CYCLING OF HRSGs

Boiler codes require updating to

address failure mechanisms
exacerbated by cycling
Plant managers generally are aware
that cycling of heat-recovery steam
generators must be done carefully
and by the book to avoid permanent damage to critical pressure
parts. Much has been said about
this over the years at meetings of
the HRSG Users Group. Improper
warmup procedures, high ramp
rates, poor control of attemperators and cycle chemistry, and other
operational errors often cause very
visible damageincluding cracking
at tube-to-header joints, wavy tubes,
etc. But theres invisible damage as
wellspecifically, the consumption
of material fatigue and creep life at
rates much faster than ever envisioned by designers.
Considerable work is being done
today in damage assessment of
materials, particularly those used
in HRSGs subject to daily cycling.
During the combined-cycle building
boom of the early 2000s thinking was
that about 20 starts per year would
be the norm. However, the actual
number of starts for many of those
plants is 10 times that.
European Technology Development Ltd (ETD) conducted a one-day
international seminar last June on
Cyclic Operation of HRSGs that
included the practical side of cyclic
operation as well as metallurgical
reports on materials damage and
condition. ETD, based near London,
is an engineering advisory, consulting, and R&D firm that offers services in life assessment/extension,
stress analysis, defect assessment,
maintenance, and materials and
engineering issuessome specifically related to HRSGs.
One of the takeaways from this
meeting was that none of the boiler
design/construction codes with the
widest international useincluding
those from the US, Germany, UK,
and the European Unionadequately address the underlying design
weaknesses identified as the root
causes of persistent failure mechanisms in boiler tubes and headers.
What follows are abstracts of the
presentations. Conference proceed32

ings is available on a CD for about

$100, depending on the exchange
rate. E-mail ETDs Yoli Sim (ysim@
etd1.co.uk) for information on how
to order.

Design, mods for

cyclic operation
Cyclic service features for
HRSGs, Gifford Brown, Nooter/
Eriksen Inc (US).
Brown opened the meeting with
two key statements that set the tone
for the day:
n Much has been learned over the
last 10 years about high cyclic
operation of HRSGs and engineers
now can design this special class
of boilers for such demanding service.
n Older HRSGs are not designed
for cycling. The term old is not

so easy to define, however. It

depends on the specific manufacturer and what design features a
given customer was willing to pay
a premium for.
Browns presentation was an overview of important design considerations for new HRSGsas well as for
upgrades to existing unitsto accommodate cycling. It is a handy summary of industry experience. While
he provided no references for those
requiring more detail, readers are
referred to the list of previously published work on the subject offered by
Michael Pearson and Robert Anderson in their paper (see below). Key
points made by Brown are as follows:
Coil flexibility is particularly
important, Brown said. Designers
must eliminateto the degree possiblelow-cycle fatigue (LCF). It is the
underlying cause of most non-corrosion-related tube failures. When
reviewing a HRSG design, focus your

Header spring support

Inlet header
fixed against
vertical
movement

Gas
flow

High coil flexibility

1. Proper design of HRSG coils can reduce stresses dramatically. Spring support of headers and coil flexibility are features
COMBINED CYCLE JOURNAL, First Quarter 2006

attention on tube-to-tube temperature differences and piping layouts.

There are two ways to absorb
tube movement, Brown continued:
(1) Provide internal coil flexibility
and (2) Allow parts to move freely.
He stressed that the second method
is always better than the first. Preferred coil configurations are illustrated in Fig 1; poor arrangements
in Fig 2.
Piping layouts often are not
given the respect they demand,
Brown said. Startup transients are
important to consider at the design
stage. Note that coils heat up before
piping and that routing piping top to
bottom is not desirable (Fig 3).
Component thickness is another important consideration because
it impacts startup and shutdown
rates.
Tube-to-header attachments
were Browns next discussion point.
He reviewed the details of five
options: full penetration, partial penetration, extruded full penetration,
stub-to-header with full penetration,
and thickened stub- or forging-toheader with full penetration.
Brown mentioned the industry
controversy over full- versus partial-penetration welds, expressing his belief that all attachment
options perform about the same in
cyclic service. He prefers the partial-penetration weld except for the
improved thermal gradients of the
thickened-stub alternative and the

