Industrial Oxygen Scavenging

In the food, beverage, and pharmaceutical industries, process steam comes

under FDA regulations. Besides sodium sulfite, an approved oxygen scavenger
for these applications is erythorbic acid (C 6H8O6). Erythorbic acid is an isomer
of Vitamin C, and is reported to react very quickly with oxygen. Erythorbic acid
has been used in electric utility boilers, but like the other organic oxygen scav-
engers, it will break down at high temperatures to form organic acids and CO2.
Condensate/Feedwater Chemistry 19

Flow-Accelerated Corrosion
A relatively new phenomenon, at least in terms of it being communicated
to steam generation personnel, is flow-accelerated corrosion (FAC). FAC has
raised additional questions about oxygen scavenging. FAC is produced by a
combina- tion of chemical and mechanical factors, and occurs in high
turbulence regions of the feedwater system with strongly reducing
environments. These locations include elbows in feedwater lines, economizer
inlet headers, and high-pressure heater drains. In simple terms, FAC develops
when oxygen is completely removed by the scavenger. This inhibits formation
of the protective magnetite layer on the pipe surface. In high turbulence zones,
the flow gradually erodes/corrodes the base metal until the wall becomes too
thin to withstand the fluid pressure. Several catastrophic failures have occurred
within the past few years and in some cases have caused fatalities. This is quite
serious, and it is my hope that this book will alert readers to this potential
problem. The Electric Power Research Institute (EPRI) is making a strong
effort to inform their mem-
bers and others about FAC. Table 2-2
Several methods have
Relative Basicity
been proposed to combat Kb x 10
FAC in scavenger-treated Compound 72˚F 298˚F 338˚F
feedwater systems. One Ammonia 20.6 6.9 4.6
method is to reduce the oxy- Cyclohexylamine 489 61 32
gen-scavenger feed, such that Diethylaminoethanol 68 11.3 9.2
Morpholine 3.4 4.9 3.8
a 1 to 2 ppb oxygen residual
remains in the feedwater. Basicities of Various Feedwater pH Conditioners.
Source: Betz Handbook of Industrial Water. Conditioning, Ninth
This helps preserve the Edition. BetzDearborn, Inc., Horsham, PA.
magnetite layer without
subjecting the
system to corrosive levels of oxygen. To inhibit FAC of high-pressure heater drains, EPRI
recommends that high-pressure feedwater heater (Fig. 2–10) vents be closed. This, however,
has caused problems at some utilities and must be eval- uated on a case-by-case basis.
The balance between oxygen scavenging and prevention of FAC presents one of the
greatest difficulties in mixed-metallurgy feedwater systems, where copper-alloy corrosion is
greatly dependent on the oxidation reduction potential (ORP) of the solution. This particular
aspect of feedwater chemistry is discussed below.