CAUSES OF TUBE FAILURE

1. Overheating.
2. Erosion.
3. Corrosion.
4. Material Defects.
5. Manufacturing Defects.

Overheating
Overheating can be localised, extensive, prolonged or of a short
duration. Metallographic analysis indicates the approximate temp. to which
the tube was subjected before failure occured. Observation of the grain
growth & microstructure of the failed tube material also indicates if the
overheating was of a prolonged or short duration.
Water wall tube failure results in a burst with a fish mouth opening.
Occasionally cracks will also appear up to length of 2 Mts. on either side of
the burst.
This may lead the power station authorities to apprehend that the
tube is of the CRW type. Bursting occurs due to excessive reactive force
cause by change of state from water to steam. In case of SH tube failure
takes the form of a narrow opening with multiple stallite cracks.
The reasons for overheating of water wall or SH tubes are,
1. Chocking with foreign material.
2. Starvation due to,
a) Improper circulation.
b) Insufficient flow

3. Flame impingement
4. Secondary burning of fuel.
5. Other causes.

Choking with foreign materials

Foreign materials like mill scales, weld slag, sand, electrodes bits, rust
products, chips, small tools, nuts etc. Which collect at the bends or weld
joints where the internal cross section is restricted will cause choking of
tubes. These materials enter the tube during various stages of
manufacture, shipping and / or erection. Choking of tube with foreign
materials will impede the flow fully or partially & cause overheating.
Precautions can be taken to mitigate tube choking at various stages
of manufacture, shipping, storage & erection. By using TIG root welding
for all SH coils at shop & site, the problem of choking can be minimised
by eliminating the construction at the weld joints due to excessive weld
penetration to check the blocking of tube with foreign material an
instrument called contract flow meter (developed by CE research lab
UK, & manufactured by Land Pyrometers LTD, UK) can be used. This
meter can be used during the commissioning of new boiler to ensure
that there is not blockage of & in the case of operating boiler, it can be
used during overheating.

Starvation due to improper circulation:Insufficient circulation in the water walls may lead to departure from
onset of nucleate boiling & may lead to overheating. Which in turn will
result in tube failures. Where the failure is traced to improper circulation,

the same can be improved in the region of water wall by providing

additional downcorners / spider tubes to the existing downcomers.

Starvation due to insufficient flow:Starvation can occurs in SH tubes due to an insufficient flow resulting in
overheating. This is generally observed in the binder tubes of the platen
SH. These binder coils have a number of bends & are longer in length
than the other coils in the platen. The flow through these binder coils is,
therefore, inadequate. The prolong overheating in such tubes results in
creep failure.
Such failures can be avoided by replacing the long binder tubes with
shorter tubes, which in turn increases internal flow, & prevents
overheating.
Overheating can also be avoided by allowing cooler steam through the
wrapper tubes of platen to better cooling of the tube materials.
The materials of the bottom portion of the outermost coils of platen can
also be replaced by stainless steel to enhance their life since the bottom
most portion faces direct radiation from the furnace.

Flame Impingement
Water wall failures occur mostly near the burners. This is due to the
flame impingement from burners, which get distorted in service. To avoid
such failures new burner nozzles such as honeycomb types, which
resist distortion, are now used.

Additional peep holes can also be provided for better monitoring of the
flame & observation of the burner tip.
Arrangements could be made to supply mellowing air to bring down air
temperature wherever necessary so that the combustion front can be
kept away from the burner nozzles.

Secondary burning of fuel:In certain cases oil from the oil gun may flash on to the tubes & then
burning takes place which results in overheating the tubes. Even in coal
fired boilers, the unburnt fuel particles may catch fire at the top of the
furnace or in the second pass causing secondary combustion,
explosion, or overheating of the tubes. This can be avoided by proper
control of the atomisation of oil, coal particle size & the firing rate.

