• Corrosion Science and Technology
• /
• v.20 no.5
• /
• pp.242-248
• /
• 2021

Unforeseen failures of boilers in power plants may affect the continuation of electricity generation. Main failures in boilers are influenced by the tube material, tube position, boiler service temperature and pressure, and chemical composition of the feed water and coal. This investigation was intended to find answers on the causes and mechanism of failure of the fire-side boiler water-wall tubes, due to perforation and corrosion. The tube conformed to the material requirements in terms of its chemical composition and hardness. Microscopic examination showed ferrite and pearlite indicating no changes in its microstructure due to the temperature variation. SEM test showed a single layer and homogenous film density particularly on the area far from perforation. However, layers of corrosion product were formed on the nearby perforation area. EDX showed that there were Na, Ca, S, and O elements on the failed surface. XRD indicated the presence of Fe₂O₃ oxide. The failure mechanism was identified as a result of significant localized wall thinning of the boiler water wall-tube due to oxidation.

• Journal of Power System Engineering
• /
• v.7 no.1
• /
• pp.20-24
• /
• 2003

Boiler is one of the most important utilities providing steam to turbine in order to supply mechanical energy in thermal power plant. It is composed of thousands of tubes for high efficient heat transfer. Water is converted to steam inside the waterwall tubes. Many chemical components dissolved in boiler water come out of itself, deposit to the tube wall surface, prohibit heat transer, raise tube metal temperature, eventually fail the boiler tubes. Several tasks such as fracture surface study, tensile test, hardness test, metallurgical test, composition analysis of sticking elements were conducted to identify the root cause of tube failure.

• Transactions of the Korean Society of Mechanical Engineers B
• /
• v.36 no.6
• /
• pp.663-668
• /
• 2012

Fly ash erosion is a leading cause of boiler tube failure in PC boilers. Therefore, shields or baffle plates are installed in specific areas to mitigate fly ash erosion and prevent boiler tube failure. However, the tube failure problems caused by fly ash erosion cannot be eliminated with this solution alone, because each PC boiler has a different flue-gas flow pattern and erosion can become severe in unexpected zones. This problem is caused by an asymmetric internal flow velocity and local growth of the flue gas velocity. For these reasons, clearly defining the flow pattern in PC boilers is important for solving the problem of tube failure caused by fly ash erosion. For this purpose, the cold air velocity technique (CAVT) can be applied to the fly ash erosion problem. In this study, CAVT was carried out on the Hadong #2 PC boiler and the feasibility of application of CAVT to conventional PC boilers was validated.

• Korean Journal of Air-Conditioning and Refrigeration Engineering
• /
• v.20 no.7
• /
• pp.478-485
• /
• 2008

The extreme steam temperature deviation experienced in the superheater of a tangentially fired boiler can seriously affect its economic and safe operation. This temperature deviation is one of the main causes of boiler tube failures. The steam temperature deviation is mainly due to the thermal load deviation in the lateral direction of the superheater. The thermal load deviation consists of several causes. One of the causes is the non-uniform heat flow distribution of burnt gas on the superheater tube system. This distribution is very difficult to measure in situ using direct experimental techniques. So, we need thermal load model to estimate the tube temperature. In this paper, we propose a thermal load distribution model by using CFD analysis and plant data. We successfully predict the tube temperature and the steam flow rate in a final superheater system from the thermal load model and one dimensional heat-flow system analysis. The proposed model and analysis method would be valuable in preventing the frequent tube failure of the final superheater tubes.

• Korean Journal of Air-Conditioning and Refrigeration Engineering
• /
• v.20 no.6
• /
• pp.416-426
• /
• 2008

The boiler tube failure often experienced in the superheater of a utility boiler can seriously affect the economic and safe operation of the power plant. It has been known that this failure is mainly caused by the thermal load deviation in the superheater tube system, and deeply intensified by the non-uniform distribution of steam flow rates. The nonuniform steam flow is distinctively prominent at low power load rather than at full power load. In this paper, we analyze the steam flow distribution in the superheater tube system by using one dimensional flow network model. At 30% power load, the deviation of steam flow rate is predicted to be within 0.8% of the averaged flow rate. This deviation can be reduced to 0.1% and 0.07% by assuming two cases, that is, the removal of 13th tube at each tube rows and the installation of intermediate header, respectively. The assumed two cases would be effective for the uniform steam flow distribution across 85 superheater tube rows.

