Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

Case Study on Fireside Erosion of Platen Superheater Boiler Tubes of a Coal-Fired Power Plant

  • Technical Article---Peer-Reviewed
  • Published:
Journal of Failure Analysis and Prevention Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

The platen superheater boiler tubes of a 660 MW coal-fired power plant have failed after long term in service. The failed boiler tubes are made of ASME SA-213 T12 and ASME SA-213 T22 and both have the same outer diameter of 50.8 mm and minimum wall thickness of 5.156 mm and 8.509 mm, respectively. The operating pressure of the platen superheater tubes is 178–179 barg, while the operating temperatures are 379–390 °C (inlet) and 430–440 °C (outlet). The failed tubes experienced severe localized thinning or erosion on the outer surface and occurred at different locations. The types and factors that cause erosion in the platen superheater tubes are discussed in this paper. The metallurgical assessment was carried out by preparing several specimens from the failed platen superheater tubes. Various laboratory tests were carried out, including visual and macroscopic examination, chemical analysis, metallographic examination, hardness and tensile testing, and scanning electron microscopy equipped with energy dispersive spectroscopy analysis. The results of the metallurgical assessment obtained show that the platen superheater tubes have experienced localized fireside erosion and leaks in several locations of the tubes. Formation of this localized fireside erosion is most likely caused by improper use and/or malfunction of the soot blower applied in the boiler. In addition, tube leaks due to localized fireside erosion may have also caused by erosion due to steam cutting from the adjacent tube that previously ruptured due to severe soot blower erosion. Besides, several platen superheater tubes have also experienced formation of hard and thick ash or slag deposits on the outer surfaces where no fireside erosion or leaks occurred. However, formation of these deposits was found to be insignificant to the fireside corrosion on the platen superheater tubes.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Fig. 1
Fig. 2
Fig. 3
Fig. 4
Fig. 5
Fig. 6
Fig. 7
Fig. 8
Fig. 9
Fig. 10
Fig. 11
Fig. 12

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  1. P. Heribhakti, P. B. Joshi, R. Kumar, Failure Investigation of Boiler Tubes (ASM International, Materials Park, OH 44073-0002, 2018), pp. 147-325

  2. R. Karthikeyan, C. Srinivas, U. Logeshwaran, Analysis of boiler tube failure. Int. J. Innov. Sci, and Res. Tech. 3–3, 633–638 (2018)

    Google Scholar 

  3. X. Luo, Z. Zhang, Leakage failure analysis in a power plant boiler. IERI Procedia. 5, 107–111 (2013)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  4. U. K. Chatterjee Microstructural imprints in failure of power plant boiler tubes. In: Proceedings of the 15th International AMME Conference, vol. 29-31 (Chatterjee, UK, 2012) p. 59-70

  5. R.K. Roy, S.K. Das, A.K. Panda, A. Mitra, Analysis of superheater boiler tubes failed through non-linear heating. Proc. Eng. 86, 926–932 (2014)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  6. A.K. Pramanick, G. Das, S.K. Das, M. Ghosh, Failure investigation of superheater tubes of coal fired power plant. J. Case Stud. Eng. Fail. Anal. 9, 17–26 (2017)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  7. G. Gupta, S. Chattopadhyaya, Critical failure analysis of superheater tubes of coal-based boiler. J. Mech. Eng. 63–5, 287–299 (2017)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  8. D. Ghosh, H. Roy, A. Saha, C. Subramanian, Failure analysis of boiler water wall tube: a case study from thermal power plant. J. Fail. Anal. and Preven. 22, 203–208 (2022)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  9. A. Singh, V. Sharma, S. Mittal, G. Pandey, D. Mudgal, P. Gupta, An overview of problems and solutions for components subjected to fireside of boilers. Int. J. Indus. Chemist. 9, 1–15 (2018)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  10. P.B. Chaudhari, V.H. Patil, C.R. Patil, Case study on erosion failure of CFBC boiler. Int J Res Eng Adv Technol. 3(6), 28–32 (2016)

