A" to "B". The portion from point "0" to point "B" occurs fairly quickly.
 The next portion of the creep curve is the area of engineering interest,
where the creep rate is almost constant. The portion from "B" to "C" is

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 Critical Analysis & Prevention of Boiler Pressure Parts Failure

nearly linear and predictable. Depending on the load or stress, the time can
be very long; two years in a test and several decades in service.
 The fourth portion of the creep curve, beyond the constant-creep-rate or
linear region, shows a rapidly increasing creep rate which culminates in
failure. Even under constant-load test conditions, the effective stress may
actually increase due to the damage that forms within the microstructure.
Without going into a detailed discussion of the atom movements involved in creep
deformation, suffice it to say that creep deformation occurs by grain-boundary
sliding. That is, adjacent grains or crystals move as a unit relative to each other.
Thus, one of the microstructural features of a creep failure is little or no obvious
deformation to individual grains along the fracture edge.
The first two stages will not leave any microstructural evidence of creep damage.
Somewhere along the linear portion of the curve, the first microstructural
evidence of damage appears as individual voids or pores. These individual voids
grow and link to form cracks several grains long, and finally failure occurs. The
ultimate rupture is by a tensile overload when effective wall thickness is too thin
to contain the steam pressure.
The Larson-Miller Parameter (LMP) can be used to determine the expected life of a
component. Temperature and time are combined in the LMP, which can be
expressed as LMP = (ºF + 460) (C + Log10 t) (10-3)
Where (ºF + 460) is the absolute temperature, C is a constant assumed to be 20 for
carbon and low-alloy steels, and t is the time to failure in hours. The value of LMP
can be plotted from Graphs for different material groups are available.
The LMP equation suggests that if any metal component, which is operating in the
Creep regime, is exposed to higher temperature than which it is designed for, the
life period would decrease by logarithm scale.
For example; for a 55oF (30.5oC) rise in metal temperature, creep life loss could be
around 90%. Whereas, if the temperature increases by just 10 oF (5.5oC), the creep
life loss would be 60%!!
Though there are in-situ metallographic tests (Replica study) available to monitor
the creep damage occurring in the components working in the creep regime, the
metal temperature, gas temperature, attemperation spray quantity are more
useful indicators to the O&M personnel to identify the possibility of creep (over
heating) damages.
Let us now discuss about the second most adverse condition, which is PRESSURE.

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 Critical Analysis & Prevention of Boiler Pressure Parts Failure

The pressure parts like water wall, super heater, headers as well as the steam
drums are all considered to be Thin Cylinder. When a thin cylinder is pressurized,
it would try to rapture in two directions as indicated in the figure below, and the
resultant stress in the component would be developed in these two directions only.

From the basic knowledge of Strength of Material, we can work out these two
stresses on the basis of the internal pressure P, internal diameter D and the
thickness T; and they are:
Longitudinal Stress: σL = (P x D) / 4 t
& Hoop Stress (Circumferential Stress): σc = (P x D) / 2 t
It is evident from the above equations that the Hoop Stress is two times larger than
the longitudinal stress and would be primarily responsible for the failure if;
 The allowable stress is reduced due to over heating
 Internal pressure increases due to local blockage, or
 The thickness is reduced due to erosion/ corrosion

………….And the rapture would be axial in such cases

In case the thickness loss is caused by water side corrosion; the internal diameter
D increases while thickness T is reduced, resulting more significant increase in the
stress. As compared to thickness loss due to erosion, or fire side corrosion, this
would lead to a tube failure much faster.
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 Critical Analysis & Prevention of Boiler Pressure Parts Failure

That is the reason why the corrosive properties in water should also be considered
as highly adverse condition, particularly in case of a boiler operating at high
pressure and therefore at a high temperature.
So we can see that high temperature; high pressure, ash erosion, corrosion are the
various adverse conditions in which the boiler pressure parts have to work and
survive. That is why, the type of metal selection, and their capability to survive
such conditions become very important to understand.

Boiler Tube Materials:

Though boiler pressure parts are made of metal, it would not

be too unrealistic, if we label the Boiler material as “Fragile – Handle with Care”.
We need to first understand the characteristics and limitations of different boiler
material and various adverse conditions in the boiler which influences them to
appreciate this apparently exaggerated remark.
Boiler Tube Materials:
Material Selection Aspects:
Plain low carbon and chrome-Moly type ferritic low alloy steels are mainly used for boiler
tubes of power plant boilers. These steels are used for tubes of almost all sizes of boilers
associated with power plants. Presently largest units of thermal power plants in our
country are of 500 MW capacity and here too boiler tubings are made of the above
mentioned carbon and low alloy steels only.
The boiler designers, considering cost, fabricability, space limitation and stability at high
temperature, have opted for the best possible creep resistance of carbon and chrome-Moly
type low alloy steels. It is to be noted that the bottom most position of the outermost
tube (called wrapper circuit) of the platen superheated assembly is made of A1S1 type 347
austenitic stainless steel. The large thermal expansion of the austenitic stainless steel is
not a limiting factor here as there is no interference in immediate vicinity of the wrapper
component (the same is not true for other vertical assemblies). At this location, in
addition to very high temperature, exist very high erosive attack of flue gas as it is
changing its flow from vertical to horizontal. With availability of necessary freedom for
thermal expansion, it became possible to use a creep and wear resistant material (i.e.
austenitic stainless steel) at a place where it is most needed.
It is not that factors associated with service conditions are not taken care of. The heat
exchanging assemblies have been so placed that flue gas flows uniformly without causing
excessive wear. Internal corrosion is totally left to the control of water chemistry. It is the
responsibility of boiler operators to see that „over heating‟ conditions do not develop (and
thereby creep conditions are avoided).

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 Critical Analysis & Prevention of Boiler Pressure Parts Failure

Standard Specifications
The low-carbon steels and the Cr-Mo type low alloy steels are mainly selected for the
boiler tubings of TPPs. At a few places, where service conditions are extremely severe and
the thermal-expansion-limiting space-restrictions do not exist, austenitic stainless steels
are also used. The steels generally used for boiler tubes are listed as per their „nominal
composition‟ below:
(A) Carbon Steels:
1. Low carbon (carbon below 0.2)
2. Medium carbon; (Carbon 0.30/0.35 max.)
(B) Low alloy Steels:
1. Moly type: (1/2 Mo)
2. Chrome-Moly type: (1/2 Cr-1/2 Mo), (1 Cr-1/2 Mo), (1.1/4 Cr-1/2 Mo), (2 Cr-
1/2 Mo), (5) Cr – ½ Mo), (2.1/4 Cr-1 Mo), (3 Cr – 1 Mo), and (9 Cr- 1 Mo with
Nb & V)
3. Chrome-Moly-Vanadium Type: (1/2 Cr-1/2 Mo – ¼ V).
(C) Austenitic Stainless Steels: (Type 304), (Type 316), (Type 321), (Type 347).

Materials for different pressure parts:

The actual material, size and thickness of a particular tubing system vary with the
capacity of the boiler and the designer/manufacturer of the boilers. However the
basic materials used for individual systems have not changed much. The reasons
for having limited choice in selection of materials are already discussed. It is not
to say that research and development has not made any difference. With advances
in development the criteria for design parameters, acceptance standards, and
approval methods have changed to a great degree. From materials point of view,
abandoning the use of Vanadium bearing creep resistant steels is noteworthy.
Some boiler manufacturers do use this type of steel but only at places where flue
gas is out of contact. This is so because vanadium of steel and sodium (if present in
flue gas) may form undesirable complex compounds which in molten stage are
extremely corrosive even for highly alloyed stainless steels.

While WW and ECO systems are of carbon steel tubes, those of RH system are of
low alloy steels. In case of SH system all varieties of steels are used depending on
the temperature of the location.
The HEEs of WW, ECO, SH and RH systems are mainly made of seamless variety
while larger pipes (ICPs, Headers) are made of boiler quality plates welded at the
seam by ERW/SAW (submerged arc) practice.
The material specification of individual HEEs of the WW, ECO, SH and RH systems
are listed in Table No. A(1) for a Power boiler up to 500MW .

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 Critical Analysis & Prevention of Boiler Pressure Parts Failure

TABLE NO. A (1)

Material specifications for Heat Exchanging Elements

Sr. No. Heat Exchanging Elements Specification

I ECONOMISER
1. Economiser Coils SA 210 Gr. A1/C
II WATERWALL
1. Wall Panels SA 210 Gr. A1/ C
2. 2. Platen assemblies SA 210 Gr. A1/ C

III SUPERHEATER
1. Radiant roof Panel SA 210 Gr. A1, SA 209 T1
2. SCW – side walls SA 210 Gr. A1
3. SCW – front wall panel -do-
4. SCW – Roof & rear wall -do-
panel
5. LTSH (Low temp.) SA 210 Gr. A1, SA 209 T1,
Assembly
SA 213 T11
6. Platen S.H. Vertical
SA 213 T11, SA 213 T22,
assembly
7. Final S.H. Vertical
assembly SA 213 TP 347 H
SA 213 T22
IV REHEATER
1. Reheater coils SA 209, T1, SA 213 T11,
SA 213 T22, SA 213 T91

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 Critical Analysis & Prevention of Boiler Pressure Parts Failure

Causes of Boiler Tube Failures:

Different Aspects of the Causes:
Understanding the cause of any failure is essential to ascertain whether the
failure is “unavoidable” or is “avoidable” by preventive measures. In case of the
BTFs a critical analysis of causes is highly valuable as most of the BTFs are
avoidable. A critical study of the causes of the BTFs is further justified on account
of the resultant non-availability of the power plant, generation losses (imagine a
210 MW power plant out for a minimum of four days if a BTF has necessitated
boiler shut down) and associated industrial production losses.
Since a complete discussion of all causes of the BTF would be too voluminous, they
are discussed only in brief in this literature survey.
Before going through the causes, an important aspect of these causes is discussed
as it is important from a failure analysis (of the BTFs) point of view.
The (responsible for the BTFs) can be considered as comprising of three stages.
First one is the Root cause (RC), and the last one is Damage Mechanism (DM). In
between we have a stage of UC (Undesirable Condition)s as explained below:
For example consider that an out of alignment portion of a reheater tube has
failed because of preferential erosion by flue gas. Here erosion is the damage
mechanism which caused the failure but the root cause is the out-of-alignment of
the portion of the tube which is responsible for the setting in of the damage
mechanism.
In between these RC and the ultimate DMs there is an intermediate stage. A
particular DM may set in because of either the tubes materials inferior corrosion
resistance or development of excessive corrosive conditions. An apparently simple
mistake of a mild steel tube at the location of a low alloy steel tube develops the
first condition while presence of undesirable water chemistry develops the second
condition. Thus between the RC and the DM is the stage of UC. A specific RC leads
to the development of UC which sets in a DM ultimately causing the failure of the
boiler tube.
Understanding of these stages is important from failure analysis point of view.
Usually the failure investigator rarely finds evidence positively pointing toward a
particular RC. He therefore generally follows a method of elimination. Once the
investigator knows the UC (out of all possible conditions which can set in the DM)
he can eliminate all RCs related to other possible conditions. This helps him a lot
in the investigation. It is also important to know about the source of a RC. For
example inadequate use of a water treatment chemical causes corrosion failure of
a boiler tube. Here the RC (i.e. inadequate use of water treatment chemical)
means „undesirable water chemistry‟. Thus a particular RC can be identified with
an area of the boiler engineering and the same can be considered as source of the
RC. Knowing the area of the boiler engineering of a RC” (i.e. a source of a RC) it
becomes possible to assign responsibility of preventing similar failures to the
concerned agency (unit/group/section/contractor/company). There can be
different RCs (causing different DMs) belonging to one source.
Thus a source of cause (soc) is as important as the RC itself hence they are listed
and classified in Table B (1).