Excessive air
Excess air plays an important role in the heat absorption pattern of
various zones of the boiler. Too much of excess air leads to cooler
furnace & higher heat absorption rates in convective paths. The too little
amount of excess air leads to higher furnance temperature resulting in
higher radiation, heat absorption & slagging problems.

In oil fired boilers too much of excess air is favourable to the formation of
SO3 due to the increased availability of O2 thereby promoting a higher
rate of low temp. corrosion. To avoid such failure O2 content in flue
gases should be measured periodically during operation & adjustments

made to achieve design values as closely as possible. Further, to avoid

overheating the flue gas temperature in different zones should be
closely monitored & kept within the design limits.

Internal Deposits
Inferior quality of feed water leads to internal deposits of salts & silica in
the water wall tube. This internal deposit will cause overheating of water
wall tubes leading to failure. To avoid this, the feed water of boiler water
quality should be maintained within the allowable limits as per the
international standards.

The carryover of salts by steam can cause deposits in the tubes with
consequent overheating & failure. To avoid this, the salts, content in the
drum water should be maintained as per the standard operation with
high water levels in drum could lead to carryover of water drops &
dissolved solids leading to internal tube deposits in SH tubes. These
deposits hinder heat transfer & lead to increase in metal temperature &
consequent tube failure. Hence it is necessary to restrict the drum
WATER LEVEL TO THE prescribed limits under all operating conditions.
Other causes
Mal-operation can sometimes leads to overheating & results in tube
failure. When high-pressure heaters are out of service, the convection
SH O/L temperature can shoot up leading to overheating of tubes. This
can be avoided by suitable control of the excess air & the boiler load.
During hot restart if the flow of auxiliary steam from the drum tap off

point is high it will result in a reduced flow through the SH which in turn
will lead to overheating.

EROSION
Erosion is a second major cause of tube failure. The tube wall thickness
gets reduced due to erosion & when the thickness is not sufficient to
withstand the operating pressure and temperature of the tube, the tube
will fail.

Erosion of SH & economiser tube may be due to following reasons

i)

Flue gas erosion.

ii)

Erosion due to steam or water.

Flue gas Erosion

The rate of erosion is proportional to the cube of velocity. The ash
content of the Indian coals is of more abrasive in nature containing high
silica & alumina. Due to the above, if the velocity of the flue gas at narrow
gaps between coils & walls & SH coils and ash hoppers below them is high,
then erosion may occurs in these zones. Therefore the boiler have to be
designed with 15m/s velocities as for as possible.
A typical ash analysis data is given below :
Silica

-- 55.5 to 56.5%

Alumina

-- 27.3 to 27.9%

Unburnt carbon

-- 4.4 to 6.2%

FeO

-- 5.3 to 6.7%

Lime

-- 1.37 to 2.16%

Sulphates

-- 0.5 to 0.68%

The flue gas erosion in the horizontal SH & economiser can be

prevented by providing baffles. The flue gas erosion in the bands of the
convection SH in the horizontal pass can be prevented by increasing the
height of refractory lining of the ash hoppers in front of the coils.

Erosion due to steam or water

Whenever there is a tube failure the water or steam from the faulty
tube escapes in the form of a high velocity jet & when it impinges on the
adjacent tube they get eroded. If the boiler is not shutdown immediately
after detection of the failure & allowed operating for a protected period the
damage due to steam or water erosion will be considerable.

Additionally, sometimes leakage from the soot blowers or wall

blowers causes erosion of water wall, SH or economiser tubes. In some
boiler, vertical bar type soot blowers have caused tube failures in the
horizontal SH & RH & to overcome this the sort blowers should be moved
from the ceiling to the sidewalls.
Corrosion
This can be mainly grouped into two types
1) External corrosion due to depositing of chemicals.

2) Internal corrosion taking place inside the tube due to impurities in steam
and water.

1) External corrosion due to depositing of chemicals carried by ash.

