Abstract

Significant deformations and crack propulsions in the power utility boiler

tubes are the leading cause of steam plant non-reliability. These boiler tubes are
subjected to various failure mechanisms due to high temperature, stress and
environmental hazards depending upon their design and functions. Stress-rupture
failure initiated by creep process or sudden overheating, arise due to steam
starvation or flue gas disruption.
The operation of the steam boiler is so complex that results in metal fatigue
due to temperature cycling and pressure fluctuation as well as erosion and chemical
depositions over the tube surfaces that cause severe corrosion. Thus, during their
lifetime, it may be required for various reasons, to estimate and assess the remaining
service life of the boiler tubes in order to avoid any unexpected collapse in running
operation. The work shown in this paper will assist to determine various non
destructive techniques to determine the hidden flaws in the tubes to estimate the
remaining life of steam boilers. It will provide knowledge sharing through several
case studies on the boiler tube failure detection and cure before time.
Key words:
Stress ruptures failure, creep, steam starvation, flue gas disruption, erosion.

Structural Integritys approach to effectively manage high temperature high energy

tubing systems is to employ a fully integrated, multidiscipline approach of running the plant. All
the necessary technical disciplines are used to develop and implement a sequence of steps
intended to help ensure safe and reliable operation of critical boiler operation. This technical
paper will help answer three important questions that are fundamental to any critical setup,
and effectively minimize the overall risk associated with high energy tubing at plant.
Where should we check the tubes???
How should we check the tubes???
After checking what should we do???

Where??
Structural Integrity of a boiler is based on, a semiquantitative approach to selecting and prioritizing which
tubes to evaluate.
The analysis for their life assessment uses stress
information, materials knowledge, inspection data,
fabrication process information, and other readily
accessible data. The output from the analysis provides a
list of the system tubes in a rank ordering of the
potential for damage and shows the tubes that are the
highest contributors to overall risk.

How??
Structural Integrity of a boiler demands advanced
nondestructive evaluation techniques that are
specifically designed to detect and quantify the damage
mechanisms associated with high energy tubing
systems. These techniques are capable of detecting
damage at an early stage (as compared to traditional
inspection methods), which allows for longer reinspection intervals and extended time to develop
corrective action plans.

What to do now??
Structural Integrity uses analytical tools including fracture
mechanics, life consumption analysis and risk optimization to
predict future serviceability and facilitate run/repair/replace
decisions. It provides recommendations for re-inspections
and repairs as necessary and can assist in the performance of
the repair activities.

Boiler tube failures are the number one cause of forced outages in power plants worldwide.
Failures occur despite the fact that in almost all cases it is understood why they occur and how
they can be prevented. The vast majority of these failures are repeat failures, because in all too
many cases the response to a failure is to treat the symptoms and not the root cause.
Once a boiler tube fails certain key questions must be
answered:
What is the damage mechanism responsible for the
failure?
Does the damage extend to other tubes and, if so, to
how many and where?
What has been the failure history?
What were the conditions of operation at the time of
the failure?
If the failure involves the water-touched surfaces,
what is the water treatment regime for the unit and have there been significant
disruptions in that regime.
The condition assessment of un-failed tubing is also a key component to the failure reduction.
Temperature, pressure, metallurgical condition (i.e., wall loss, swelling, microstructure, etc.),
and mode of unit operation are all considered and analyzed.

The boiler tube failure reduction and assessment includes the following:

A careful review of plant operating and water chemistry data

A metallurgical examination of tubing samples
Non-destructive inspection of the tubing in the area of interest
Installation of thermocouples, strain gauges, or flow monitoring devices at
selected sites.

The reliable operation of the power industrys fossil-fired steam generators require critical
pressure part components, particularly boiler tubing, to be properly maintained throughout the
life of the unit and, when problems occur, that
the appropriate corrective action be taken.
A boiler is a complex and critical piece of
equipment and its reliability is crucial to the
entire plants operation. Several components of
boiler play a major role in contributing to its
reliability and performance. Of these, boiler
tubes are considered, the most vulnerable
component to corrosion in steam generating
units. The corrosion concerns and the failure
mode of boiler tubes can sometimes be unique to
a plant and the control of corrosion is made a challenging task due to several variables including
the make-up water chemistry, contaminants in the return steam condensate and effectiveness
of the treatment program. Therefore, periodic inspections, assessments and timely remedial
actions are required to ensure safe and reliable operation.
Boiler tubing assessments that characterize tube condition and predict future serviceability are
the cornerstone of boiler tube failure analysis. including evaluations of water wall tubes with
such waterside corrosion issues as hydrogen damage, caustic gouging, corrosion fatigue
cracking, and flow-accelerated corrosion; creep damage evaluations of super heater and reheater tubing operating at elevated temperatures; evaluations of super heater and re-heater
dissimilar metal welds for creep fatigue, oxide notching, and carbide coarsening; and
examination of hard-to-reach areas of low-temperature super-heater and re-heater sections for
internal wall loss due to corrosion pitting, or external wastage caused by soot blower erosion,
fly ash erosion, or abrasion.