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 Critical Analysis & Prevention of Boiler Pressure Parts Failure

TABLE NO. B (1)

The Classified List of the sources of the Causes Responsible
For the Boiler Tube failures

I. Design related
1) Improper material selection
2) Defective design of components and their assembly.
II. Fabrication related
1) Improper fabrication
2) Poor/Inspection and testing
III. Operation related
1) Undesirable water chemistry
2) Poor chemical cleaning
3) Undesirable flue gas chemistry
4) Undesirable coal and fuel oil
5) Improper checking
6) Failure of a component
IV. Repair related
1) Improper fabrication
2) Improper inspection and testing
3) Insufficient shut down and testing precautions.
A metallurgical investigator‟s first target, while undertaking a BTF analysis is to
find the DM responsible for the failure. In this chapter on the theoretical
background of the causes for BTFs this aspect is emphasized.
These days when a component (like a Boiler Tube) can fail in various manners and
there are quite a good number of possible causes, the failure analysis find the
Fault Tree Technique very useful in fault diagnoses. In a modified manner a fault
tree for each of the DMs is prepared by interconnecting the DM with their
UCs/RCs/SOCs. These modified fault trees are shown in block diagram type
diagrams.

Identify prospective failure location and Prevent Failure:

Since every damage mechanism is preceded by a Undesirable Condition and since
very rarely a damage mechanism is so aggressive that it leads to immediate
failure, it gives us an opportunity to identify an Undesirable Condition in the
system and detect the damage mechanism well in advance before it leads to
failure. If we can replace a damaged tube before it fails and causes a forced
stoppage, we can save a lot of money and increase the reliability of the system.

Contribution of Different Damage Mechanisms:

Following is list of all well-known DMs responsible for the BTFs.
1. Rupture (overload)
2. Corrosion
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 Critical Analysis & Prevention of Boiler Pressure Parts Failure

3. Erosion
4. Creep (over heating)
5. Fatigue and Thermal fatigue
6. Embrittlement
Most of the failures of steam-power plant equipments are due to over-heating,
corrosion, fouling, poor workmanship, improper material and defective material.

It is beyond doubt that a large proportion of the BTFs is always found to be due to
overheating. It was observed in a survey of cause wise tube failures (covering
about 350 cases over a period of 5 years in USA) that overheating accounts for
more than 50% of tube failures.
Even in developed countries in initial stages, when water chemistry measures were
not well established corrosion type failures were more common.
In our country, the measures of controlling water chemistry are well established
now and are well practiced at almost all power stations and hence the BTFs
related to the corrosion DM are not very common. Till enough design experience
was gained the fatigue (thermal fatigue in particularly) failures were quite
common. Now a days such cases are rare.
The factor “Tube external wastage erosion” is equally dominant in the BTFs in our
country. In fact, more than two third of the BTFs which occurred at one TPS in
Gujarat, were due to erosion (Flue gas side).
The individual DMs are discussed in subsequent articles.

Over Heating (Creep):-

Logically there can be three conditions (i.e. UCs) which can cause overheating of
boiler tubes:
(1) Tubes subjected to excessive heat flux.
(2) Insufficient heat extraction by the medium to be heated due to its
insufficient flow
(3) Poor heat absorption by medium because of development of insulation by
internal deposit.
These three conditions are called: (a) excessive heat exposure (b) flow starvation
and (c) Internal Deposit. The RCs for these SCs are discussed below.

Excessive Heat Exposure:-

(a) Flame impingement – which in turn may be due to –
– 1. Burner distortion
– 2. Disturbance in location of burner with respect to water walls
- 3 undesirable flame shape
- 4 undesirable design/setting of burner throat.
(b) Partial restriction of flue gas at a location creating excessive flow at other
location due to improper flue gas flow pattern.

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 Critical Analysis & Prevention of Boiler Pressure Parts Failure

(c) Excessive ash deposit on furnace walls (due to insufficient deslagging or soot
removal) causing excessive heat flux at suspended assemblies (i.e. RHs and
SHs).

Flow starvation:
Following things, at flow changing locations i.e. bends ect. can cause flow
starvation:-
- a. Corrosion products
- b. Carry over salts
- c. Foreign materials like weld slag, sand, mud, rust (due to improper
boiler cleaning or preservation).

From failure investigation point of view it is important to note that most of the
time no evidence of chocking material is detected because it gets blown out when
tube ruptures. Flow starvation also results if water level in the boiler drum
remains low for a considerable time. In such cases quits a good number of water
wall tubes get damaged.
In case of steam carrying systems i.e. (SHs/RHs) flow starvation may result
from excessive extraction of auxiliary steam.

Internal Deposit:-
As a protective measure it is seen by boiler operators that magnetite layer (Fe3O4)
of a limited thickness is maintained inside the boiler tubes. However undesirable
water chemistry sometimes leads to excessive thickness of Fe3O4 which then acts
as insulator to heat flow.
In addition, poor water chemistry may lead to excessive formation and deposition
of oxides and corrosion products inside boiler tubes. Creep failures of water platen
tubes because of deposition of copper salts is one of the examples.

Types of Overheating-
The overheating failures are of two types:
(1) Sudden rupture – failure in a very short period due to highly excessive heat
flux condition – Short Time Overheating;

(2) Creep rupture – long period failure associated with a small degree of
excessive temperature build-up – „Long Time Overheating‟.

Some call the first type as „overheating failures‟ and the second one as „creep
failures‟.
Sudden ruptures are common in water-wall tubes where water boiling phenomenon
takes place at an inside interface. It is believed that this type of failure (ruptures)
are responsible for the onset of „unstable film boiling‟ (also known as departure
from nucleate boiling i.e. DNB).

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 Critical Analysis & Prevention of Boiler Pressure Parts Failure

Film Boiling (DNB)

Nucleate Boiling
When water is boiler in a tube having uniform heat flux (Rate of heat transfer)
along its length under conditions that produce a state of dynamic equilibrium,
various points along the tube will be in contact with sub-cooled water, boiling
water, low-quality steam, high-quality steam and superheated steam. A
temperature gradient between the tube wall and the fluid within the tube
provided the driving force for heat transfer at any point. Figure below indicates
the effects that different heat fluxes have on tube-wall temperature. In the region
where sub cooled water contacts the tube (at left in Figure) the conductance of
the fluid film is relatively high; therefore, a small temperature difference sustains
heat transfer at all heat flux levels.

Effect of Heat Flux on Tube Wall Temperature

However the conductance of a vapor film in steam of low quality of film boiling, a
large temperature difference between the tube wall and the bulk fluid is required
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 Critical Analysis & Prevention of Boiler Pressure Parts Failure

to sustain a high heat flux across the film. The effect of the onset of film boiling
on tube-wall temperature appears as sharp breaks in the curves for moderate, high
and very high heat fluxes in Figure above. With increasing heat flux, the onset of
unstable film boiling (also known as departure from nucleate boiling, or DNB)
occurs at lower steam qualities and tube-wall temperatures reach higher peak
values before stable film boiling, which requires a lower temperature difference to
sustain a given heat flux, is established.
At very high heat fluxes, DNB occurs at low steam quality, and the temperature
difference between tube wall and bulk fluid at a point slightly downstream from
DNB is very high. Under these conditions, tube failure theoretically can occur by
melting of the tube wall, although in reality the tube will rupture because metal
losses its strength (and thereby loses its ability to contain pressure) before it
melts. In design of fossil fuel boilers and nuclear reactors, DNB is an important
consideration, because heat flux can quickly exceed the failure point (burnout
point) at local regions in a tube if the tube does not receive an adequate supply of
incoming feed water.
Factors leading to DNB in Natural Circulation:

In a natural circulation boiler, the circulation occurs due to the density difference
in riser and downcomers. The downcomers contain water, whereas the risers
contain a mixture of water and steam.
Assuming the density in riser and downcomer as ρr and ρd respectively, the height
from the drum level to centerline of bottom ring header, the head difference
forcing the water to circulate through the circuit becomes
ΔP = H ρd g - H ρr g = H g (ρd – ρr)
Therefore the circulation is maximum when ρr is minimum; which means the boiler is
generating steam at BMCR condition. The flow created by this natural circulation drives
the steam bubbles up leading to nucleate boiling.
It also indicates the vulnerability of the natural circulation boiler during start-up condition
since there is less amount of steam in the riser in the beginning. If we try to ramp-up the
boiler quickly (which we do more often than not), the heat flux can exceed critical heat
flux leading to DNB and subsequent film boiling.
If H in the above equation goes down, then it is also going to affect the circulation. That
tells us the importance of drum level.
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 Critical Analysis & Prevention of Boiler Pressure Parts Failure

Various factors leading to DNB can be listed as:

 Fast Ramp up during cold start
 Low drum level
 Obstruction due to foreign object fouling the tube
 Formation of scale inside the tube
 Flame shifting towards one side wall

In superheaters and reheaters, which normally operate at temperatures that

are 28 to 83 degrees C (50 to 150 degrees F) higher than the temperature of the
steam inside the tubes, heat transfer is controlled primarily by the conductance of
fluid films at the inner and outer surfaces. Although higher heat fluxes require
higher tube-wall temperatures to sustain heat transfer, deposits have a greater
effect on tube-wall temperatures and therefore on overheating.

These two types of overheating failures (usually) result in two distinctly different
types of fracture features i.e. „thick-lip rupture‟ (in case of slow overheating –
creep overheating) and „thin-lip rupture‟ (in case of sudden …………rupture).

Long Term Overheating

Thick-lip ruptures in steam-generator tubes occur mainly by stress rupture as a
result of prolonged overheating at a temperature slightly above the maximum safe
working temperature, for the tube material. Fracture surfaces of such ruptures are
rough (crystalline) in microscopic appearance and usually are oxidized or hot-gas
corroded because of exposure to a high-temperature corrosive environment
following the rupture. The microscopic direction of fracture is normal to the tube
surface (flat-face fracture) and parallel to the tube axis. Thick-lip rupture may or
may not be accompanied by sight swelling of the tube in the region adjacent to the
rupture, and usually there is only small amount of reduction in tube wall thickness
at the fracture. Examination of a polished, transverse reaction through the tube at
the center of the fracture usually reveals extensive secondary transverse cracking
adjacent to the main fracture and when etched, the section will exhibit
intergranular separation.