    Google Scholar 

  11. K. Balamanikandasuthan, K. Arun, S.S. Palam, Design and fabrication of erosion protection shield for boiler tubes and its analysis. Int. J. Res. Mech. Mater. Eng. 1(1), 39–52 (2015)

    Google Scholar 

  12. E. Sciubba, N. Zeoli, A study of soot blower erosion in waste-incinerating heat boilers. J. Energy Resour. Technol. 129–1, 50–53 (2007)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  13. S.R. Nalinde, T.C. Parshiwanikar, A literature review on failure of long retractable soot blower. Int. J. Sci. Res. & Dev. 5–10, 147–149 (2017)

    Google Scholar 

  14. K. Vijay, B. Karthikeyan, Optimization of soot blower operation in boiler to improve efficiency. Int. Res. J. Eng. and Tech. 6–3, 1539–1544 (2019)

    Google Scholar 

  15. ASM Handbook, Metallography and Microstructures, vol. 9, 6th print. (ASM International, Materials Park, 1995) p. 279–296

  16. G. Pantazopoulos, A.I. Toulfatzis, A. Vazdirvanidis, A. Rikos, Analysis of the degradation process of structural steel component subjected to prolonged thermal exposure. Metallo. Micros. and Anal. 5–2, 149–156 (2016)

    Google Scholar 

  17. F.O. Sonmez, A. Demir, Analytical relations between hardness and strain for cold formed parts. J. Mat. Process. Tech. 186, 163–173 (2007)

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  18. H. Bounezour, L. Laouar, M. Bourbia, O. Boussaid, Effects of work hardening on mechanical metal properties-experimental analysis and simulation by experiments. Int. J. Adv. Manufac. Tech. 101, 2475–2485 (2019)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  19. J. Datsko, L. Hartwig, B. McClory, On the tensile strength and hardness relation for metals. J. Mat. Eng. and Perform. 10–6, 718–722 (2001)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  20. E.J. Pavlina, C. Vantyne, Correlation of yield strength and tensile strength with hardness for steels. J. Mat. Eng. and Perform. 17–6, 888–893 (2008)

    Article  Google Scholar 

  21. G. Papastergios, J.L.F. Turiel, A. Geogakopoulas, D. Gimeno, Slag and ash chemistry after high-calcium lignite combustion in a pulverized coal-fired power plant. Glob. Nest J. 9–1, 77–82 (2007)

    Google Scholar 

  22. P. Pintana, N. Tippayawang, A. Numtaphun, P. Thongchiew, Characterization of slag from combustion of pulverized lignite with high calcium content in utility boiler. Energy Explor. Exploit. 32–3, 471–482 (2014)

    Article  Google Scholar 

Download references

Acknowledgments

The author wishes to express his gratitude to the Head and Members of Department of Mechanical Engineering, Faculty of Industrial Technology of the National Institute of Science and Technology (ISTN) for their support and encouragement in publishing this work.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Mechanical Engineering, Faculty of Industrial Technology, National Institute of Science and Technology (ISTN), Jakarta, Indonesia

    D. N. Adnyana

Authors
  1. D. N. Adnyana
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to D. N. Adnyana.

Additional information

Publisher's Note

Springer Nature remains neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations.

Rights and permissions

Springer Nature or its licensor holds exclusive rights to this article under a publishing agreement with the author(s) or other rightsholder(s); author self-archiving of the accepted manuscript version of this article is solely governed by the terms of such publishing agreement and applicable law.

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this article

Adnyana, D.N. Case Study on Fireside Erosion of Platen Superheater Boiler Tubes of a Coal-Fired Power Plant. J Fail. Anal. and Preven. 22, 1578–1589 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11668-022-01450-5

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Revised:

  • Accepted:

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11668-022-01450-5

Keywords

Search

Navigation