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How To Increase Heat Transfer
How To Increase Heat Transfer
Abstract: In spite of maintaining the very good raw water due to condenser leaks into the feed water
water chemistry in water / steam cycle of thermal also increases the salt deposition and oxygen
power plant, corrosion phenomena takes place in concentration on internal surface due to boiling. The
the boilers. The product of corrosion in the feed condenser of 500 MW generators can contain 300
water system transported into the boiler and gets miles of tubing and approx. 50000 tube-to-tube-plate
deposited on the internal surface of water wall joints, so some in-leakage of the external cooling water
tubes. It leads to overheating and On-load corrosion is inevitable from time to time. Thermal conductivity
and ultimately tube failure. To achieve the almost of this deposit is very low (about 2W/m/ºC) in
zero tube failure in water wall of high pressure comparison of carbon steel (about 50 W/m/ºC), thus
boilers, post-operational chemical cleaning is significantly reduces the heat transfer and increases the
essential at the frequent intervals in the life span of outer metal temperature. Frequent tube failure has been
power plant which will improve heat transfer and observed in old boilers which ran more than 100,000
reduce under deposit on load corrosion. This paper hours due to internal localised corrosion. Tube failure
will discuss the phenomena of localised corrosion, investigation indicated that the main reason of
its remedial measures to achieve near zero tube waterwall tube failure is either due to hydrogen
failure. damage or caustic corrosion or overheating or the
effect of all.
INTRODUCTION
How mild steel corrodes in boiler water
The Kribhco Shyam Fertilizers Limited has 4 numbers
of fossils fired, sub critical, high pressure boilers112 Water wall tubes in most of the fossil-fi red boiler are
kg/cm2. The saturation temperature of boiler water 333 made of carbon steel. In pure DM water, or in very
ºC . The capacity of these boilers is 100T/Hr each, dilute acid or alkaline solutions at boiler temperature, it
These boilers are drum type types. Waterwall tubes of normally corrodes very slowly to form the black iron
these boilers are made of carbon steel or low alloy oxide known as magnetite (Fe3O4). The overall
steel. Deminerialized water is used in these boilers with reaction is:
proper boiler water treatment generally recommended 3 Fe + 4 H2O -------
by Original Equipment Manufacturer (OEM). The corrosion rate is dependent by the rate at which the
Generally Non volatile treatment (NVT) i.e. TSP is reactant (water) can reach the metal surface and the
used. Due to On-load corrosion in low pressure parts, reaction product can leave the surface. In nearly neutral
condenser and heat exchangers of boilers, deposition of solutions, magnetite is very slightly soluble and it
corrosion products and salt concentration takes place deposits as coherent and tenacious surface film, which
on the internal surface of waterwall tubes. Ingress of greatly impedes this two-way chemical traffic. The
89
Proceedings of 2nd International Conference on Mechanical and Production Engineering
Held on 9th – 10th July 2016, in Pattaya, ISBN: 9788193137345
Photograph
Figure-1 showing:
90
Proceedings of 2nd International Conference on Mechanical and Production Engineering
Held on 9th – 10th July 2016, in Pattaya, ISBN: 9788193137345
tube, the liquid film on the wall becomes sufficiently into boiler re.
thin for convective heat transfer to the liquid surface Ammonia is Ammonia
not can attack
coupled with direct evaporation to become the only corrosive at copper
means of heat transfer, because this method of heat high containing
transfer is highly efficient, nucleation of bubbles at the temperatur alloys in
wall ceases through lack of sufficient superheat. At the e condenser
and feed
same time, increasing steam velocity results in heaters in
entrainment of liquid in the form of droplets. Depletion presence
of the liquid film by evaporation and droplet formation of oxygen
eventually results in complete dryout of the tube wall. Na3PO4 Less< 5 Magnetite Neutralizes Na3PO4
or NaOH ppb , acid or NaOH
A dramatic increase in wall temperature occurs at the dosed Fe3O4 chloride can be
dryout point. In the post-dryout region heat transfer is and acid concentrat
by convection in the steam phase, the droplets sulphates ed by
gradually disappearing by evaporation. At low heat boiling,
forming
fluxes direct impingement of droplets on to the wall corrosive
may also occur. Evaporation of all droplets finally solutions
produces single phase superheated conditions. High High Hematite Reduced No
Oxygen >200 (Alpha rate of neutralizin
ppb Fe2O3) transport of g action
WATER CHEMISTRY iron into Ingress of
boiler chloride
Impurities and additives present in water fed to high compared results in
pressure boilers are controlled within closely defined with rapid
low oxygen corrosion.