15
 Critical Analysis & Prevention of Boiler Pressure Parts Failure

Thin lip conventional short term

overheating rapture
Short Term Overheating with thick lip

Thin-lip ruptures usually are transgranular tensile fractures occurring at

metal temperatures from 650 to 870 C (1200 to 1600 F). These elevated
temperature tensile fractures exhibit microscopic and microscopic features that
are characteristic of the tube alloy and the temperature at which rupture
occurred. A tensile fracture results from rapid overheating to a temperature
considerably above the safe working temperature for the tube material and is
accompanied by considerable swelling of the tube in the regions adjacent to the
rupture that have been exposed to the highest temperatures. Sometimes, steam
escaping at high velocity through the rupture will impose a reaction force on the
tube sufficient to bend it internally. The higher and more uniform the degree of
overheating, the greater in the likelihood of lateral bending.
Ruptures caused by rapid overheating exhibit obvious tub-wall thinning
adjacent to the rupture, often to a knife-edge at the fracture surface. Thinning
also occurs in areas of swelling adjacent to ruptures.

Preventive Measures:
Preventing overheating failure means to approach perfection in all aspects.
Prevention of overheating needs maintenance of „all parameters‟ religiously. Not
only this, it needs perfect erection/fabrication.
During erection/fabrication it has to be seen that there is no burner/flame
distortion/disturbance.
During operation and maintenance it has to be seen that following are prevented:
(1) Undesirable flow pattern of flue gas,
(2) Undesirable water chemistry,
(3) Undesirable water level in boiler drum etc.
Close control of boiler temperature within the designed range is very much
essential for prevention of failures due to overheating. Here it is important to
know that an increase of 100oF reduces rupture life of most of the steels to about
one-tenth of their original value, the stress being constant. Therefore the boiler
tube that has been properly designed for a life of 30 years may fail after only 3
years if temperature conditions develop that increase the temperature by 100 oF.
Since highly ideal conditions are needed to avoid overheating it is found that
whenever there is slippage in any parameter, this failure occurs as material
selected for boiler tubes is just sufficient to meet design parameters only.
16
 Critical Analysis & Prevention of Boiler Pressure Parts Failure

Corrosion
Basically the corrosion mechanism can set in under the following two conditions
(i.e. SCs for this DM).
(1) Presence of a material having inferior corrosion resistance than expected
and
(2) Development of excessive corrosive condition than expected
In boiler engineering the corrosion of boiler tubes is classified as follows:
(a) Water/steam side corrosion (i.e. internal corrosion).
(b) Furnace side corrosion (i.e. external corrosion).
The water side issues are not limited to corrosion only. There can be other
problems like scaling and carry-over, which subsequently leads to failure. We are
therefore going to have a detailed discussion on the problems related faulty
water chemistry.

17
 Critical Analysis & Prevention of Boiler Pressure Parts Failure

Problems caused by faulty Water Chemistry:

Boiler is a vessel wherein water is heated to convert into steam, with the application
of heat of a burning fuel and/or the hot exhaust gas from some process. The heat
potential available in steam is one of the well-known sources of energy to do
mechanical work in any steam engine. It is essential to maintain uninterrupted flow
of steam to the engines and hence the boiler has to be necessarily fed with adequate
supply of water to keep up a safe level in the drum. In order to ensure long life and
trouble free operation of a boiler it is important to keep the boiler water chemistry
under control. Depending upon the working pressure and temperature of boiler, the
quality of Feed Water for the boiler is to be maintained. However, due to continuous
evaporation occurring in boiler, the concentration of impurities in the boiler goes on
increasing. Therefore, it is necessary to carry out chemical injection in the boiler for
forming precipitates of impurities, which are to be drained out at regular intervals.
Due to this regular draining or blow down the quantity of water in boiler system has
got to be continuously made-up by feeding high purity water which is obtained by
appropriate treatment of raw water.

Raw Water Sources:

Though the water, in nature, is available in plenty, it can not be taken for use in a
boiler without a proper chemical treatment. The physical and chemical properties of
natural water, which widely vary, depending upon the source and strata on which it
flows, makes it unsuitable for direct use in a Boiler. The natural water picks up
minerals and salts from the earthen layer, which gets into the solution. Water,
therefore, is a mixer of composite mineral salts in dissolved condition, in varying
proportions, composition and degree. It gets polluted further with multifarious
organic and inorganic impurities, due to disposal of industrial and domestic wastes.
Decayed vegetation and marine lives also contribute to water contamination. Not
only the dissolved salts in water, but also the presence of the coarse and un-
dissolvable substances in suspended form, constituting mainly of silt and clay
matters, generally termed as turbidity, make it unsuitable for direct use, without any
treatment. Natural water, found on earth, contains siliceous matters, in dissolved as
well as in colloidal forms.

Impurities:
Water as a Solvent
Pure water (H20) is colorless, tasteless, and odorless. It is composed of hydrogen
and oxygen. Because water becomes contaminated by the substances with which it
comes into contact, it is not available for use in its pure state. To some degree,
water can dissolve every naturally occurring substance on the earth. Because of
this property, water has been termed a "universal solvent." Although beneficial to
mankind, the solvency power of water can pose a major threat to industrial
equipment. Corrosion reactions cause the slow dissolution of metals by water.
Deposition reactions, which produce scale on heat transfer surfaces, represent a
change in the solvency power of water as its temperature is varied. The control of
corrosion and scale is a major focus of water treatment technology.

18
 Critical Analysis & Prevention of Boiler Pressure Parts Failure

Necessity of Water Treatment for Boilers:

Waters used as boiler feed water, such as industrial water, underground water,
river water and sea water; usually contain various substances such as suspended
solids, dissolved solids and gases. The amounts of these substances vary largely
depending on the sources of raw waters.
The use of such water without the proper treatment may result in problems, such
as scale, corrosion and carryover, in boilers and the auxiliary equipments.

The Mechanism of Scaling and Corrosion:

Scaling:
Deposition is a major problem in the operation of steam generating equipment.
The accumulation of material on boiler surfaces can cause overheating and/or
corrosion. Both of these conditions frequently result in unscheduled downtime.

Deposits
Common feedwater contaminants that can form boiler deposits include calcium,
magnesium, iron, copper, aluminum, silica, and (to a lesser extent) silt and oil.
Most deposits can be classified as one of two types

 scale that crystallized directly onto tube surfaces

 sludge deposits that precipitated elsewhere and were transported to the
metal surface by the flowing water
Scale is formed by salts that have limited solubility but are not totally insoluble in
boiler water. These salts reach the deposit site in a soluble form and precipitate
when concentrated by evaporation. The precipitates formed usually have a fairly
homogeneous composition and crystal structure.
High heat transfer rates cause high evaporation rates, which concentrate the
remaining water in the area of evaporation. A number of different scale-forming
compounds can precipitate from the concentrated water. The nature of the scale
formed depends on the chemical composition of the concentrated water. Normal
deposit constituents are calcium, magnesium, silica, aluminum, iron, and (in some
cases) sodium.
19
 Critical Analysis & Prevention of Boiler Pressure Parts Failure

The exact combinations in which they exist vary from boiler to boiler, and from
location to location within a boiler. Scale may form as calcium silicate in one
boiler and as sodium iron silicate in another.
Compared to some other precipitation reactions, such as the formation of calcium
phosphate, the crystallization of scale is a slow process. As a result, the crystals
formed are well defined, and a hard, dense, and highly insulating material is
formed on the tube metal. Some forms of scale are so tenacious that they resist
any type of removal-mechanical or chemical.
Sludge is the accumulation of solids that precipitate in the bulk boiler water or
enter the boiler as suspended solids. Sludge deposits can be hard, dense, and
tenacious. When exposed to high heat levels (e.g., when a boiler is drained hot),
sludge deposits are often baked in place. Sludge deposits hardened in this way can
be as troublesome as scale.
Once deposition starts, particles present in the circulating water can become
bound to the deposit. Intraparticle binding does not need to occur between every
particle in a deposit mass. Some nonbound particles can be captured in a network
of bound particles.
Binding is often a function of surface charge and loss of water of hydration. Iron
oxide, which exists in many hydrated and oxide forms, is particularly prone to
bonding. Some silicates will do the same, and many oil contaminants are notorious
deposit binders, due to polymerization and degradation reactions.
Since these scale components have the small thermal conductivities as shown in
Table below, the scale adhesion on the heating surface remarkably reduces the
thermal efficiency of boiler.

Substance Thermal conductivity (kcal/m·h·°C)

Silica scale 0.2–0.4
Calcium carbonate scale 0.4–0.6
Calcium sulfate scale 0.5–2.0
Calcium phosphate scale 0.5–0.7
Iron oxide (hematite) scale 3–5
Iron oxide (magnetite) scale 1
Carbon steel 40–60
Copper 320–360
When the part covered with the scale is locally superheated, the mechanical
strength of the tube material is reduced and the bursting may occur eventually.
Most scales formed on the heating surface are generally composed of several
mixed substances.
The thermal conductivity of such mixed scale is approximately 1 to 2 kcal/m·h·°C.
Figure below shows a model of heating surface covered with scale and the inner
skin temperature of the tube under the scale, obtained from the following
equation:

20
 Critical Analysis & Prevention of Boiler Pressure Parts Failure

t2 = t4 + (1/α + D/ k2) x Q
Where,
t2 = inner skin temperature of tube (°C)
t4 = boiler water temperature (bulk)(°C)
α = heat transfer coefficient of boiling surface
(kcal/ m2·h·°C)
D = scale thickness (m)
k2 = thermal conductivity of scale (kcal/ m·h·°C)
Q = heat flux (kcal/m2·h)

Figure in the left shows the

relationship between the scale
thickness and the inner skin
temperature of tube at each heat
flux when a scale with thermal
conductivity of 2 kcal/m·h·°C
adheres on the boiler tube inside
with the pressure of 10 kgf/cm2.

Figure in the right shows the

relationship between the
temperature and the
allowable tensile stresses of
carbon steels using as boiler
tubes.
When the temperature
exceeds 350° C, the
allowable stress starts to
decrease and reaches the 50
to 60% of the original value
at 450° C. Therefore, the
tube wall temperature
should be kept below 450°C
JIS STB 410 is equivalent of ASTM grade SA210
for the safe boiler operation
GR A1
and the scale thickness on
JIS STB 340 is equivalent of ASTM grade SA 192
the tube has to be
controlled thinner than 1 to
2 mm as shown in previous
Figure.
In addition to causing material damage by insulating the heat transfer path from
the boiler flame to the water
21
 Critical Analysis & Prevention of Boiler Pressure Parts Failure

They roughen the tube surface and increase the drag coefficient in the boiler
circuit. Reduced circulation in a generating tube contributes to accelerated
deposition, overheating, and premature steam-water separation.

Corrosion:
Corrosion is one of the main causes of reduced reliability in steam generating
systems. It is estimated that problems due to boiler system corrosion cost industry
billions of Rupees per year.
Many corrosion problems occur in the hottest areas of the boiler-the water wall,
screen, and superheater tubes. Other common problem areas include deaerators,
feedwater heaters, and economizers.
Methods of corrosion control vary depending upon the type of corrosion
encountered. The most common causes of corrosion are dissolved gases (primarily
oxygen and carbon dioxide), under-deposit attack, low pH, and attack of areas
weakened by mechanical stress, leading to stress and fatigue cracking.