On review of ash analysis detailed under flue errosion, it can be seen
that ash consists of sulfate up to 0.5 to 0.681. This type of corrosion results
mainly from the deposits of ash on tube surface. The deposits may be
classified either as slagging or fouling.

Slagging
This is the deposition of molten or partially fused particles of fuel
constituents (non-combustible) on furnace tube surface. Though it is
usually is associated on furnace tube surface, slagging can also occurs in
screen tube and in the super heater when molten ash carried over into
these solutions and is exposed to excessively high gas temperature.
Fouling
Fouling on other hand is the condensation of combustible
constituents such as sodium sulphate on fly ash particles and on boiler
tube in area of the unit where temperature are such that the constituents
are remain in the liquid state. The combustibles, fly ash, and flue gas react
chemically to form the deposit.
Phosphate deposit
This is also similar to the sodium deposits fouling, which are initiated
by the attack of acidic phosphorous compounds on the tube metal & the fly

ash particles. Indian coals do not contain phosphorous as one of the major
constituents and as such this type of corrosion is rarely expected.

Low Temperate Corrosion

This is caused by sulphuric acid, & can occur in the economisers of
some units if the feed water temp. is lower than about 150C. However the
feed water temperature is most of the utility boilers & the sulphur content of
the coal burnt are such that dew point problems already rarely
encountered. Condensation problem further down stream where lower
temperature exists may corrode air heater, precipitator, hoppers, fans,
ducts & stacks. As the sulpher content is more in the fuel oil & also as the
flue gas temperature will be low during starting usually the air preheaters
will be experiencing the cold corrosion problems. To overcome this
problem, steam coiled Air preheater should be kept in service till flue gas
temperature rises above 300C.

Remedy
All the deposits, which cause corrosion of the above types, are easily
soluble in water & will be loose also. This deposit can be cleaned by normal
operation of soot blowers. When this method is not totally effective, water
washing during outage is recommended. It is very important to schedule
water washing so that the tube surfaces can be dried out immediately after
cleaning, as otherwise corrosion will occur. A good approach is to water just
before returning a boiler to service. If this is not possible, fire at a low rate
until tubes are dry.

Design Improvements
In coal fired boilers most major corrosion problems are caused by
coal ash with in a specific temp. range certain coal produce liquid ash
compounds that are very corrosive to all conventional boiler materials. This
temp. range normally extend from about 1000F to 1200F essentially
restricts attack to the SH & RH .
Engineers weigh carefully the four major factors that influence the
severity of coal ash corrosion viz. Ash properties, ash deposition rate, tube
external temperature, & tube chromium content, before finalizing the design
of SH & RH surfaces. If the high temp. Corrosion occurs inspite of design
efforts, the option for correcting the problems are limited; for example the
following remedial measures may be resorted to.

1) Replace damaged tubes with one of higher Chromium

Content.
2) Switch to a fuel with more favourable ash characteristics.
3) Install stainless steel tube shields. These shields will
effectively keep the liquid ash from the tube surface &
operate at temperature above that at which liquid phase can
exist. Extensive shielding however, inhibits heat transfer
performance.
Internal corrosion due to impurities in water & steam
Internal corrosion is mainly due to improper feed water treatment.
The most prevalent forms of waterside attack in the drumtype utility boiler
are,

i)

Hydrogen damage.

ii)

Bulks under deposit corrosion.

iii)

Corrosion fatigue.

iv)

Stress corrosion.

v)

Steam blanketting.

vi)

Oxidation.

vii)

Pitting.

viii) Galvanic attack.

ix)

i)

Caustic embrittlement.

