TÜV Industrie Service GmbH

TÜV SÜD Group

Westendstrasse 199
80686 München Page 1
Germany

Failure Analysis of Waterside Boiler Damages and

Risk from Insufficient Maintenance & Inspection
Ludwig Höhenberger, TÜV SÜD, IS-ATW1, Munich
E-mail: Ludwig.Hoehenberger@tuev-sued.de

Waterside damages on steam generators e.g. on condensate or feedwater pre-heater,

economiser, evaporator, super-heater and re-heater are mostly caused by
• Deposition (Scaling) and
• Corrosion or combinations of both effects.
Possible, but more rare are damages due to
• Operational Faults and
• Design Defects

Deposition or Scaling is a common problem on steam generators and may lead to

• Lack in material cooling due to reduced heat transfer and/or reduced mass flow
• Material overheating and consequently loss of material strength
• Damage
- due to rapid overheating, characterised by thin-lipped ruptures Æ Photo 1
and complete micro-structural transformation at temperatures > 720 °C.
- due to long-term overheating, characterised by thick-lipped ruptures Æ Photo 2
and carbide speroidisation or grain growth at temperatures > ca. 480 °C.

Attention:
– Scaling appears first at spots with high heat transfer (heat flux) and high steam
production
– Silicate scale has ≈10 x lower heat transfer than common carbonate or phosphate scale
– Porous scale with its steam content is more dangerous than compact and dense scale

Causes and Risks:

∗ Insufficient Boiler Feedwater (BFW) treatment that includes
- Make up water treatment,
- Condensate polishing,
∗ Inadequate chemical dosing and conditioning of BFW and Boiler Water (BW) Æ Fig. 1- 3
∗ Coordinated phosphate dosing is not anymore recommended, Æ Fig 4
∗ All Volatile Treatment (AVT) is permitted only with demineralised BFW!
∗ Contaminated BFW as injection water for desuperheating leads to scale in super-heater
&
turbines or caustic stress corrosion cracking in super-heater Æ Photo 3 – 6 or steam
pipe-
work for extracted steam or back pressure steam.
∗ Chemical cleaning must be done properly and profound Æ Photo 7 – 9.

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Deposition or Scaling may also lead to

• Localised concentration of impurities within or underneath of deposits at heated
surfaces
• ”On Load Corrosion” with acidic or alkaline attack Æ Photo 10 – 12.

Attention:
– Scaling appears first at spots with high heat transfer and high steam production
– Even non corrosive deposits e.g. Æ Photo 13 - 20
- iron oxides may lead to porous, thermal critical scale,
- silicates as Ca-, Mg, Al-silicates to over-heating
– Boiler operation according to the BFW and BW requirements for some years lead
mostly
to some deposits of iron oxide, which should be preventively removed

Causes and Risks:

∗ Insufficient on-line quality control of make-up water, condensate return or BFW
∗ Measurement of “Acid Conductivity” amplifies detection of ingress of impurities like
cooling
water and some process media but do not indicate ingress of free caustics!
∗ Lack in Inspection of not safety related components like heat exchangers and
condensers
∗ Preventive cleaning during operation or at shut down must be done according to the
specifications

Corrosion on boiler steel (carbon or low alloyed steel) can be mainly avoided, if the BFW
and BW requirements were kept. Deviations may leads to
• Dissolution of the important protective layer, material attack and loss in form of
- Uniform or General Corrosion or - more dangerous - to
- Localised Corrosion (Pitting, On-load corrosion, etc.) Æ Figs. 2 - 4
• Crack formation in specific cases

Attention:
– Uniform or General Corrosion isn’t problem if the material loss is less than 0.1 mm/year
(is easy to achieve with normal protective iron oxide layer)
– Localised corrosion during operation underneath of deposits and within heated gaps as
well
as during stand still in form of oxygen corrosion (pitting formation)
– Crack formation due to high concentration of free caustics in presence of high tensile
stress (Caustic SCC) Æ Photos 3 - 6

Causes and Risks:

∗ Insufficient BFW and BW composition, which do not meet the requirements of the boiler
manufacturer or approved standards
∗ Inadequate preservation during shut down
∗ Localised concentration of acidic acting impurities e. g. cooling water or sea water
ingress
∗ Localised concentration of caustic acting impurities or free caustic underneath deposits
within heated gaps or at heated phase boundaries

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∗ Caustic SCC in case of contamination of super-heater due to mechanical carry over of