These conditions may be controlled through the following procedures:

 maintenance of proper pH and alkalinity levels
 control of oxygen and boiler feed water contamination
 reduction of mechanical stresses
 operation within design specifications, especially for temperature and
pressure
 proper precautions during start-up and shutdown
 effective monitoring and control

Corrosion Tendencies of Boiler System Components

Most industrial boiler and feedwater systems are constructed of carbon steel. Many
have copper alloy and/or stainless steel feedwater heaters and condensers. Some
have stainless steel superheater elements.
Proper treatment of boiler feedwater effectively protects against corrosion of
feedwater heaters, economizers, and deaerators. The ASME Consensus for
Industrial Boilers specifies maximum levels of contaminants for corrosion and
deposition control in boiler systems.
The consensus is that feedwater oxygen, iron, and copper content should be very
low (e.g., less than 7 ppb oxygen, 20 ppb iron, and 15 ppb copper for a 900 psig
boiler) and that pH should be maintained between 8.5 and 9.5 for system corrosion
protection.

22
 Critical Analysis & Prevention of Boiler Pressure Parts Failure

In order to minimize boiler system corrosion, an understanding of the operational

requirements for all critical system components is necessary.

Deaerators
Deaerators are used to heat feedwater and reduce oxygen and other dissolved
gases to acceptable levels. Corrosion fatigue at or near welds is a major problem in
deaerators. Most corrosion fatigue cracking has been reported to be the result of
mechanical factors, such as manufacturing procedures, poor welds, and lack of
stress-relieved welds. Operational problems such as water/steam hammer can also
be a factor.
Effective corrosion control requires the following practices:
 regular monitoring of operation
 minimization of stresses during start-up
 maintenance of stable temperature and pressure levels
 control of dissolved oxygen and pH in the feedwater
 regular out-of-service inspection using established nondestructive
techniques
Other forms of corrosive attack in deaerators include stress corrosion cracking of
the stainless steel tray chamber, inlet spray valve spring cracking, corrosion of
vent condensers due to oxygen pitting, and erosion of the impingement baffles
near the steam inlet connection.

Economizers
Economizer corrosion control involves procedures similar to those employed for
protecting feedwater heaters.
Economizers help to improve boiler efficiency by extracting heat from flue gases
discharged from the fireside of a boiler. Economizers can be classified as
nonsteaming or steaming. In a steaming economizer, 5-20% of the incoming
feedwater becomes steam. Steaming economizers are particularly sensitive to
deposition from feedwater contaminants and resultant under-deposit corrosion.
Erosion at tube bends is also a problem in steaming economizers.
Oxygen pitting, caused by the presence of oxygen and temperature increase, is a
major problem in economizers; therefore, it is necessary to maintain essentially
oxygen-free water in these units. The inlet is subject to severe pitting, because it
is often the first area after the deaerator to be exposed to increased heat.
Whenever possible, tubes in this area should be inspected closely for evidence of
corrosion.
Economizer heat transfer surfaces are subject to corrosion product buildup and
deposition of incoming metal oxides. These deposits can slough off during
operational load and chemical changes.
Corrosion can also occur on the gas side of the economizer due to contaminants in
the flue gas, forming low-pH compounds. Generally, economizers are arranged for
downward flow of gas and upward flow of water. Tubes that form the heating
surface may be smooth or provided with extended surfaces.

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 Critical Analysis & Prevention of Boiler Pressure Parts Failure

Superheaters
Superheater corrosion problems are caused by a number of mechanical and
chemical conditions. One major problem is the oxidation of superheater metal due
to high gas temperatures, usually occurring during transition periods, such as start-
up and shutdown. Deposits due to carryover can contribute to the problem.
Resulting failures usually occur in the bottom loops-the hottest areas of the
superheater tubes.
Oxygen pitting, particularly in the pendant loop area, is another major corrosion
problem in superheaters. It is caused when water is exposed to oxygen during
downtime. Close temperature control helps to minimize this problem. In addition,
a nitrogen blanket and chemical oxygen scavenger can be used to maintain oxygen-
free conditions during downtime.

Low-Pressure Steam and Hot Water Heating Systems

Hot water boilers heat and circulate water at approximately 200°F. Steam heating
boilers are used to generate steam at low pressures, such as 15 psig. Generally,
these two basic heating systems are treated as closed systems, because makeup
requirements are usually very low.
High-temperature hot water boilers operate at pressures of up to 500 psig,
although the usual range is 35-350 psig. System pressure must be maintained above
the saturation pressure of the heated water to maintain a liquid state. The most
common way to do this is to pressurize the system with nitrogen. Normally, the
makeup is of good quality (e.g., deionized or sodium zeolite softened water).
Chemical treatment consists of sodium sulfite (to scavenge the oxygen), pH
adjustment, and a synthetic polymer dispersant to control possible iron deposition.
The major problem in low-pressure heating systems is corrosion caused by
dissolved oxygen and low pH. These systems are usually treated with an inhibitor
(such as molybdate or nitrite) or with an oxygen scavenger (such as sodium
sulfite), along with a synthetic polymer for deposit control. Sufficient treatment
must be fed to water added to make up for system losses, which usually occur as a
result of circulating pump leakage. Generally, 200-400 ppm P-alkalinity is
maintained in the water for effective control of pH. Inhibitor requirements vary
depending on the system.

Types of Corrosion
Corrosion control techniques vary according to the type of corrosion encountered.
Major methods of corrosion control include maintenance of the proper pH, control
of oxygen, control of deposits, and reduction of stresses through design and
operational practices.
Galvanic Corrosion
Galvanic corrosion occurs when a metal or alloy is electrically coupled to a
different metal or alloy.
The most common type of galvanic corrosion in a boiler system is caused by the
contact of dissimilar metals, such as iron and copper. These differential cells can
also be formed when deposits are present. Galvanic corrosion can occur at welds
due to stresses in heat-affected zones or the use of different alloys in the welds.
Anything that results in a difference in electrical potential at discrete surface
locations can cause a galvanic reaction. Causes include:
24
 Critical Analysis & Prevention of Boiler Pressure Parts Failure

 scratches in a metal surface

 differential stresses in a metal
 differences in temperature
 conductive deposits
Pitting of boiler tube banks has been encountered due to metallic copper deposits.
Such deposits may form during acid cleaning procedures if the procedures do not
completely compensate for the amount of copper oxides in the deposits or if a
copper removal step is not included. Dissolved copper may be plated out on freshly
cleaned surfaces, establishing anodic corrosion areas and forming pits, which are
very similar to oxygen pits in form and appearance. This process is illustrated by
the following reactions involving hydrochloric acid as the cleaning solvent.
Magnetite is dissolved and yields an acid solution containing both ferrous (Fe²+)
and ferric (Fe³+) chlorides (ferric chlorides are very corrosive to steel and copper)
Fe3O4 + 8HCl  FeCl2 + 2FeCl3 + 4H2O
Metallic or elemental copper in boiler deposits is dissolved in the hydrochloric acid
solution by the following reaction:
FeCl3 + Cu  CuCl + FeCl2
Once cuprous chloride is in solution, it is immediately redeposited as metallic
copper on the steel surface according to the following reaction:
2CuCl + Fe  FeCl2 + 2Cu0
Thus, hydrochloric acid cleaning can cause galvanic corrosion unless the copper is
prevented from plating on the steel surface. A complexing agent is added to
prevent the copper from redepositing. The following chemical reaction results:
Complexing
FeCl3 + Cu +  FeCl2 + CuCl
Agent
This can take place as a separate step or during acid cleaning. Both iron and the
copper are removed from the boiler, and the boiler surfaces can then be
passivated.
In most cases, the copper is localized in certain tube banks and causes random
pitting. When deposits contain large quantities of copper oxide or metallic copper,
special precautions are required to prevent the plating out of copper during
cleaning operations.

Caustic Corrosion
Concentration of caustic (NaOH) can occur either as a result of steam blanketing
(which allows salts to concentrate on boiler metal surfaces) or by localized boiling
beneath porous deposits on tube surfaces.
Caustic corrosion (gouging) occurs when caustic is concentrated and dissolves the
protective magnetite (Fe3O4) layer. Iron, in contact with the boiler water, forms
magnetite and the protective layer is continuously restored. However, as long as a
high caustic concentration exists, the magnetite is constantly dissolved, causing a
loss of base metal and eventual failure.
Steam blanketing is a condition that occurs when a steam layer forms between the
boiler water and the tube wall. Under this condition, insufficient water reaches
25
 Critical Analysis & Prevention of Boiler Pressure Parts Failure

the tube surface for efficient heat transfer. The water that does reach the
overheated boiler wall is rapidly vaporized, leaving behind a concentrated caustic
solution, which is corrosive.

Porous metal oxide deposits also permit the development of high boiler water
concentrations. Water flows into the deposit and heat applied to the tube causes
the water to evaporate, leaving a very concentrated solution. Again, corrosion may
occur.
Caustic attack creates irregular patterns, often referred to as gouges. Deposition
may or may not be found in the affected area.
Boiler feedwater systems using demineralized or evaporated makeup or pure
condensate may be protected from caustic attack through coordinated
phosphate/pH control. Phosphate buffers the boiler water, reducing the chance of
large pH changes due to the development of high caustic concentrations. Excess
caustic combines with disodium phosphate and forms trisodium phosphate.
Sufficient disodium phosphate must be available to combine with all of the free
caustic in order to form trisodium phosphate.
Disodium phosphate neutralizes caustic by the following reaction:
Na2HPO4 + NaOH ↔ Na3PO4 + H2O
This results in the prevention of caustic buildup beneath deposits or within a
crevice where leakage is occurring. Caustic corrosion and caustic embrittlement
does not occur, because high caustic concentrations do not develop.
Different forms of phosphate consume or add caustic as the phosphate shifts to the
proper form. For example, addition of monosodium phosphate consumes caustic as
it reacts with caustic to form disodium phosphate in the boiler water according to
the following reaction:
NaH2PO4 + NaOH ↔ Na2HPO4 + H2O
Conversely, addition of trisodium phosphate adds caustic, increasing boiler water
pH:
Na3PO4 + H2O ↔ Na2HPO4 + NaOH

26
 Critical Analysis & Prevention of Boiler Pressure Parts Failure

Control is achieved through feed of the proper type of phosphate to either raise or
lower the pH while maintaining the proper phosphate level. Increasing blowdown
lowers both phosphate and pH. Therefore, various combinations and feed rates of
phosphate, blowdown adjustment, and caustic addition are used to maintain
proper phosphate/pH levels.
Elevated temperatures at the boiler tube wall or deposits can result in some
precipitation of phosphate. This effect, termed "phosphate hideout," usually occurs
when loads increase. When the load is reduced, phosphate reappears.
Clean boiler water surfaces reduce potential concentration sites for caustic.
Deposit control treatment programs, such as those based on chelants and synthetic
polymers, can help provide clean surfaces.
Where steam blanketing is occurring, corrosion can take place even without the
presence of caustic, due to the steam/magnetite reaction and the dissolution of
magnetite. In such cases, operational changes or design modifications may be
necessary to eliminate the cause of the problem.

Acidic Corrosion
Low makeup or feedwater pH can cause serious acid attack on metal surfaces in
the preboiler and boiler system. Even if the original makeup or feedwater pH is not
low, feedwater can become acidic from contamination of the system. Common
causes include the following:
 improper operation or control of demineralizer cation units
 process contamination of condensate (e.g., sugar contamination in food
processing plants)
 cooling water contamination from condensers
Acid corrosion can also be caused by chemical cleaning operations. Overheating of
the cleaning solution can cause breakdown of the inhibitor used, excessive
exposure of metal to cleaning agent, and high cleaning agent concentration.
Failure to neutralize acid solvents completely before start-up has also caused
problems.