limits for two very good reasons.
# To reduce corrosion in the water-steam circuits to a
Besides controlling the levels of dissolved oxygen and
minimum under normal and fault conditions
pH by means of chemical additives, as indicated in
# To reduce transport of iron oxide, hardness salts,
Table, very strict limits are specified on the
silica etc. into the boiler and turbine. These substances
concentrations of many other substances.
deposit out on the heat transfer surfaces and turbine
blades. Accelerated corrosion in many regions of high
CORROSION AND DEPOSITION IN VARIOUS
pressure boilers is known to be brought about by
HEAT TRANSFER REGIONS:
concentration of corrosive substances (chlorides,
sulphates, hydroxides and phosphates) by boiling. The
Convective Heating region:
main water chemistry regimes used to reduce corrosion
In this region, at the inlet to a boiler, there have been
and transport of iron oxide etc. to a minimum are given
no reported instances of tube failure owing to heat flux
in Table 1.
conditions. In the absence of boiling, the increase in
corrosion rate should be small and related to the higher
Table1 showing: together with the advantages and
metal temperature and activation energy of the
disadvantages of each regime.
Regime Dissolve Protective Advantages Disadvant
corrosion process in pure water. Studies on surfaces
d oxide ages which have been oxidized under good water chemistry
Oxygen on tube conditions show that even at high heat fluxes as high as
level surface 800 kW/m2, negligible amounts of sodium and chlorine
All Less< 5 Magnetite Presence of No
are taken up from NaCl, NaOH, NaHSO4, Na2SO4
volatile ppb , ammonia neutralizat
treatmen Fe3O4 reduces ion action and Na3PO4 solutions. Some iron is deposited from Fe
t transport of at (OH)2, which is likely to be the initial form of iron
(0.5 ppm iron from high produced by protective or aggressive corrosion under
NH3) feed train temperatu
alkaline conditions.
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Proceedings of 2nd International Conference on Mechanical and Production Engineering
Held on 9th – 10th July 2016, in Pattaya, ISBN: 9788193137345
Nucleate boiling regions: water to diffuse into the deposit where the water
Three types of situation are possible. Two of these are becomes trapped and boils.
concerned with the formation of oxide deposits with The boiling of deposit in entrapped water produces
different porosities on a tube surface and the effect of relatively pure steam which tends to diffuse out of
this on corrosion. In the first instance, all oxide is the deposit, leaving behind super heated non-boiling
assumed to deposit from iron dissolved in solution and equilibrium solution of caustic, which is responsible
to form an oxide layer of low porosity (<10%). In the for caustic corrosion or acidic solution, which is
second situation, all oxide is considered to deposit from responsible of hydrogen damage in waterwall tubes as
particles suspended in the liquid and to have a high discussed below.
porosity (>50%). The situation in a real boiler may lie
anywhere between these two extremes. The third CAUSTIC CORROSION
situation is concerned with boiling at defects on a tube
surface. Salt concentration under the deposit by Wick boiling
phenomena states that If the salt concentrated under the
Oxide deposit of high porosity: deposit is having high pH due to concentration of
Oxide of high porosity (>50%) is found to deposit in caustic from TSP dosing, it start dissolution of
drum as well as once-through boilers under both low protective magnetite (Fe3O4) layer on the evaporator
and high oxygen water chemistry conditions. The tube wall inner surface and form sodium ferrite
deposition rate is approx. proportional to the (NaFeO2) and sodium ferroate (Na2FeO2) as shown in
concentration of particulate iron oxide and the square the equation.
of the heat flux. The best approximation to the Fe3O4 + 4 NaOH -------
real situation is given by H2O
Photograph showing:
D = k q2 c t Caustic corrosion of boilers.