BW
or contaminated injection water for desuperheating Æ Photo 3 - 6

Corrosion due to non-corrosive BFW and BW conditions but elevated temperatures or

distinct temperature fluctuations may lead to
• Excessive Iron Oxide formation – particularly > 570 °C Æ Photo 19 -20
• Hydrogen production
• Hydrogen damage that includes
- Decarburisation
- Hydrogen Embrittlement
- Fissuring (micro cracks)
- Sudden brittle rupture Æ Photo 21
• Thermo shock Æ Photos 22 - 23

Iron reacts very fast at temperatures > 570 °C with water or steam
[1] Fe + H20 → FeO + 2 {H} to wustite (FeO) and atomic hydrogen {H}
[2] 2 {H} → H2 that later recombines to molecular hydrogen
(H2)

Causes and Risks:

Insufficient water (mass) flow e.g. due to
– Steam/Water separation in tubes with low slope (Design problem) or
– Too much refractory material (Design or repair problem)
– Insufficient mass flow due to deposits within headers
– Excessive localised heat input e. g. due to misalignment of burners

Operational Faults may lead to Boiler / Super-Heater damages for instance

• Short-term increasing steam production or over-load may lead to
Fast pressure drop → Increasing BW level → BW carry over
• Immediate boiler pressure drop may lead to
BW carry over → steam contamination → super-heater/turbine damages
• Operation significantly below design pressure leads to
Increasing specific steam volume and poor steam/water separation that may lead to
steam contamination → BW carry over → SH/turbine deposits
• Quick start up from cold shut down may lead to
- Thermal stress on components with thick wall thickness (may cause crack)
- Local overheating due to insufficient BW circulation (lack in steam production)
• Quick start up from hot stand by may lead to
Local overheating due to insufficient BW circulation (lack in steam production)
• BFW Temperature significant below design temperature may lead to
- Material over-heating due to lack of steam production
- Under cooled boiling (→ erosion corrosion, FAC)

Design Problems may lead to several problems or damages, for instance

• Low slope riser tubes (on the way to the drum) heated also from top may lead to steam/
water separation → Steam-side tube over-heating → Loss in material strength →

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Steam-
side excessive iron oxidation → Material loss → Hydrogen damage Æ Photos 19 & 21
• Heated down-comer tubes may cause circulation problems like stagnant flow →
Insufficient
water supply for riser tubes → Lack in cooling of evaporator tubes → Material over-
heating
• Heavily fluctuating water level in the boiler drum may lead to
Fluctuating steam space load and problems with the steam purity

• Refractory material reduces heat input to evaporator tubes but may

also affect the steam production and water circulation (mass flow)

• Defects at drum internals e. g leaks at baffle sheets, incorrect installed demisters

or cyclones may affect the steam purity

Annexes: Photos 1 – 23
Figures 1 – 4
Photographs

Photo 1

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Westendstrasse 199
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Photo 2

Photo 3

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TÜV Industrie Service GmbH
TÜV SÜD Group
Westendstrasse 199
80686 München Page 6
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Photo 4

Photo 5

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TÜV Industrie Service GmbH
TÜV SÜD Group
Westendstrasse 199
80686 München Page 7
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Photo 6

Photo 7

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TÜV Industrie Service GmbH
TÜV SÜD Group
Westendstrasse 199
80686 München Page 8
Germany

Photo 8

Photo 9

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TÜV SÜD Group
Westendstrasse 199
80686 München Page 9
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Photo 10

Photo 11

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TÜV SÜD Group
Westendstrasse 199
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Photo 12

Photo 13

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TÜV SÜD Group
Westendstrasse 199
80686 München Page 11
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Photo 14

Photo 15

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TÜV Industrie Service GmbH
TÜV SÜD Group
Westendstrasse 199
80686 München Page 12
Germany

Photo 16

Photo 17

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TÜV Industrie Service GmbH
TÜV SÜD Group
Westendstrasse 199
80686 München Page 13
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Photo 18

Photo 19

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TÜV SÜD Group
Westendstrasse 199
80686 München Page 14
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Photo 20

Photo 21

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Westendstrasse 199
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Photo 22

Photo 23
Figures :

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TÜV Industrie Service GmbH
TÜV SÜD Group
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Fig.1

Fig.2

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TÜV Industrie Service GmbH
TÜV SÜD Group
Westendstrasse 199
80686 München Page 17
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Fig. 3

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TÜV Industrie Service GmbH
TÜV SÜD Group
Westendstrasse 199
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Fig. 4

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