27
 Critical Analysis & Prevention of Boiler Pressure Parts Failure

The acid chloride corrosion can take place through the following reaction under
deposits or steam blanketing at low pH conditions:
MgCl2 + H2O → MgO + 2HCl
Fe3O4 +HCl → FeCl2 + FeCl3 +H2O
Fe + 2HCl → FeCl2 + 2H
In a boiler and feed water system, acidic attack can take the form of general
thinning, or it can be localized at areas of high stress such as drum baffles, "U"
bolts, acorn nuts, and tube ends.

Oxygen Attack
Without proper mechanical and chemical deaeration, oxygen in the feedwater will
enter the boiler. Much is flashed off with the steam; the remainder can attack
boiler metal. The point of attack varies with boiler design and feedwater
distribution. Pitting is frequently visible in the feedwater distribution holes, at the
steam drum waterline, and in downcomer tubes.
Oxygen is highly corrosive when present in hot water. Even small concentrations
can cause serious problems. Because pits can penetrate deep into the metal,
oxygen corrosion can result in rapid failure of feedwater lines, economizers, boiler
tubes, and condensate lines. Additionally, iron oxide generated by the corrosion
can produce iron deposits in the boiler.
Oxygen corrosion may be highly localized or may cover an extensive area. It is
identified by well defined pits or a very pockmarked surface. The pits vary in
shape, but are characterized by sharp edges at the surface. Active oxygen pits are
distinguished by a reddish brown oxide cap (tubercle). Removal of this cap exposes
black iron oxide within the pit.
Oxygen attack is an electrochemical process that can be described by the following
reactions:
Anode:
Fe  Fe2+ + 2e¯
Cathode:
½O2 + H2O + 2e¯  2OH¯

Overall:
Fe + ½O2 + H2O  Fe(OH)2

28
 Critical Analysis & Prevention of Boiler Pressure Parts Failure

The influence of temperature is particularly important in feedwater heaters and

economizers. A temperature rise provides enough additional energy to accelerate
reactions at the metal surfaces, resulting in rapid and severe corrosion.
At 60°F and atmospheric pressure, the solubility of oxygen in water is
approximately 8 ppm. Efficient mechanical deaeration reduces dissolved oxygen to
7 ppb or less. For complete protection from oxygen corrosion, a chemical
scavenger is required following mechanical deaeration.
Major sources of oxygen in an operating system include poor deaerator operation,
in-leakage of air on the suction side of pumps, the breathing action of receiving
tanks, and leakage of undeaerated water used for pump seals.
The acceptable dissolved oxygen level for any system depends on many factors,
such as feedwater temperature, pH, flow rate, dissolved solids content, and the
metallurgy and physical condition of the system. Based on experience in thousands
of systems, 3-10 ppb of feedwater oxygen is not significantly damaging to
economizers. This is reflected in industry guidelines.
the ASME consensus is less than 7 ppb (ASME recommends chemical scavenging to
"essentially zero" ppb)
TAPPI engineering guidelines are less than 7 ppb
EPRI fossil plant guidelines are less than 5 ppb dissolved oxygen

Mechanical Conditions Affecting Corrosion

Many corrosion problems are the result of mechanical and operational problems.
The following practices help to minimize these corrosion problems:
 election of corrosion-resistant metals
 reduction of mechanical stress where possible (e.g., use of proper
welding procedures and stress-relieving welds)
 minimization of thermal and mechanical stresses during operation
 operation within design load specifications, without over-firing, along
with proper start-up and shutdown procedures
 maintenance of clean systems, including the use of high-purity
feedwater, effective and closely controlled chemical treatment, and acid
cleaning when required
Where boiler tubes fail as a result of caustic embrittlement, circumferential
cracking can be seen. In other components, cracks follow the lines of greatest
stress. A microscopic examination of a properly prepared section of embrittled
metal shows a characteristic pattern, with cracking progressing along defined
paths or grain boundaries in the crystal structure of the metal. The cracks do not
penetrate the crystals themselves, but travel between them; therefore, the term
"intercrystalline cracking" is used.
Good engineering practice dictates that the boiler water be evaluated for
embrittling characteristics. An embrittlement detector (described in Chapter 14) is
used for this purpose.
If a boiler water possesses embrittling characteristics, steps must be taken to
prevent attack of the boiler metal. Sodium nitrate is a standard treatment for
inhibiting embrittlement in lower-pressure boiler systems. The inhibition of
embrittlement requires a definite ratio of nitrate to the caustic alkalinity present
in the boiler water. In higher-pressure boiler systems, where demineralized
29
 Critical Analysis & Prevention of Boiler Pressure Parts Failure

makeup water is used, embrittling characteristics in boiler water can be prevented

by the use of coordinated phosphate/pH treatment control, described previously
under "Caustic Corrosion." This method prevents high concentrations of free
sodium hydroxide from forming in the boiler, eliminating embrittling tendencies.

Embrittlement:
Hydrogen damage and Graphitization embrittlement mechanism cause
metallurgical changes within the metal of the boiler tubes and affect their ability
to sustain service loads (for which they are designed and used). These mechanisms
make normally satisfactory tube material susceptible to brittle fracture.

Hydrogen Damage:

The source (SOC) for this type of damage is existence of improper water chemistry
and root cause (RC) is either low or high pH. The low/ high pH damage is discussed
in detail earlier.
Fe + 2NaOH → Na2FeO2 + 2H
Fe + 2HCl  FeCl2 + 2H
4H+ + Fe3C → CH4 + 3Fe
The Methane gas generated collects in grain boundaries and form fissures as
pressure builds up which eventually grow.

From fractographic examination point of view, it is important to note that cracking

caused by hydrogen damage often resembles stress-corrosion-cracking, except that
hydrogen damage failures may exhibit little or no crack branching. Mostly hydrogen
damage is manifested by discontinuous intergranular cracking, often accompanied
by decarburization.
30
 Critical Analysis & Prevention of Boiler Pressure Parts Failure

The tubes damaged by this mechanism often rupture in a manner known as Window
Fracture, in which a portion of the tube wall gets detached.
If the mechanism has not caused decarburization and grain boundary cracking in a
boiler tube, its original ductility can be restored by simple low temperature
backing treatment.
Maintaining proper pH and phosphate is a preventive measure against this type of
BTF.
Graphitization:
Graphitization i.e. the phenomenon of decomposition of perlite into ferrite and
graphite can embrittle the carbon and low-alloy steels (i.e. those used for boiler
tubes) especially when the graphite particles form along a continuous zone.

Because graphitization involves prolonged heating (several thousand hours)

at moderate temperature (exposure between 425o to 550oC) it seldom occurs in
waterwall tubes and is very likely to occur in low temperature superheater (LTSH)
and economizer assemblies.
Comparatively embrittlement through graphitization is found more common
in carbon and ½% Mo type steel which are generally used in LTSH assemblies.

Caustic Embrittlement
Caustic embrittlement (caustic stress corrosion cracking), or intercrystalline
cracking, has long been recognized as a serious form of boiler metal failure.
Because chemical attack of the metal is normally undetectable, failure occurs
suddenly-often with catastrophic results.
For caustic embrittlement to occur, three conditions must exist:
 the boiler metal must have a high level of stress
 a mechanism for the concentration of boiler water must be present
 the boiler water must have embrittlement-producing characteristics
Where boiler tubes fail as a result of caustic embrittlement, circumferential
cracking can be seen. In other components, cracks follow the lines of greatest
stress. A microscopic examination of a properly prepared section of embrittled
metal shows a characteristic pattern, with cracking progressing along defined
paths or grain boundaries in the crystal structure of the metal. The cracks do not
penetrate the crystals themselves, but travel between them; therefore, the term
"intercrystalline cracking" is used.

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 Critical Analysis & Prevention of Boiler Pressure Parts Failure

Good engineering practice dictates that the boiler water be evaluated for
embrittling characteristics. An embrittlement detector (described in Chapter 14) is
used for this purpose.
If a boiler water possesses embrittling characteristics, steps must be taken to
prevent attack of the boiler metal. Sodium nitrate is a standard treatment for
inhibiting embrittlement in lower-pressure boiler systems. The inhibition of
embrittlement requires a definite ratio of nitrate to the caustic alkalinity present
in the boiler water. In higher-pressure boiler systems, where demineralized
makeup water is used, embrittling characteristics in boiler water can be prevented
by the use of coordinated phosphate/pH treatment control, described previously
under "Caustic Corrosion." This method prevents high concentrations of free
sodium hydroxide from forming in the boiler, eliminating embrittling tendencies.

Stress Corrosion Cracking (SCC)

Stress corrosion cracking (SCC) is the growth of cracks in a corrosive environment.
It can lead to unexpected sudden failure of normally ductile metals subjected to
a tensile stress, especially at elevated temperatures. SCC is highly chemically
specific in that certain alloys are likely to undergo cracking only when exposed to a
small number of chemical environments. The chemical environment that causes
stress corrosion cracking for a given alloy is often one which is otherwise only
mildly corrosive to that metal. Hence, metal parts with severe SCC can appear
bright and shiny, while being filled with microscopic cracks. This factor makes it
common for stress corrosion cracking to go undetected prior to failure. Stress
corrosion cracking often progresses rapidly, and is more common among alloys than
pure metals. The specific environment is of crucial importance, and only very
small concentrations of certain highly active chemicals are needed to produce
catastrophic cracking, often leading to devastating and unexpected failure.

SCC in boiler pressure part is most commonly is associated with austenitic

(stainless steel) super heater materials and can lead to either trans-granular or
inter-granular crack propagation in the tube wall. It occurs where a combination of
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 Critical Analysis & Prevention of Boiler Pressure Parts Failure

high-tensile stresses and a corrosive fluid are present. The damage results from
cracks that propagate from the ID. The source of corrosive fluid may be carryover
into the super heater from the steam drum or from contamination during boiler
acid cleaning if the super heater is not properly protected.
Features and cause of SCC
 More often occurs in austenitic stainless steels
 Typical locations are those with potential for highest concentration of
contaminants, such as bends and low spots in straight tubing where
condensate can form during shutdown.
 High stress locations, such as bends, welds, tube attachments, supports or
spacers, and near welds where a change of thickness occurs are susceptible
 Carryover of chlorides or sulfates from the chemical cleaning of water walls
 Boiler water carryover
 Volatile carryover of sulfur containing compounds
 Introduction of high levels of caustic from de-super heating or attemperator
spray
 Condenser cooling water constituents from a condenser leak
 Ingress of flue gas environment into tube through primary failure, especially
in RH when vacuum is drawn

Flow Accelerated Corrosion (FAC)

FAC is a process whereby the normally protective magnetite (Fe 3O4) layer on
carbon steel dissolves in a stream of flowing water (single phase FAC) or wet steam
(two phase FAC). Historically, the terms “Flow assisted corrosion, Flow induced
corrosion, and Erosion-corrosion” have been used to define FAC.
This process reduces or eliminates the oxide layer and leads to a rapid removal of
the base material until the pipeline bursts. The FAC process can be as high as 3
mm/year.