Hydrogen Damage
This induces brittle fracture & will occur beneath a relatively dense

deposit when boiler water pH is too low. The accepted thereby of this type
of attacks is that the hydrogen atoms are produced between the deposit
and the tube surface. They in turn react with cementite a hard brittle iron
compound at the grain boundaries of the tube material to form molecular
methane gas, which removes carbon from metal weakening it by creating
fissures in its grain structure.
The pressure of the gas that is formed literally blows the material
apart. This damage is most common where condenser leakage occurs in
units cooled by sea water. Some metal loss may be caused by corrosion
mechanism, but the tube which failure would occur.
ii)

Bulk Under deposit Corrosion

This is caused by the concentration of traces amounts so soluble

corrosive compounds usually strong alkalies, such as sodium hydroxide

between the tube walls & a relatively porous deposit. (60-90 % porosity

compared to theoretically dense magnetite). The term caustic gouging is

sometimes used to describe this form of corrosion, which is characterised
by rapid attack & subsequent tube failure.
iii)

Corrosion Fatigue
Material that undergoes cyclic strain may suffer fatigue failure. The

strain can be mechanical in nature such as vibration or thermal such as

soot blower condense quenching, corrosion or oxidation can accelerate
failure in other words, failure may occur after fewer cycles at a lower level
or strain in a corrosive environment.
iv) Stress Corrosion Cracking
Portion of austenitic stainless steel SH elements containing residual
stress such as stress supports & ring welds are susceptible to cracking in
high temp. water containing chloride or hydroxide compounds & oxygen.
Though such condition are relatively uncommon, they do occurs after
because of operator error. Stress corrosion attack on the secondary SH
tube was caused by inadvertent use of a boil out cleaning solution
containing caustic. The boiler was fired only a few hours, but the damage
was significant, and tube replacement was required.
v)

Steam Blanketting: Steam blanketting phenomenon occurs in tubes, which are slightly

inclined, for example flow started slag screen tubes since the steam flow in
some what restricted resulting in obstruction for heat transfer. In such
environment if the feed water possesses caustic soda, it may give rise to
general wasting of the crown of the tube or the formation of grooves at the
water line.

vi)

Oxidation
Oxidation of low alloy ferritic steels operating at temp. above about

450C is a natural phenomenon in the boiler water side environment. All

materials used in high temp. SH & RH tubing are subjected to oxidation,
although at different rates. Problems arise when oxide scale on the tubes
internal surface become so thick that differential expansion between the
oxide and the parent metal results in spalling of the oxide from the metal
surface a process called exfoliation. The loose flakes are hard & brittle &
generally range from the size of a match HEAD to that of a quarter. Loose
scale can clog tubes at bends causing their failure by overheating.
Pitting
This is mainly due to the difference in effective electrode potential
between adjacent areas of the metal surface. This can result due to the
following reasons.
1. Differential heat treatment resulting in localised difference in stress
concentration.
2. Surface irregularities such as scratches & cuts developing during
manufacturing.
3. Different concentration in dissolved compounds. The effect of individual
factor depends upon their relative magnitude & most of them are
independent.
Galvanic Attack
The corrosion of the less noble member of a pair of metal which are
joined together is called Galvanic corrosion or

Dissimilar metal

corrosion. The effects of galvanic corrosion are often serious especially in

sea water power station as feed water conditions are conductive, since at

temperature that occurs in the high pressure boiler tubing, are very high
Galvanic attack will be more severe in these areas.
Caustic embrittlement
This is due to the caustic ALKALINITY formed in the drum & the scale
of this caustic soda reacts with the metal & may result in cracking at
welding joints where the welding is weak
Material Defects
Some of the tube failures in the boiler may be due to the usage of the
defective raw materials. Though different quality control measurement are
adopted in various stages of the manufacturing, defective materials may
find there way in rare cases and cause failure. High quality of the materials
can be ensured by selecting tubes, which have undergone ultrasonic tests,
& by resorting to strict quality control inspection procedure. Successful
waterside corrosion control requires careful selection of the material used
throughout the steam cycle including the feed water heaters & condensers.
Manufacturing defects
Tube failure may occur due to the defect in the manufacturing
process, such as weld defect, & improper heat treatment. Mix up of
material sometimes lead to failure because of the wrong usage of
materials.
Creep and fatigue are very important factors while designing the
thermal power plant equipment. Metals undergoing high temperature will
also be subject both creep and fatigue.

