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7 Major Location Boiler Erosion
by idweha
The seven major locations in which boiler erosion occurs are at the
fire side,the preboiler, the afterboiler, and the water side and steam side. Fire-side mechanisms cause most
erosion-related failures and can be further subdivided as erosion related to soot blowing, steam cutting, flyash
attack, coal-particle impingement, and falling slag. Fluidized-bed and other special-purpose boilers sometimes
suffer severe attack. Boilers burning wood chips and bagasse are often eroded by entrainment of tramp
contaminants such as sand and other foreign material in furnace gases. Incinerators suffer similar fire-side
problems. Because fire-side mechanisms cause most erosion-related failures, each mechanism will be
discussed
in detail.
Erosive metal loss on water-side surfaces is comparatively rare. Cases do occur, however. Internal-surface
discontinuities or solid foreign objects lodged within tubes can disturb flow, increase turbulence, and cause
wastage. Preboiler attack is confined primarily to feedwater systems. Turbine erosion is common in afterboiler
regions. Burner nozzles, blowdown piping, condensate return lines, and many other boiler components are
also eroded.
Sootblower Erosion
As the term soot-blower erosion implies, damage occurs near or in the direct path of soot-blower discharge.
Superheater tubing is usually attacked. Common damage locations include tubes along the path of retractable
soot blowers, and particularly those tubes nearest wall entrances of retractable blowers. Other damage
locations include furnace corners opposite wall blowers. Platens in the convection section are often targets, as
are any
tubes near malfunctioning soot blowers.
Perhaps the most common cause of erosion in boilers is soot-blower attack.Usually a misdirected blower
allows a high-velocity jet of steam or air carrying condensed water droplets to impinge directly upon tube
surfaces,
rather thahxto be directed between tubes. Physical abrasion and accelerated oxidation cause metal loss.
Damage can be accelerated by fly ash entrained in the high-velocity jet stream directed against the tube
surface. Erosive thinning often leads to tube rupture
Steam Cutting from Adjacent Tube Failures
Affected tubes can occur in any part of the boiler. Cutting is most severe when internal steam pressures, and
consequently temperatures, are high.Thus, superheaters and reheaters are often severely attacked. A nearby
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failed tube is always present. Usually damage is highly localized and is worst in line of sight with the nearby
failed tubes. Occasionally, if the original failure is not detected promptly, a single failure leads to chain
reactions involving multiple tube breaches.
Damage produced by escaping high-velocity fluids eventually causes other nearby tubes to be steam-cut. The
wastage mechanism is essentially the same as soot-blower attack. However, attack is usually more localized.
Wastage occurs rapidly.
Fly-Ash Erosion
Damage frequently occurs in economizer, superheater, reheater, and roof tubing, although other tubes may be
affected. Since fly ash is usually more erosive when particle temperatures are lower, economizers are
frequently attacked. Inlet areas of reheaters are common wastage sites because of higher gas velocities and
eddying present there. Areas in the superheater where slagging is pronounced are common problem regions,
as gas flow in the narrow slag channels increases. Any location where channeling or eddying of gases occurs is
susceptible to wastage. Erosion is usually localized and frequently is restricted to regions such as gaps between
tube rows,banks, and duct walls.
Fly-ash erosion is caused by particulate matter entrained in high-speed flue gases striking metal surfaces.
Major accelerating factors are high gas velocity and large amounts of abrasive components in the fly ash. These
factors accelerate loss by increasing the amount of kinetic energy per impact and by increasing the number of
impacts per unit time in a given area.
Fly-ash erosion is common in boilers fired with overfeed stokers, which allow considerable amounts of ash to
enter the gas stream more readily. Those boilers using an overfire air system may reduce particulate.
Partialsuspension burning causes greater amounts of particulate matter to enter the gas stream. Thus,
collectors are generally used. When collectors malfunction, damage increases.
Coal-Particle Erosion
Water-cooled tubes that line the cylindrical combustion chamber of cyclone- type coal burners are common
attack sites. Incompletely burned coal particles can also accelerate fly-ash erosion in superheaters and wall
tubing. Attack is common in utility boilers.
In general, attack occurs in tubes lining the cyclone burner. Erosion becomes pronounced when the refractory
covering the tubes or the wear liners is damaged or worn out, exposing unprotected tubes. The high-velocity
coal particles, moving at speeds up to 300 ft/s (9.0 m/s) (in utility service), impinge on tube walls and cause
rapid wear. Attack is similar in appearance to fly-ash erosion.
Falling-Slag Erosion
This damage is rare and usually is confined to slanted tube walls near the bottom of large boilers, which direct
ash into the ash hopper. Most damage occurs near side walls, where greater amounts of slag tend to
accumulate
since slag from side walls is more likely to strike these areas.
Erosion is caused by slag particles that fall from above. The particles strikethe slanted walls and cause wastage.
If large slag particles fall, they can dent and bend tubes.
Preboiler and Afterboiler Erosion
Feedwater-pump components, including impellers, fittings, valves, and housings are often eroded. Less
commonly, transfer lines, pipe elbows, and blowdown components are attacked. Afterboiler erosion is
confined primarily to turbines. Because of high velocities inherent in turbine operation, turbine components
frequently suffer erosion. Turbine blades are wasted both by hard particles and by water-droplet impingement.
Latter-stage buckets are most frequently affected by water-droplet impingement. Carbon steel piping may be
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attacked in the presence of wet, high-velocity steam, causing damage that falls more into the category of
erosion-corrosion. Valve stems, nozzle blocks, diaphragms, and early-stage buckets commonly suffer hard-
particle erosion due to exfoliated oxide particles from superheaters, reheaters, main steam leads, and hot
reheat piping.
Erosion is metal loss caused by impact of solids or liquids. Attack is promoted by turbulent, high-velocity fluid
flow. Rapid pressure changes promote water jetting and turbulence. Abrupt changes in flow direction and the
entrainment of hard particulate matter in fluids also contribute to wastage. Although appearing simple, the
erosion process is complex. Metal loss is often considered to occur by physical deformation of the surface.
Shearing or fracture may occur subsequently as deformed areas are impacted by the erodent.
Water-Side and Steam-Side Erosion
Erosion is very rare in water- and steam-cooled tubes. However, wastage will occur where flow is restricted by
foreign objects, collections of scale, and the like. Usually, however, other associated problems such as
overheating will cause failure before erosion can cause severe damage A series of failures of superheater tubes
occurred almost 2 years after xtensive retubing. Nearby tubes contained forming defects present as deep
fissures. These fissures opened in service, causing steam cutting of adjacent tubes.
(Robert D. Port, Harvey M. Herro.The Nalco Guide to Boiler failure Analysis, Nalco Chemical Company)
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