Procedures for Boiler Tube Failure Analysis

At times, the cause of a failure cannot be readily determined, making it difficult to determine
the appropriate corrective action. A detailed examination of the failure and associated
operating data is usually helpful in identifying the mechanism of failure so that corrective action
may be taken.
Proper investigative procedures are needed for accurate metallurgical analyses of boiler tubes.
Depending on the specific case, macroscopic examination combined with chemical analysis and

microscopic analysis of the metal may be needed to assess the primary failure mechanism.
When a failed tube section is removed from a boiler, care must be taken to prevent
contamination of deposits and damage to the failed zones. Also, the tube should be properly
labeled with its location and orientation.

Visual Examination
The first step in the lab investigation is a thorough visual
examination. Both the fireside and the waterside surfaces should
be inspected for failure or indications of imminent failure.
Photographic documentation of the as-received condition of tubing
can be used in the correlation and interpretation of data obtained
during the investigation. Particular attention should be paid to color
and texture of deposits, fracture surface location and morphology,
and metal surface contour. A stereo microscope allows detailed
examination under low-power magnification.
Dimensional analysis of a failed tube is important. Calipers and point
micrometers are valuable tools that allow quantitative assessment of
failure characteristics such as bulging, wall thinning at a rupture lip,
and corrosion damage.
The extent of ductile expansion and/or oxide formation can provide
clues toward determining the
primary failure mechanism. External wall thinning from
fireside erosion or corrosion mechanisms can result in tube
ruptures which often mimic the appearance of overheating
damage. In those cases, dimensional analysis of adjacent
areas can help to determine whether or not significant
external wall thinning occurred prior to failure. A photograph
of a tube cross section taken immediately adjacent to a failure
site can assist in dimensional analysis and provide clear-cut
documentation.
The extent, orientation, and frequency of tube surface cracking can be helpful in pinpointing a
failure mechanism. While overheating damage typically causes longitudinal cracks, fatigue
damage commonly results in cracks that run transverse to the tube axis. In particular, zones

adjacent to welded supports should be examined closely for cracks. Nondestructive testing
(e.g., magnetic particle or dye penetrant inspection) may be necessary to identify and assess
the extent of cracking.
When proper water chemistry guidelines are maintained, the
waterside surfaces of boiler tubes are coated with a thin
protective layer of black magnetite. Excessive waterside
deposition can lead to higher-than-design metal temperatures
and eventual tube failure. Quantitative analysis of the internal
tube surface commonly involves determination of the deposit-weight density (DWD) value and
deposit thickness. Interpretation of these values can define the role of internal deposits in a
failure mechanism. DWD values are also used to determine whether or not chemical cleaning of
boiler tubing is required. In addition, the tube surface may be thoroughly cleaned by means of
glass bead blasting during DWD testing. This facilitates accurate assessment of waterside or
fireside corrosion damage (e.g., pitting, gouging) that may be hidden by deposits.
The presence of unusual deposition patterns on a waterside surface can be an indication that
non optimal circulation patterns exist in a boiler tube. For example, longitudinal tracking of
deposits in a horizontal roof tube may indicate steam blanketing conditions.
Steam blanketing, which results when conditions permit stratified flow of steam and water in a
given tube, can lead to accelerated corrosion damage (e.g., wall thinning and/or gouging) and
tube failure.

Chemical Analysis
When excessive internal deposits are present in a tube, accurate chemical analyses can be used
to determine the source of the problem
and the steps necessary for correction.
Whenever possible, it is advisable to
collect a "bulk" composition, by
scraping and crimping the tube and
collecting a cross section of the
deposit for chemical analysis. Typically,
a loss-on-ignition (LOI) value is also
determined for the waterside deposit.
The LOI value, which represents the

weight loss obtained after the deposit is heated in a furnace, can be used to diagnose
contamination of the waterside deposit by organic material.
In many cases, chemical analysis of a deposit from a specific area is desired. Scanning electron
microscope-energy dispersive spectroscopy (SEM-EDS) is a versatile technique that allows
inorganic chemical analysis on a microscopic scale. SEM-EDS analyses are shown in Figures 1412 and 14-13. For example, SEM-EDS can be useful in the following determinations:
Differences in deposit composition between corroded and non corroded areas on a tube
surface.
The extent to which under-deposit concentration of boiler salts on heat transfer
surfaces is promoting corrosion damage.
Elemental differences between visually different tube surface deposits