ability to inspect it before attaching

the tube. (For more on the subject,
access www.psimedia.info/ccjarchives.htm and read Review basics
of tube-to-header joints before
writing specs in the COMBINED
CYCLE Journals (CCJ) 2005 Outage Handbook supplement to the
Summer 2004 issue.)
Desuperheaters received appropriate coverage, but the design considerations suggested have been
covered in detail in previous CCJ
articles, including these: Attemperation frustrationsa clinic on
severe-service valves, a section in
the HRSG Users Group conference
report, 2Q/2005, p 70; Tight specs,
good engineering, quality manufacture ensure reliable control of steam
temperature, 1Q/2005, p 24; and
Avoid desuperheater problems with
quality equipment, proper installation, tight process control, Fall
2004, p 13.
Condensate management, or
proper drain design and operation;
feedwater recirculation system
design and operation to minimize
thermal shock; and auxiliaries
steam sparging, stack insulation,
stack dampers, etcto minimize
the number of cold starts, rounded
out Browns presentation. These
subjects are discussed thoroughly
in the power industrys Blue Book:
the HRSG Users Handbook recently
published by the HRSG Users Group
(details at www.hrsgusers.org).

Headers fixed against vertical movement

Cyclic-tolerant HRSGs, Pascal

Fontaine, Cockerill Mechanical
Industries (Belgium).
Fontaine specializes in vertical
HRSGs, although CMI manufactures
horizontal units as well. His presentation covered essentially the same
design considerations for cycling
service as Nooter/Eriksens Brown.
However, Fontaine used his time at
the podium to point out the design
challenges associated with horizontal boilers and why they dont exist
in vertical HRSGs. Examples include
the following:
n Construction of the top-supported
heat exchanger is such that tubes
are free to expand independently
in three directions as illustrated
in Fig 4. Note that the tube row at
the top is the coldest, that at the
bottom the hottest.
n Tube connections to headers
are bent, providing the flexibility required during startup, shutdown, and load transients (Fig 5).
n The water/steam circuit flows from
top to bottom, an arrangement
that precludes the buildup of condensate in tubes. Steam and water
flow in the same direction and free
water is pushed downward to the
superheater outlet header, where
the single drain is located at the
lowest point in the system. Fontaine said that water quenching of
the superheater was not possible
by construction. Also, that the
bottom of the heat exchanger is

Superheater coils

Gas flow
External
interconnecting
piping

Tubes fixed
by header

Tubesheet

Location of
thermal stress
Tubes fixed by lower
manifold and link pipes

2. Poor coil configurations for cycling

duty can precipitate tube failures

4. Tubes in vertical HRSGs are free

to expand independently and in three
directions as indicated by the arrows
in the sketch

Casing

3. Piping layouts are important and

often overlooked by owner/operators
at the design stage

COMBINED CYCLE JOURNAL, First Quarter 2006

5. Tube connections to headers are

bent, providing operational flexibility
33

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CYCLING OF HRSGs
Finned-tube region

Dead chamber for return

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About
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6. Heat-transfer surface is located about

30 ft above grade, thereby ensuring positive drainage of condensate to the blowdown tank

Any ventilation
design
or winding
style.

Highspeed
balancing
and running
electrical tests.

about 30 ft above grade, enabling

a constant and steep slope to the
blowdown tank.
n Fontaine discussed the use of a
compact mesh dryer in his companys steam drums, noting that
it permits a reduction in diameter
compared to drums of the same
rated output with cyclone steam/
water separators. Because drum
wall thickness is proportional to
diameter, the smaller the drum
the faster the ramp-up rate without exceeding stress limits. Other
design characteristics that help
reduce drum wall thickness and
enable faster starts are the use
of SA302 Gr B material in place
of SA299 and of long drums to
minimize diameter. Drums are
supported on two sliding pads,
allowing unconstrained movement during warm up and cool
down.
n Reported maintenance advantages of the vertical design came
near the end of Fontaines presentation and focused on accessibility. Points made included the
following: (1) Workers can stand
on tubes without the need for scaffolding; (2) Headers are easy to
reach and individual tubes can be
withdrawn with minimum disturbance to adjacent tubes; (3) Ports
are provided to facilitate borescope inspection.