FAC Mechanism
The FAC mechanism consists of iron dissolution in flowing water and can be
described as the action of four simultaneous reactions:

Air
33
 Critical Analysis & Prevention of Boiler Pressure Parts Failure

FIGURE-1: SCHEMATIC OF FAC MECHANISM

 Oxidation of iron to soluble ferrous ions and magnetite at the internal

interface between the steel and the oxide.
Fe + 2H2O = Fe2+ + 2OH- + H2
3Fe + 4H2O = Fe3O4 + 4H2

 Diffusion of soluble species (iron and hydrogen) across the porous oxide and
diffusion of hydrogen through the carbon steel.

 Dissolution and reduction of magnetite at the external interface between the

oxide and the water.
2Fe3O4 + N2H4 + 12H+ = 6Fe2++ 8H2O + N2

 Transfer of soluble iron species towards the flowing water and transfer of
hydrogen towards the air after diffusion through the steel.

The rate of metal loss depends on a number of parameters including the feedwater
chemistry, the material composition, other materials in feedwater system, and the
fluid hydrodynamics.
At low velocities, the flow is laminar and essentially parallel to the surface of the
metal or to the adjacent streamlines. The velocity varies from essentially zero
near to the oxide/water surface to a maximum at the centerline of the pressure
vessel/tube. The growth of Fe3O4 at the oxide/steel interface matches the
dissolution. At higher velocities, the action of the friction between the water and
the oxide induces irregular fluctuating radial and axial velocity components with
flow. The fluid is mixed in a random manner and becomes turbulent. Thus the
growth of Fe3O4 cannot match the flow-accelerated dissolution, exfoliation and
spallation and the oxide thickness reduces and becomes less protective.
The following factors influence FAC in fossil & HRSG plants and the overall
solubility of these oxides.
 Hydrodynamics- Velocity, geometry, temperature, and mass transfer
 Water Chemistry (feedwater in conventional and HRSG plants, and LP
evaporator in HRSG)- pH, ORP, oxygen, and reducing agent
 Component material composition- Carbon steel, chromium, copper,
and molybdenum.
ORP (Oxidation-reduction potential) is the most important factor for single-phase
FAC. It is measured as voltage with reference to Ag/AgCl (sat. KCl) reference
electrode. ORP is sensitive to the materials of construction, temperature, pH,
partial pressure of oxygen in the flowing water, mass transport properties and
flow rates. Thus ORP cannot be compared from unit to unit. ORP control the
surface oxide that forms in feedwater or evaporator water and as it becomes
more reducing the greater is the possibility for FAC. Changing to AVT(O) or OT
essentially reduces the possibility of dissolution into the flowing water to very low

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 Critical Analysis & Prevention of Boiler Pressure Parts Failure

values, even in areas where FAC was severe with AVT(R). Therefore all ferrous
feedwater systems should be operated on AVT(O) or OT.

pH of water is the second most important factor as it also affects the solubility of
the surface Fe3O4. Generally a higher pH will reduce the amount of corrosion and
FAC.

FIGURE-2: CORROSION PRODUCT RELEASE AS A FUNCTION OF pH

Temperature influences several of the fluid properties: the pH of water or wet

steam, the solubility of the oxide layer, the rates of the oxidation and reduction
reactions, and the variables related to mass transfer. Solubility of magnetite rises
with increasing temperature then decreases with a steep drop to 300 0C. FAC tends
to peak at temperatures in the range of 150-1800C.

FIGURE-3: SOLUBILITY OF MAGNETITE AS A FUNCTION OF TEMPERATURE AT

VARIOUS AMMONIA CONCENTRATIONS

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 Critical Analysis & Prevention of Boiler Pressure Parts Failure

Velocity- FAC strongly depends on flow velocity. This is not simply determined by
the bulk fluid velocity but also by the factors which influence the local velocity
i.e., surface geometry, flow path geometry and turbulence.

Mass Transfer is the process of transporting material (essentially magnetite) from

the surface to the bulk of the flowing water or water-steam flow. The local mass
transfer coefficient depends in a complex manner on fluid velocity, fluid viscosity,
flow geometry, pipe/tube surface roughness, steam quality and void fraction (for
two phase flow) and temperature. Mass transfer is usually described by the
dimensionless parameters: Reynolds, Schmidt and Sherwood numbers.

Geometry is the factor which locates where FAC will occur. Certain geometries
affect mass transfer due to changes in local velocity and turbulence. FAC does not
often occur in straight pipes or tubes, but is more often encountered at points of
hydrodynamic disturbance. These include elbows, tight bends, reducer tees,
locations downstream of flow control orifices and valves, and even fabrication
discontinuities. The geometric enhancement of these features generally increases
turbulence which increases the mass transfer coefficients.

Component material composition is important because even trace amounts of

chromium, copper, and molybdenum can significantly reduce the solubility of
magnetite and thus of FAC. Amounts of chromium as low as 0.1% will significantly
reduce FAC. Often 1.25% Cr alloys are used for replacement of FAC damaged areas.
These alloys are also used in HRSG evaporator circuits susceptible to FAC.

There are three possible choices for feed water treatment viz. AVT (R), AVT (O),
and OT. The treatment chosen should match the unit, unit metallurgy particularly
feed water, cooling water and possible contaminant ingress, but the aim of all the
treatments should be to prevent boiler tube failures and provide protection to the
steam turbine.
For all ferrous feed water system the generation and transport of corrosion
products like magnetite, hematite, and ferric oxide hydrate occurs mainly due to
corrosion and flow accelerated corrosion (FAC) of low pressure and high pressure
feed water heaters, deaerators, economizer inlet tubing and piping, feed water
piping and drain lines.
For mixed metallurgy system the generation and transport of corrosion products
like cuprous and cupric oxides occur mainly due to the corrosion of low pressure
and high pressure feed water heater tubes.

C. Carryover
Carryover in low pressure boiler Steam generated in boilers essentially includes no
dissolved solids, however, the dissolved solids in boiler water sometimes transfer
to the steam due to various causes.
This phenomenon is called “Carryover.” The following factors are the main causes
of carryover, and if the “Priming” or “Foaming” occurs, it accelerates the
carryover.

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 Critical Analysis & Prevention of Boiler Pressure Parts Failure

1. Factors related to the boiler water quality control: Excess concentration of

the boiler water, the contamination of boiler water with oils and fats, the
dissolution of silica to steam, etc.
2. Factors related to the operating control of boiler: Operation at the high
water level, the rapid fluctuation of heat load, etc.
3. Factors related to the mechanical structure of boiler: Poor condition of the
water and steam separator, etc.
The priming is an occurrence of abnormal violent evaporation caused by a rapid
increase of the heat load and so on. In the result, a large amount of boiler water
droplets and foams from the boiler water transfer to the steam line together with
the steam.
The foaming is a phenomenon which a large amount of foams are produced on the
boiler water surface by the water contamination with fats and oils or by an excess
concentration of dissolved solids in the boiler water. In that case, the bubbles
containing the dissolved solids transfer to the steam line.
As most of low pressure boilers have no superheater and steam turbine, the
problem due to carryover is not serious. However, the carryover leads to a
deterioration of the product quality when the steam directly contacts with the
products.

Fire Side Corrosion:

Two types of fire side corrosion are found to cause BTFs.
(a) High temperature fire side corrosion and,
(b) Low temperature fire side corrosion.
Coal Ash Corrosion
Corrosion with coal ash is not very common in our country. During
combustion of coal, the minerals in the burning coal are exposed to high
temperatures and to the strongly reducing effects of generated gases, such as
carbon monoxides and hydrogen. Aluminum, Iron, Potassium, Sodium and Sulfur
compounds are partly decomposed, releasing volatile alkali compounds and sulfur
oxides (predominantly SO2, plus small amounts of SO3). The remaining portion of
the mineral matter reacts to form glassy particles known as fly ash.

Coal-ash corrosion starts with the deposition of fly ash on surfaces that
operate predominantly at temperatures from 540 to 705 C (about 1000 to 1300 F) –
mainly, surfaces of super heater and reheater tubes. These deposits may be loose
and powdery, or may be sintered or slag-type masses that are more adherent. Over
an extended period of time, volatile alkali and sulfur compounds condense on the

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 Critical Analysis & Prevention of Boiler Pressure Parts Failure

fly ash and react with it to form complex alkali sulfates such as KAL (SO 4)2 and
Na3Fe(SO4)3 at the boundary between the metal and the deposit. The reactions
that produce alkali sulfates are believed to depend in part on the catalytic
oxidation of SO2 to SO3 in the outer layers of the fly-ash deposit. The exact
chemical reactions between the tube metal and the alkali sulfates are not well
defined; nevertheless, certain characteristics of coal-ash corrosion are known:

1) Rapid attack occurs at temperatures between the melting temperature of

the sulfate mixture and the limit of thermal stability for the mixture.
2) Corrosion rate is a nonlinear function of metal temperature, being highest
at temperatures from 675 to 730 C (about 1250 to 1350 F).
3) Corrosion is almost always associated with sintered or slag-type deposits.
4) The deposit consists of three distinct layers. The porous, outermost layer
comprises the bulk of the deposit and is composed essentially of the same
compounds as those found in fly ash. The innermost layer is a thin glassy
substance composed primarily of corrosion products of iron. The middle
layer, called the white layer, is whitish or yellowish in colour, often is
fused, and is largely water-soluble, producing an acid solution.
5) Coal-ash corrosion can occur with any bituminous coal, but is more likely
when the coal contains more than 3.5% sulfur and 0.25% chlorine.
6) None of the common tube materials is immune from attack, although the
18-8 austenitic stainless steels corrode at slower rates than lower-alloy
grades.
Particles of fly ash deposit on super heater and reheater tubes in a
characteristic pattern in relation to the direction of flue gas flow. The tube
surfaces are corroded most heavily beneath the thickest portions of the
deposit. When deposits are removed, shallow macro pitting can be seen.
Eventually, the tube wall becomes thinned to the point where the material can
no longer withstand the pressure within the tube, and the tube ruptures, as in
the example that follows.

Oil Ash Corrosion

Fuel oil is used not as a main fuel but for many other reasons in power plant
boilers. Undesirable oil ash can cause corrosion damage. During combustion of fuel
oils, organic compounds (including those containing vanadium or sulfur) decompose
and react with oxygen. The resulting volatile oxides are carried along in the flue
gases. Sodium, which usually is present in the oil as a chloride, reacts with the
sulfur oxides to form sulfates. Initially, vanadium pentoxide (V 2O5) condenses as a
semi fluid alag on furnace walls, boiler tubes and super heater tubes – in fact,
virtually anywhere in the high-temperature region of the boiler. Sodium oxide
reacts with the vanadium pentoxide to form complex compounds, especially
vanddates (nNa2O.V2O5) and vanadylvanadates (nNa2O.V2O4.mV2O5). These complex
compounds, some of which have melting temperatures as low as 249 C (480 F), not
only foul tube surfaces but also actively corrode them.