Elemental Mapping (analysis of deposits)

Inorganic analyses through SEM-EDS can also be performed on ground and polished cross
sections of a tube covered with thick layers of
waterside deposit. This testing is called elemental
mapping and is particularly valuable when the
deposits are multilayered. Similar to the
examination of rings on a tree, cross-sectional
analysis of boiler deposits can identify periods
when there have been upsets in water chemistry,
and thereby provides data to help determine
exactly how and when deposits formed. With
elemental mapping, the spatial distribution of
elements in a deposit cross section is represented
by color-coded dot maps. Separate elements of
interest can be represented by individual maps, or selected combinations of elements can be
represented on composite maps.
A scanning electron microscope (SEM) can also be utilized to analyze the topography of surface
deposits and/or morphology of fracture surfaces. Fractography is particularly helpful in
classifying a failure mode. For example, microscopic features of a fracture surface can reveal
whether the steel failed in a brittle or ductile manner, whether cracks propagated through
grains or along grain boundaries, and whether or not fatigue (cyclic stress) was the primary
cause of failure. In addition, SEM-EDS testing can be used to identify the involvement of a

specific ion or compound in a failure mechanism, through a combination of fracture surface

analysis and chemical analysis.

Alloy Analysis
Most water-bearing tubes used in boiler construction are fabricated from low-carbon steel.
However, steam-bearing (superheater and reheater) tubes
are commonly fabricated from low-alloy steel containing
differing levels of chromium and molybdenum. Chromium
and molybdenum increase the oxidation and creep
resistance of the steel. For accurate assessment of metal
overheating, it is important to have a portion of the tube
analyzed for alloy chemistry. Alloy analysis can also
confirm that the tubing is within specifications. In isolated
instances, initial installation of the wrong alloy type or tube
repairs using the wrong grade of steel can occur. In these cases, chemical analysis of the steel
can be used to determine the cause of premature failure.
At times, it is necessary to estimate the mechanical properties of boiler components. Most
often, this involves hardness measurement, which can be used to estimate the tensile strength
of the steel. This is particularly useful in documenting the deterioration of mechanical
properties that occurs during metal overheating. Usually, a Rockwell hardness tester is used;
however, it is sometimes advantageous to use a micro-hardness tester. For example, microhardness measurements can be used to obtain a hardness profile across a welded zone to
assess the potential for brittle cracking in the heat-affected zone of a weld.

Metallography
Microstructural analysis of a metal component is probably the most important tool in
conducting a failure analysis investigation. This testing, called metallography, is useful in
determining the following:
whether a tube failed from short-term or long-term overheating damage
whether cracks initiated on a waterside or fireside surface
whether cracks were caused by creep damage, corrosion fatigue, or stress-corrosion
cracking (SCC)

Whether tube failure resulted from hydrogen damage or internal corrosion gouging Proper
sample orientation and preparation are critical aspects of micro structural analysis. After
careful selection, metal specimens are cut with a power hacksaw or
an abrasive cut-off wheel and mounted in a mold with resin or
plastic. After mounting, the samples are subjected to a series of
grinding and polishing steps. The goal is to obtain a flat, scratchfree surface of metal in the zone of interest. After processing, a
suitable etchant is applied to the polished metal surface to reveal
micro structural constituents (grain boundaries, distribution and
morphology of iron carbides, etc.)

Finite Element Analysis

Structural Integrity performs thermal transient, linear
elastic, elastic plastic, and inelastic creep stress analysis for
engineering design, root cause analysis, and life assessment
of plant equipment. Typical components evaluated include
piping systems, boiler headers and drums, valves, turbine
steam chests, casings, and rotors. Dynamic analysis of piping
systems and other components is performed to evaluate
water/steam hammer and other dynamic events. FE
modeling of welding processes is performed to evaluate
residual stresses due to weld overlay and other repairs.

CFD Analysis
3D modeling and analysis of internal/external flow in boilers, (heat recovery steam generators)
HRSGs, and piping systems. Evaluations are performed using COSMOS FloWork and ANSYS CFX.

Fracture Mechanics
Critical flaw size, Leak Before Break (LBB) and crack growth
evaluations for fatigue, corrosion-fatigue, stress corrosion,
creep, and creep-fatigue are performed for serviceability
assessment of flawed components. Evaluations are
performed per API 579 / ASME FFS-1 and other industry
standards.

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