34
RotorRoute2.indd 1

Gas flow

The suitability of OTSGs for

cyclic applications, Anthony
Hinde and Jim McArthur, Innovative Steam Technologies (Canada).
More than half of the IST presentation was dedicated to discussing
the flexibility of once-through steam
generators for cyclic applications.
Some of this material had been covered by the previous speaker, Fontaine, and much of it can be found
in the CCJs special report, HRSGs
for small combined-cycle and cogen
plants, 1Q/2005, p 47.
What the presenters did not say
is that OTSGs from IST are limited
at the present time to applications
behind LM6000 and smaller gas
turbines (GTs). In fact, the largest
unit the company has in service is
at Calpine Corps (San Jose, Calif)
79.9-MW Unit 3 combined-cycle at
Bethpage Energy Center on Long
Island, NY (details in Calpine beats
the odds, generates power at Long
Island plant less than a year after
construction start, CCJ, 4Q/2005,
p 69).
Of particular interest to owner/
operators of GT-based generating
facilities is development work IST
is doing in support of a European
customer to push ramp rates to new
levels. Hinde and McArthurs paper
explains the challenge this way: The
operating regime of the combinedcycle plant is based upon continuous

COMBINED CYCLE JOURNAL, First Quarter 2006

3/23/2006 3:23:25 PM

service at low load, typically between

25% and 50% of the LM6000s rated
output.
When the plant is required to
ramp up, the authors said, a signal, received remotely, will start
the process to be controlled by the
DCS [digital control system]. The
aim is to increase the GT, OTSG,
and steam turbine to 100% load in
the minimum possible time. The
LM6000s for this project must ramp
from 25% to 100% load in two and a
half minutes; the same is expected of
the HRSG and the steamer.
IST engineers have modeled
OTSG response based on introducing feedwater to achieve maximum
flow within 150 sec. Specifically,
the boiler is maintained at a constant output of 35,600 lb/hr for the
first 50 sec to allow energy to build
up so that during the rapid ramp
the required steam temperature is
maintained. During the remaining
100 sec of the ramp, boiler output is
increased to 92,170 lb/hr.
Engineers recommended continuous firing of the duct burner at
minimum load to reliably achieve
maximum output within the 150-sec
ramp-up objective. Note that with
the burner at minimum fire and the
GT at 25% of rated output, steam
production nearly doubles from the
35,600 lb/hr to 70,100 lb/hr. A 2 1
combined cycle can go from 32 to
118.6 MW in 150 sec without supplementary firing, from 72.1 to 142.3
MW with duct burners on.
Input, evaluation, and sensitivity of HRSG fatigue calculations,
Peter Rop, NEM bv (The Netherlands).
Rops presentation kicked off the
analytical portion of the days program. His primary message: Cycling
service demands that owner/operators conduct a lifetime analysis of
key HRSG operating data to guide
startup, shutdown, and ramping
procedures that minimize fatigue
damage.
But he cautioned that fatigue is
not an exact science and that the
accuracy of the assumptions and
boundary conditions for stress calculations are particularly important.
In some cases, failure to embrace a
rigorous analysis can result in overestimating fatigue life by a factor of
two. Rop added that the sensitivity
and probabilistic nature of fatigue
require thorough modeling to obtain
sensible lifetime predictions.
The paper Rop developed in support of his presentation provides
valuable insights, but it certainly
is not for beginners. Its greatest
COMBINED CYCLE JOURNAL, First Quarter 2006

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35

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value would be for engineers charged

with developing a lifetime assessment plan for fatigue.

Experience in
cycling HRSGs
Measurement of damaging thermal transients in F-class horizontal HRSGs, Robert W Anderson, Competitive Power Resources
Corp (US), and Michael Pearson,
J Michael Pearson & Associates
(Canada).
The Pearson/Anderson presentation was the perfect sequel to Rops.
It related in detail the collection and
analysis of field data from one HRSG
to identify potentially damaging
tube-temperature anomalies likely
to impact the long-term reliability of
pressure parts. The paper included
as part of the proceedings is a treasure-trove of useful information for
plant managers. It is anything but
casual reading: more than 100 pages
long with more than 100 illustrations. However, the presentation
should be of interest to many in the
industry because the investigation
was conducted on a 7FA/horizontal
HRSG arrangement common to more
than 100 plants worldwide.
36