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 Critical Analysis & Prevention of Boiler Pressure Parts Failure

Slag of equilibrium thickness (0.12 to 0.25 in.) has developed in

experimental furnaces within periods of time as short as 100 hr. Slag insulates the
tubes, resulting in an increase in the temperature of the slag, which in turn
increases the rate of corrosion and also promotes further deposition of ash.
Thicker slag deposits generally lead to greater corrosion, because slag
temperatures are higher and more of the corrodent is present to react with tube
materials. However, higher slag temperatures also make the slag more fluid so that
it will flow more readily on vertical surfaces. Consequently, slag generally builds
up in corners and on horizontal surfaces, such as at the bases of water walls and
around tube supports in the super heater.
Oil-ash corrosion affects all the common structural alloys. The mechanism is
believed to be catalytic oxidation of the metal by reaction with vanadium
pentoxide or with the complex vanadates or vanadylvanadetes. Even highly
corrosion-resistant materials such as 60 Cr-40Ni and 50Cr-50Ni cast alloys, which
sometimes are used for super heater-tube supports, are not immune. In addition,
non-metallic refractory materials used for furnace linings are attacked by
vanadium slag; the mechanism of this attack appears to be a dissolution or slagging
type of attack rather than the direct chemical attack that characteristically occurs
with metals.
Fireside corrosion is not a common in our country as the probability of presence of
vanadium is largely eliminated by abandoning the use of vanadium bearing steels.
Vanadium (in steel or oil) in presence of sodium (in ash) can form undesirable
complex compounds such as vanadates (n.Na 20.V2O5) and vanadylvandates
(nNa20.V2O4.mV2O5) which if melts, becomes excessively corrosive.

Low Temperature Corrosion

Low temperature fireside corrosive was common earlier but is rarely found now a
days. In low-temperature zones of flue-gas passages, corrosion is caused chiefly by
condensed water vapour containing dissolved SO3 and CO2. The dew point of
sulfuric acid, which is the most active corrodent, ordinarily ranges from 120 to 150
C (about 250 to 300 F) for SO3 concentrations of 15 to 30 ppm, which are common
for coal-fired boilers. The dew point of the acidic vapors depends on (a) the
amount of moisture in the fuel and in the combustion air, (b) the quantity of
excess air, (c) the amount of hydrogen in the fuel, and (d) the amount of steam
used for soot blowing – all of which influence the amount of water vapour in the
flue gas.

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 Critical Analysis & Prevention of Boiler Pressure Parts Failure

Cold End Acid Dew Point Corrosion

Condensation of acidic vapours is most prevalent in air heaters, precipitators,
stack coolers, flues and stacks, and near the inlets of economizers in units without
feed water heaters. Factors that increase the likelihood of acid condensation
include; (a) low flue-gas flow, such as occurs during start-up and during periods of
low-load operation; (b) excessively low flue-gas-exit temperatures during normal
operation; (c) too great an amount of excess air of high humidity; and (d) very low
atmospheric temperatures.

Low-alloy steels, particularly those containing copper, have been used successfully
in economizers and air heaters that are prone to low temperature corrosion. An
additional advantage of these alloys is their good resistance to pitting caused by
excess oxygen in boiler water.
The deposits that form as a result of low-temperature corrosion may contain
corrosion products, fly ash and the products of chemical reaction of the condensed
acid with fly-ash constituents. Many of the compounds in these deposits are water
soluble and thus can be removed conveniently by washing the affected areas with
water. However, the deposits sometimes become difficult to remove, especially
when they are allowed to accumulate until they completely plug passages or when
they contain insoluble compounds such as calcium sulfate.
Low-temperature corrosion is encountered more often in oil-fired units than in
coal-fired units, because the vanadium in oil-ash deposits is a catalyst for
oxidation of SO2 to SO3, and because oil firing produces loss ash than coal firing.
In coal-fired units, a substantial portion of the sulfur oxides is absorbed by fly-ash
deposits in the high-temperature regions, where the sulfur oxides participate in
coal-ash corrosion. Further-more coal ash, which is composed chiefly of basic
compounds, partly neutralizers the condensed acids when if deposits on moist
surfaces in low-temperature regions. Oil ash, which is mainly acidic, is incapable
of neutralizing condensed acids.

Erosion:
It is believed that blowing/flowing/jetting/impinging steam or water is not erosive
(unless it velocity becomes extremely high) and does not cause erosion of boiler
tubes. It is fly ash particles entrained in steam (or water) jet/flow which is
responsible for erosion damage.

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 Critical Analysis & Prevention of Boiler Pressure Parts Failure

Thus internal erosion of tubes by flowing media is ruled out (at least no such case
is reported for boiler tubes) and it is only external material wastage through which
the erosion damage causes tube failure. Therefore this subject is also referred to
as “Tube External Wastage”.
Logically development of following three conditions (UCs) can set in erosion
damage:
1. Poor erosion resistance of material, or
2. More abrasive/erosive constitutes of medium, or
3. Otherwise normal abrasive medium becoming damaging on account of
undesirable flow velocity/pattern.
The first condition (UC) is out of consideration since the tube materials as it is
have low erosion resistance and it will be a remote probability to have slippage
of a tube with erosion resistance inferior than what is being used.

Various factors (RCs) develop the other two conditions (UCs) and cause BTFs.
Contribution of erosion damage in BTFs Is significantly high in our country
particularly because of the abrasive nature and amount of ash content of the coal
available to the power plants. So many BTFs on account of external erosion occur
in our country that the field engineering service section of M/s B.H.E.L. (the only
boiler manufacturer of thermal power plants of India) keeps on identifying erosion
prone areas on the basis of experience and data study and suggests necessary
possible measures for preventing them. The external wastage through erosion may
be subdivided as:
1. Damage through flue gas i.e. „Flue gas Erosion‟.
2. Damage through steam i.e. „steam Jet Erosion‟.

Flue Gas Erosion:

The root causes (RCs) for the Flue Gas Erosion failure are:
1. Non uniform gas flow distribution (causing turbulence)
2. Plugging in of gas path (resulting in higher gas velocities).
3. Excessive amount of abrasive ash in coal (high silica and Alumina).
4. Excessive dust loading on account of poor coal (higher ash lesser calorific
value – higher fuel feeding to meet generation).
5. Undesirable excess air (higher velocity of flue gas then the safe limit)
6. Misalignment of tube components (preferential excessive erosion).
Abrasive nature and higher amount of ash content of coal are damaging but
even ash with normal characteristics causes damage if factors develop such that
gas velocity exceeds safe limit. This root cause is found predominant in the flue
gas erosion type BTFs.
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 Critical Analysis & Prevention of Boiler Pressure Parts Failure

Partial fouling of gas passages in tube bank (either by excessive ash deposit
or by misalignment of a tube component) can lead to erosion by forcing the flue
gases to flow through smaller passages at higher velocity.
It is well established that higher particle concentration probabilities are
much higher in second pass, particularly in low temperature super heater (LTSH)
and economizer assemblies. This area is considered as most erosion failure prone.

Preventive Measures: There are two ways. First is to minimize damaging effect of
nonuniform flow of flue gas by using suitable deflecting baffles or
protective/sacrificial shields (cassette baffles), Second one is to adopt the practice
of periodical thickness survey of erosion prone areas to detect tubes with critically
low thickness and to arrange their replacement (before they fail).

Steam Erosion:

The RCs for steam erosion damage are:

1. Soot blower/deslagger erosion (jammed leaking blowers/deslaggers).
2. Steam cutting (impingement by escaping/leaking steam jet).
At initial stage of puncture the escaping steam jet is usually erosive enough to
damage adjacent tubes on which it happens to be impinging. This type of steam
cutting many a time causes multiple failures and proves to be highly damaging
through mutual impingement.
Preventive measures: Operation and maintenance of the soot blowers is
essential to avoid soot-blower erosion failures. With the knowledge of occurrence
of puncture, shut down of boiler should follow immediately (many a time power
load condition does not permit shut down and continued operation leads to
multiple failure on account of steam cutting).

Mechanical Fatigue and Thermal Fatigue:

Mechanical fatigue solely arising from vibratory conditions or changes in
mechanical stress cycle and leading to a BTF are not known and found in
literature. Usually non availability of sufficient flexibility for thermal expansion
and contraction for a component or system leads to fatigue failure in the
component itself or in the fouling component (which restricts flexibility of the
other components) depending on physical arrangement and assembly between the

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 Critical Analysis & Prevention of Boiler Pressure Parts Failure

fouling components. Even otherwise the expansion at operating temperature and

contraction during shut down can cause cracking if the system is too rigid.

Earlier (when there was not enough design experience with the boiler
manufacturers like M/S B.H.E.L.) crack formation in header to nipple welds was
very common. Now a days compensating bends are provided before vertically
suspended assembly tubes ending into header. Similarly faulty assembly design of
„fixing arrangement‟ of thermal liner piping in desuperheater pipe (in earlier
manufactured boilers with 200 MW units) used to cause failure of fixing bolts and
supporting pipes by fatigue damage mechanism. Now a days a modified „fixing
arrangement‟ is being used.

Welding two tube components with non-matching welding electrode (from

thermal expansion and contraction point of view) can cause development of a
fatigue crack at the weld joint.

It may be noted that all the above mentioned cases are related to design of
assembly of fabrication. Thus for mechanical fatigue damage mechanism (DM)
source (SOC) is at the design stage.

Regarding thermal fatigue failures i.e. failures due to starts/stops or

variation in loading (generation level) condition, it is the opinion of the power
plant engineers that this factor has to be taken care of right at the material
selection stage (i.e. design stage) and the boiler tubes should have enough fatigue
resistance to meet all these conditions.

Reliability Issues in HRSGs

The origin of problem:

The two paramount concerns of most purchasers of CCGT installations are
low installed cost and high fuel efficiency. Compared to highly rated large
GTs, HRSGs are perceived as low-risk equipment. Selection of the HRSG is
usually from the lowest bidder. To succeed in the very aggressive buyers‟
market, HRSG manufacturers have been compelled to concentrate on
developing low-cost HRSG designs which just meet the requirements of
purchasers‟ specifications and boiler design code.
High efficiency has driven rapid increases in GT exhaust flow and temperature
imposed on HRSGs. Comparative data of different generation GE model gives us
an idea how they have increased.
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 Critical Analysis & Prevention of Boiler Pressure Parts Failure

GE CCGT Model Exhaust Temperature (oC) Gas Flow (TPH)

5371 (PA) 485 446
6581 (B) 543 525
7121 (EA) 1070 536
9171 (E) 1484 543
9351 (FA) 2318 608

These have resulted in increase in the HRSG physical size, steam flow,
pressure and especially temperature. These factors greatly increased the
potential for early thermal fatigue damage in critical parts of the HRSG.