Where, D = amount of magnetite deposited (kg/m2)
q = the heat flux (W/m2)
c = concentration of iron in water (kg/m3)
t = time (hour)
k = constant ( approx. 5 X 10-13 / W2 m2/s
In a wick boiling mechanism, salts dissolved in the
boiler water can be concentrated by factors > 104
Generally, the protective magnetite scale thickness is
10-15 microns in the waterwall tube. When the
corrosion rate increases due to upset of water chemistry
parameters in boiler, (due to salt ingress and
concentration), the deposit formation also increases due
to corrosion of metal and precipitation of contaminants
whose water solubility decreases at higher temperature
on the evaporator tube surface.
To maintain the pH in boiler water, in case of reduction
of pH due to salt ingress, addition of more Tri Sodium
Phosphate (TSP) is required. In this process, at some
places on the internal surface of waterwall tubes,
deposit thickness increases and the protective iron ACIDIC CORROSION
oxide scale becomes non protective and porous in Solution of low pH is generated in high pressure
nature. Porous, insulating types of deposits allow boiler boilers in two different ways:
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Proceedings of 2nd International Conference on Mechanical and Production Engineering
Held on 9th – 10th July 2016, in Pattaya, ISBN: 9788193137345
* pH of the entire boiler water is reduced when As these micro cracks accumulate, tube strength
contaminants which are acidic or becomes acidic when diminishes until stresses imposed by the internal
heated in to the boiler. pressure exceed the tensile strength of the remaining,
* The bulk boiler water remains alkaline but acidic intact metal. At this point a thick-walled, longitudinal
solutions are generated within corrosion pits. burst may occur depending on the extent of hydrogen
by the action of dissolved oxygen and chloride. The damage as shown .
most common acid forming contaminant is sea water or
a river water which is low in carbonate and sulphate. In
the boiler, the acidity is increased locally to corrosive
concentrations by boiling.
In the acidic or highly alkaline conditions, iron reacts
and hydrogen is liberated.
Fe + 2 NaOH = Na2FeO2 + H2
Fe + 2 HCl = FeCl2 + H2
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Proceedings of 2nd International Conference on Mechanical and Production Engineering
Held on 9th – 10th July 2016, in Pattaya, ISBN: 9788193137345
ACKNOWLEDGEMENT
Author express gratitude towards
Mr. O.P. Gupta(M.D)KSFL, Shahjahanpur ,U.P. India
Mr. N.K.Agarwal.(Ad.G.M) KSFL U.P. India &
Mr.S.P.Singh (D.G.M.) KSFL U.P. India
REFERENCES
1) Test methods for accumulated deposition in a
steam generator tube, 2005, ASTM
International,West Conshohocken, PA, USA,
Table-2 Showing limits of deposit quantity allowed ASTM Standard D-3483-05.
in water wall tubes at different pressure. 2) Code of practice for chemical cleaning of
boilers, 1998, Bureau of Indian Standards,
The deposit quantity measured in high pressure boilers New Delhi, IS-10391-98.
of different site are given here along with the trend 3) Sugimoto A, Ueki, H. Sakuma, S., Proc.
chart and recommendations for chemical cleaning. American Power Conference, 1972. Illinois
94
Proceedings of 2nd International Conference on Mechanical and Production Engineering
Held on 9th – 10th July 2016, in Pattaya, ISBN: 9788193137345
institute of Technology, Chicago, IL, USA, 8) G.M.W. Mann, History and causes of On-load
34, 764 water side corrosion in power plants, Br.
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wall tubes in a high pressure boiler, Material
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plant, EPRI, USA Mr.Nikhilesh Mukherjee (Independent
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Br.corrosion J., 1985, vol.20, No.4, pp-187- Mr. Vinod Sharma
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