Creep
When metal stressed at sufficiently high temperature it will continue
to deform with time although at a relatively low rate. This process is known
as creep and is of major importance in selecting metals for service in
power plant. This is because at temperature much above 350C (660F)
steels are subjected to this phenomenon. The figure illustrated that the
creep process can be viewed in three stages. The primary stage in which
the initially high rate of strain remain constant over a period of time, the
second stage in which strain rate remain constant over a period of time,
and the tertiary stage in which strain rate increases continuously and which
culminates in rupture.
This behaviour may be explained in terms of a balance between the
effect of straining which are to be strengthen the material and increase its
resistance to further deformation and effect of heating which are to be
soften the material and decrease resistance to deformation. Thus strain
hardening predominates initially until the strain rate falls to level at which
the opposing influence are in balance accompanied by continuous
deformation until the tertiary stage is reached, where loss of strength leads
to fracture.
Fatigue
Metals undergoing high temperature service may also be subjected to
fatigue. This process is one in which failure may arise exposer to many
cycle of alternating stress, with or without super imposition of mean stress.
This type of failure is comparatively rare in power plant. The predominant
failure is creep not fatigue.

In power plant, it is possible to encounter situation that are classified

as thermal fatigue. In these frequency of straining is given by the number of
stops and starts endured the full life of plant (say 5000 to 10,000). The level
of strain is enhanced by the creation of thermal gradient during operation,
and/or by geometric strain concentration. This problem is believed to
involve both creep and fatigue process.
Factors affecting fatigue life
The rate of cycle loading has only small effect on fatigue strength.
Fatigue strength increase with increasing rate of cycling probably because
of the increased strain rate.
i)

The form of the stress cycle such as square, triangular or sinusoidal

wave has no effect on the fatigue life.

ii)

The environment in which component undergoes stress reversal has

marked effects on fatigue life. The fatigue life in vacuum is about 10
times more than that in moist air. This clearly indicates that the
environment has a corrosive effect and reduce the fatigue life.
Fatigue occurring under the specific corrosive environmental is
caused corrosion fatigue.

iii)

Size of component has no effect on fatigue life if component is

identical one another in all respects such as defect microstructure,
inclusion, etc. except size. However in certain cases it has been
observed that larger size less is a fatigue life. The decrease fatigue
strength is more for high strength material. This is due to more
chance of imperfection or stress rises in large size components.

iv)

Stress gradient has strong effect on fatigue life. Higher stress

gradient, lesser is fatigue life.

v)

An increase in temperature above room temperature decrease the

fatigue life to increase in the crack growth rate. Decrease in
temperature below room temperature increase the fatigue life.

Procedure For Failure Investigation & Collection Of Failed Samples

The causes for failures are evaluated by removing carefully the failed
material (eg. Tube) along with deposits if present. It is preferable to pack
them with polythene wrappers & box, such that no corrosion & mechanical
damage occur during transits. If the deposits are loose, water side & fire
side deposit are collected in separate polythene bags with rigid tags. The
flame cut region should be at least 200mm away from the region of failure
since heat produced during flame cutting will change the microstructure, if
the cut region is closed to fail region. For comparison, it is preferable to
have good portion (about 300mm) of the tube (along with the deposit if it is
present) which is considerably away from the failed region.
The samples of material, which failed due to brittle fracture, should be
taken out (if it is possible) & using rust preventive coatings should protect
fractured facets. In some cases in site micro examination is carried out
when specimen could not be cut or removed. This technique is also used
for fracture analysis. In certain cases it becomes essential for the
metallurgist or chemist to visit the site & have first hand information
regarding the location and overall nature of failed tubes or any other
components. These have to watch the performance under the existing
condition at site. This will help in the interpretation of complex failures.