CCGT start-up methods have been dominated by the concerns for the GT,
the steam turbine and the demand for short start-up times from any
condition. Little or no attention is given to the extremely damaging effects
of rapid changes in the gas inlet temperature and flow to the HRSG during
starts.
Most large new combined cycle plants are designed under the assumption that
they would be base loaded, or at least infrequently cycled. This basic
assumption has proven to be far from actual operating modes for most new
plants. Two-Shift cycling is differentiated from Seasonal Duty where plants are
run essentially base load, but only for a few months of the year. New plants
include those that are commissioned but not running or which were inspected
close to the time of commissioning.
Since combustion turbine ramp rates and startup procedures directly affect HRSG
component temperature ramp rates, the push to rapid CT startups results in
greater ramp rates in HRSG hot section components than was assumed in plant
design analyses. Larger thermal stresses result with significant implications for
fatigue life of affected components such as drums, thick section headers and
tube-to-header welds.
In additions, rapid thermal response results in more condensate accumulation
during startups and a greater requirement for attermperation spray to control
piping metal temperatures. These extreme conditions that are caused by
cycling operations sometimes result in water hammer in affected piping systems,
thermal quenching of hot component surfaces and in some instance leakage or
failure of the pressure boundary at tube-to-header welds, riser piping to drums,
crossover (connecting) piping and drain connections. Cold weather operations
also provide a different challenge with the need to maintain temperature to
prevent header failure from freezing conditions.
While new plants have operated in general significantly less than originally
assumed, most have pursued an aggressive approach to assure that HRSG
component integrity is verified by periodic inspections; usually during scheduled
outages when the GT maintenance has been scheduled. A thorough inspection of
a large HRSG (for example, behind a Frame 7FA, or 501F/G GT) with
reheater components typically requires about 2 days for a crew of 2 people.
These inspections are more detailed than statutory “boiler” inspections and
typically include the following activities:
1. visual inspection of HRSG gas path components: tubes, headers and their
supports, crossover piping, risers, drains, gas baffles, acoustic baffles and
related structural components.
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 Critical Analysis & Prevention of Boiler Pressure Parts Failure

2. Ultrasonic testing (UT) of wall thickness for selected (high risk) tube, header
and riser components, thereby establishing the condition of HRSG
components early in life. Drum baffle plates and in some instances
cyclone separator “can” thickness are also measured at some plants.
3. visual inspection of accessible HRSG water-side components (for large
combined cycle plants this is generally limited to drum surfaces and
internals) including: primary and secondary steam separation devices, feed
water penetrations, instrument and blow down penetrations and baffle
plates and their mechanical restraints (bolting and/or welds).
In addition to these routine activities, plants with a history of HRSG component
damage may also schedule dye penetrant (PT) inspection of areas susceptible to
certain types of cracking, radiographic testing (RT) of tube-to-header welds when
there is a suspicion of weld defects or sub-surface cracks.

Some of these cycling related damage mechanisms (such as tube leaks and
failures) have been significant enough to require (or cause) plant shutdown.
Others have been detected during scheduled HRSG inspections.
While much of the focus of good operations and maintenance practice is
oriented toward controlling corrosion of susceptible materials, primarily the
carbon steel components that comprise most of the HRSG surface area, one
immediate observation is that corrosion – at least so far – is not a significant
problem at most plants. This is less a consequence of excellent water
chemistry control than it is simply too early to detect small amounts of
corrosion shortly after commissioning.
Flow accelerated corrosion (FAC) is a high-visibility issue which has been the
cause of numerous fatalities at power plants over the years. FAC has not been
detected at new reheat units although in general they have not operated long
enough to experience significant wear, even for the highest risk locations.
Experience from previous HRSG designs that have operated for longer periods
(50,000 – 100,000 hrs) indicates that will likely change despite the best efforts
of plant staffs to maintain water chemistry within targets.
Those units with some cold end corrosion problems generally have a
combination of design issues, fuel gas quality issues and often frequent exposure
of susceptible surfaces to high ambient humidity with long periods of layup.

Tube and Header Leaks and Failures

The most significant damage that occurs in HRSGs is generally leaks and
failures of pressure parts; specifically, tubes, headers and connecting piping.
Tube failures are well known as dominant contributors to plant unreliability.
While tube repairs are not lengthy procedures, they contribute substantially to
the cost of cycling duty when they occur. Leaks and failures in larger
components such as headers, major connecting piping and steam piping can
require more lengthy outages with correspondingly greater costs. The most
common tube damage mechanism is probably bowing which is attributable to a
variety of sources including differential thermal stress, manufacturing variations
in tube length, etc. From our inspections of new (pre-operational) units, we
have observed that some slight tube bowing is sometimes present prior to
operation. However, large displacements are not observed pre-service. Tube
failures are less common, but have occurred at many large reheat HRSGs. The
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 Critical Analysis & Prevention of Boiler Pressure Parts Failure

root causes of these failures varies and depends on many factors including:
material type, exposure to high temperatures (gas temperature) during startup
followed by quenching from condensate accumulation or excess attemperation
spray, waterhammer and stress corrosion cracking. Flow accelerated corrosion
(FAC) has not been observed in these relatively new units to date.
Condensate formation during startup is a well-known problem and plants
experiencing repeated tube failures, extreme tube bowing and or related
problems with attemperation spray equipment have sometimes installed
temporary thermocouples to more accurately ascertain the temperature
variations in reheater (and superheater) tubes. Some plants have also installed
thermocouples to determine whether steam binding is occurring in HP
Economizers that are poorly vented.

RH Tubes Thermocouples Identify Condensate

Kink in Reheater Tube – Cycling Unit During Start-up/Shutdown

Bowed RH Tubes below Cold Reheat Inlet Low Cycle Fatigue Failure of T91 Reheater
following Water hammer Event Tube

Crack in P22 Reheater Header Weld

Fatigue Failure of 304H Stainless Reheater

Tube Stub

LCF in critical pressure parts of the HRSG

Each design of HRSG has unique configurations and header dimensions which have
different LCF damage rates if subjected to similar transient conditions. Analysis of

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 Critical Analysis & Prevention of Boiler Pressure Parts Failure

all pressure parts of a complete large HRSG and LCF failures on other designs
highlight three areas which should be assessed on all designs of large HRSG:
a) HP superheaters and outlet manifold,
b) HP steam drum and evaporator circuit and
c) Low-temperature economizers

a) HP superheater and HP outlet manifold

Superheaters are subjected to a rapid increase in the GT exhaust temperature
during starts from any condition. On large units the GT exhaust temperature ramps
from 80°C up to 450°C in 5 min as the GT accelerates to synchronous speed. First
the steam flow into the superheater header can be 200°C higher than the
temperature of the outlet header of the superheater. Superheaters are designed
to stress limits set by creep considerations. When creep is significant, there is a
strong interaction between creep and LCF; thus, the creep life used at the end of
the planned life of the HRSG must be limited to not more than 60 per cent to leave
some allowance for LCF damage. For example, ASME Section III code case N47
indicates that, when the creep life factor is 0.6, then the LCF life factor is limited
to 0.052 (Fig. below).

Factors which determine the severity of thermal stresses developed by high heat
input to the outlet header include but are not limited to:
i. the header thickness,
ii. the header diameter,
iii. differences in the tube temperatures,
iv. the tube diameter and pitch and
v. the header temperature and transient steam temperature.

The only operational means available to minimize thermal stresses by hot steam
into the superheater is to hold the GT load at a nominal block load until steam
flow is established in the superheater and then to control the GT loading rate to
ensure that the temperature difference between the steam temperature and the
average header wall temperature remains at or below the initial difference on first
admission of steam.
Condensation occurs in superheater tubes during every purge of the HRSG prior to
GT ignition. This is because the GT exhaust temperature falls below the saturation
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 Critical Analysis & Prevention of Boiler Pressure Parts Failure

temperature. Quantities are substantial during hot and warm starts and a repeat
purge can fill the front panel tubes of the superheater. The condensate should be
removed from the lower headers at the peak rate at which it forms to prevent
pooling and flooding. The crucial importance of adequately sized and correctly
operated drains on superheaters has been overlooked on many large CCGT
installations. Many units have no blow-down vessel for HP high-temperature drains
from the superheater. Others have a blow-down vessel inadequately rated for the
flow, pressure and temperature of drains from the superheater during hot restart
purges. The drain installed on most designs of superheater was sized for
maintenance purposes and is too small for clearing the condensate at the rate
at which it collects.
Even where superheater drains are installed and connected to a blow-down tank,
more often than not they are incorrectly used or not used at all during hot starts
because many operators are unaware that conditions exist which cause substantial
condensation in superheaters. In addition to forming a condensate during purge,
there is a considerable chance of the formation of a condensate during
synchronization of a large GT as the firing rate is reduced to control the speed for
synchronization.

b) HP steam drum and evaporator circuit

Cold starts from ambient temperature are most dam- aging to the HP drum and
superheater headers because of initial condensation heating. Starts after weekend
shutdown can develop high thermal stresses if the GT is loaded too quickly.
The HP and saturation temperature step limits and large range ramp rates should
be determined to match the projected lifetime number and mix of starts. It is
important to keep the pressure as high as possible at all restarts by closing all
isolation valves. This is beneficial to the HP superheater outlet headers as well as
to the HP drum.

a) Low-temperature economizers
Unless means are provided to pre-heat the feedwater before it enters, the low-
temperature economizer inlet headers are vulnerable to quench cooling during all
starts because the feedwater is not required for raising the drum level until long
after GT ignition, especially on cold starts. By the time that the drum swell
subsides and the feed flow is first required on any start, the gas temperature has
raised the low-temperature economizer inlet header and tubes perhaps 100 – l50 °C
above the feedwater inlet temperature. Depending on the tube arrangement at the
header attachments this thermal quench may be large enough to be an LCF concern
if starts become frequent.

Boiler and Steam Piping Damage

Problems with boiler and steam piping is often associated with the reheat piping;
particularly where attemperator sprays have been designed with too short
downstream straight pipe lengths (less than 10 pipe diameters). Incomplete
atomization of attemperator sprays impacts downstream piping surfaces as liquid
droplets where it can cause significant thermal stresses.
Water hammer is another phenomenon that has occurred at a number of
combined cycle plants. It is often attributed to a combination of problems
related to spray valve control, drainage of condensate or abrupt valve actuation.
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 Critical Analysis & Prevention of Boiler Pressure Parts Failure

Waterhammer is generally a destructive transient; casualties typically include

adjacent piping supports with yielding of steam piping a common end result.

Water hammer Damage to Cold Reheat Piping

Leaking 16” Reheater Crossover Link Piping and Supports

Cold End Corrosion

Cold end corrosion is enhanced in many merchant plants because they are
operating for more time at part load than anticipated by design (and therefore
component surface temperatures may be below the acid dewpoint temperature
where acids will condense on tube surfaces and corrosion damage will occur). This
problem is aggravated by greater than anticipated sulfur content in fuel gas in
some locations. Older units have employed CO2 blasting to remove some of the
deposits, but the effectiveness is limited if the affected harp (typically the LP
Economizer or Feedwater Heater) has many tube rows.

Ammonium Bisulfite Accumulation on Sticky Deposits (pH = 3) on LP Economizer

Feedwater Heater Final Row Tubes

Moisture contained in gas turbine (GT) exhaust gas will condense on HRSG heat-
transfer surfaces when that metal is below the gas dew point temperature, which
typically ranges from 112F to 120F. Dew point corrosion usually is found in low-
pressure (LP) economizers and condensate heaters that receive water from a
relatively cool source; the condenser hot well, for example.
Piping, headers, and tubes in these HRSG components operate very close to the
water temperature; especially in upper and lower crawlspaces, where there is
relatively little gas flow and heat transfer. The inlet piping, headers, and tubes are
at the lowest temperature and most likely to show signs of attack.
Some OEMs specify alloy materials to protect against corrosion. Others provide a
recirculation system or external heat exchanger to increase the temperature of
incoming feed water. However, many HRSGs in service were built with carbon-
steel materials in areas where metal temperature is well below the gas dew point.
Dew point corrosion is easy to identify visually given access to the gas side of the
HRSG where feed water enters.

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 Critical Analysis & Prevention of Boiler Pressure Parts Failure

Compare the condition of inlet pipes, headers, and tubes to that of nearby piping,
headers, and tubes: If components at the feed water inlet exhibit greater material
wastage, dew point corrosion is the likely cause.

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