• Plant Journal
• /
• v.15 no.2
• /
• pp.56-61
• /
• 2019

In this study, the failure analysis of the internal tube occurred in the high pressure feedwater heater for power generation boiler of 500 MW supercritical pressure coal fired power plant was investigated. I suggested a prediction model that can diagnose internal tube failure by changing the position of level control valve on the shell side and the suction flow rate of the boiler feedwater pump. The suggested prediction model is demonstrated through additional cases of feedwater system unbalance. The simultaneous comparison of the shell side level control valve position and the suction flow rate of the boiler feedwater pump compared to the normal operating state value, even in the case of the high pressure feedwater heater for the power boiler, It can be a powerful prediction diagnosis.

• KEPCO Journal on Electric Power and Energy
• /
• v.8 no.2
• /
• pp.93-96
• /
• 2022

The boiler tubes of thermal power plants are exposed to harsh environment of high temperature and high pressure, and the deterioration state of materials rapidly increases. In particular, parent material and welds of the materials used are subjected to a temperature change and various constraints, resulting in deformation and its growth, resulting in frequent leakage accidents caused by tube failure. The power plant checks the integrity of boiler tubes through non-destructive testing as it may act as huge costs loss and limitation of power supply during power station shutdown period due to boiler tube leakage. However, the current non-destructive testing is extremely limited in the field to detect micro cracks. In this study, the ability of metal magnetic memory technique to detect flaws of size that are difficult to inspect by the visual or general non-destructive methods was verified in the early stage of their occurrence.

• Journal of Power System Engineering
• /
• v.13 no.5
• /
• pp.95-102
• /
• 2009

A steam generator (boiler) in thermal power plants, consisting of more than 30,000 parts and components, can lead to the plant shutdown with damage to even the small part of the components; esp., like weld failures on boiler tubes. Consequently it is greatly demanded to improve the quality of the weld on the boiler tube for the stable operation of the power plants. Because of the feature of the welding, which is done past by melting the work pieces and adding a filler material that cools to become a strong coalescence, there is a great possibility that weld failures take place. As a result, it is regulated to make a non-destructive testing, like radiography test, to detect defects and flaws in the weld. The current film radiography test provides a lower image quality exceeding 2.0% of a basic quality level for a penetrameter, it is very likely to fail to detect micro defect. As a result, the prevention for the boiler tube failure has not been made effectively. In this study, computed radiography technology has been applied as a digital radiography test to the boiler tube weld, and Se-75 radiation source was used to improve the image quality, instead of Ir-192 source. As a result of this study, it is proven to save the time and cost for test and to enhance the quality level of penetrameter penetrating image, which enables to upgrade the quality of radiography test to the boiler tube weld.

• 연구논문집
• /
• s.30
• /
• pp.121-128
• /
• 2000

The failed tube received for this study has been used for approximately 10 year at $330^{\circ}C$ in a steam production boiler tube was fractured in the transversed direction to tube length, and fracture mode was typically intergranulas type without the plastic deformation. The fracture surface was covered by the oxide scale formed from the intermal high pressure steam at high temperature. The microstructure was not nearly thermal-degraded during the service. From this result, we can conclude that the oxide film was proferentialy formed into the grainboundary and this grainboundary oxide film was brittle-fractured by the thermal stress in the longitudinal direction to the tube brittle intergranular fracture mode.

• Corrosion Science and Technology
• /
• v.18 no.2
• /
• pp.55-60
• /
• 2019

Corrosion failure in the convection part of peak load boiler (PLB) of the district heating system led to water leakage. Herein, Internal Rotary Inspection System (IRIS) inspection was employed to examine wall thinning and the cause of leakage in the flue tube. The corrosive products of the turbulator and tube were investigated using scanning electron microscope combined with energy dispersive spectroscopy, X-ray diffraction, and inductively coupled plasma (ICP). Majority of the serious corrosion damage was observed near the turbulator located in the upper flue tube. ICP analysis of the boiler water revealed oxide formation of sodium chloride in the lower end part of the flue tube. A cross-sectional view of the turbulator revealed the presence of double-layers of the oxide film, indicating environmental change during operation associated with water leakage. The outer surface of the turbulator consisted of the acid oxides such as $NO_x$ and $SO_x$ along with sodium and chloride ions. Dew-point corrosion is hypothesized as the main cause for the formation of acid oxides in the region of contact of the flue tube and the turbulator.