1. Corrosion
Due to corrosion the normal structure of the material which consists
of ferrite & pearlite will change from ferrite to ferritic & spheroidisition of
carbides occur along the grain boundaries.
2. Erosion
Due to erosion the normal structure will change from pearlite to
pearritic & spheroidisition of carbides occur along the grain boundaries.
3. Creeps
Due to creep the grain growth occurs along the boundaries which
weakness the material strength & due to which the voids are formed along
the boundaries & in case of prolonged period these voids combine &
fracture takes place.
Remedial Measures
The corrosion in general is resulting due to the oxygen present in
feed water & the pH value of feed water. Oxygen may be carried over into
boiler through make up water leaks, etc. Even the minute quantity of O2 is
capable of causing sever corrosion in the boiler working at high pressure.
Since the O2 content carried over the steam will go on increasing as the
pressure of the boiler increases.
The table below shows how the O2 content carried over to steam
increases as the pressure increases.
Boiler pressure kg/cm2

O2 in feed water: O2 in steam

12.6

5000:1

42

5000:3.2

70

5000:5.3

140

5000:10

Corrosion related problems could generally be avoided if,

1. Recommended water treatment controls are followed.

2. Corrosion products formed in the feed water system are kept within
specific limit.
3. Feed water O2 concentration properly controlled.
4. Proper precautions are taken during chemical cleaning operation to
prevent metal attack.
5. Drum internal & drum level controls are maintained in good condition.
6. Silica concentration in the boiler is controlled within limits
7. Corrosion products formed in the feed water system should be
minimised by proper phosphate dozing & hydrazine dosing.
8. Feed water O2 concentration should be controlled by proper deaeration
employing effective deaerator.
In modern boiler hydrazine dosing is adopted to effectively remove
the oxygen.
N2H4 + O2 N2 + 2H2O
The possible measure to minimise fire side corrosion/erosion
1) Modifying the physical or chemical characteristics of deposits with the
addition of chemicals. They may be introduced either by adding with fuel
or injecting into the furnace or sprayed to external surfaces of the tubes.
Addition such as silica based compound, lime, magnesia etc. have been
reported to be useful by way of either raising ash softening temperature
or fixing SO2 from high sulphur coal.
2) Use of coating to improve corrosion or erosion resistance.
3) Periodic removal of deposits by blowing of compressed air or steam.

4) Design modification such as avoidance of sharp bends in the path of flue

gas to avoid local high velocity, decreasing the flue gas velocity to an
optimum level improving combustion condition etc.
5) Reducing the ash content of the coal by using washed or blended coal.
6) Use of thicker tubes or faceted tubes in the corrosion zone.
7) Replacement of tubing with more corrosion resistant tubing.
8) Resistance to erosion should require a hard brittle tube material, which
would be unsuitable for pressure part use. For this reason the pressure
part are required to be designed to allow for a rate of material removal
by erosion within their design life.
Conclusion
It is observed from the various failures at various power stations.
Research Institute suggests them to follow the following practices during
operation to avoid frequent failure of boiler tubes & thus prevents the
frequency of outages.
1. Proper operation of boiler whithin the permissible limits of various
parameters.
2. Shrouding, shielding the areas, which are prone to erosion & proper
inspection of tube elements during overhaul, may help to reduce the
outages.
3. Particular care for operation of oil guns, proper distribution of secondary
air and total airflow & proper soot blower operation may help to reduce
outages.
4. Soot blowers operation, proper care to be taken from retraction or leaky
poppet valve to avoid erosion of nearby tubes may help to reduce tube
failure considerably. Wall soot blowers should be properly aligned for hot

operation of the blower considering the expansion of furnace &

structure.
5. Sudden variation of loads & abnormal operation beyond permissible
limits should be avoided.
6. Proper purging of boiler should be carried out during start up & after
every shutdowns.
7. Feed water quality should be maintained within permissible limit.
8.

Start up fuel automisation should be checked for its proper operation.