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The triple-pressure, reheat HRSG
outfitted with approximately 500
thermocouples was designed to
the minimum requirements of the
ASME Code. Thus, evaluation of
thermal transients using thermal/
mechanical modeling or finite-element analysis was not required nor
performed, even though the plant
had been specified for cycling service. Focus of designers was lowest
initial cost.
Pearson and Anderson reported
that poor design practicesmost well
publicized as such for many years
were repeated in this boiler and are
still in use today. All of the problems
identified are solvable at reasonable
cost, they said. Value of the paper
is that it can help owner/operators
make better decisions regarding
improvements that are worth designing into their next HRSG because of
the long-term financial benefits those
enhancements offer. Three key points
of the presentation:
n It is of crucial importance that
high-pressure (HP) superheaters and reheaters be completely
drained before steam flow is established. Keep in mind that you cant
fool the material. Damage caused
by poor condensate management
rarely is immediate and fatigue
failures may not occur until some

undetermined time in the future.

Despite very graphic industry
experience, some plants still are
not draining headers consistently
and/or completely.
n Another example of potentially
severe fatigue-related damage to
tubes, headers, and pipes is the
arrangement of superheater and
reheater heating surfaces and
their respective interstage attemperators in configureations that
are conducive to gross overspray
during startups and shutdowns.
The problem is caused by a failure to locate attemperators where
they are capable of desuperheating under all predictable operating
conditions without spraying too
close to the saturation temperature and without allowing bulk
steam outlet temperatures from
exceeding design limits.
n Use of an unvented, upper-returnbend type of preheater/economizer allows many rows of the HP
economizer to remain air bound
throughout every startup/operate/
shutdown cycle. The tube-to-tube
temperature differences caused
by the failure to prime all tubes,
say Pearson and Anderson, result
in structural load transfer from
hot (non-flowing) tubes to colder
(flowing) ones.

COMBINED CYCLE JOURNAL, First Quarter 2006

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Design upgrades and retrofits
Training
Design review and specification

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A once-through, 400-MW HRSG:

Stress analysis of operational
transients and the effects on the
calculated lifetimes of different
headers, C M Wignall, A C Jones,
and D M Blood, E.ON (UK).
Presenters examined a range of
key startup transients for several
different headers in a large, oncethrough HRSG. Motivation: Headers
are susceptible to creep and fatigue
damage and can be costly to replace.
For the transients investigated, the
most severe ramp rates and temperature changes were identified and
the stresses these transients induced
in the headers were calculated using
finite-element analysis.
The investigation focused on three
headers. Calculated stresses were
compared for the range of transients
and the relative fatigue damage to
each header calculated using established methods. The most at-risk
header was identified. Benefits:
Changes in operational transients
now could be assessed and inspections planned to better determine if
and when header replacement would
be necessary.
Engineers identified so-called
thermal downshocks as the cause
of most fatigue damage and noted
that changes in operating procedures could rectify the problem.

Phone: 952-833-1428

Thermal downshocks are more commonly called thermal quenching

in North America. The condition is
caused by the failure to completely
drain condensate before steam flow
is established as mentioned above in
the Pearson/Anderson presentation.
The E.ON work, like Pearson/
Andersons, is a practical investigation conducted by a concerned owner/
operator and is a useful reference for
asset managers worldwide.
Investigation of a leak in a mainsteam-line weld joining P91 piping to a 1.25Cr-1Mo-0.25V control
valve using 2.25Cr-1Mo filler
metal: Causes and implications
for the use of new high-strength
steels, J F Henry and J D Fishburn,
Alstom Power (US).
The widespread use of creepstrength-enhanced ferritic alloys
such as Grades 91, 23, and 92for
high-temperature applications in
HRSGs has led to a range of problems in the US, began Henry and
Fishburn, who added that the problems were only beginning to be
understood. But plant managers in
North America were a step ahead of
this presentation, having been alerted to the problems associated with
use of high-chromium-content steels
by Henry, the HRSG Users Group,

COMBINED CYCLE JOURNAL, First Quarter 2006

www.hrstinc.com

180
160

Failure rate, annual occurrences

Phone: 952-833-1428

HRST, Inc.
7510 Market Place Dr, Suite 102
Eden Prairie, MN 55344

140
120
100
80
60
40
20
0
0

0.5

1
Age, years

1.5

7. Failure rate converges asymptotically to 10 leaks per year. Mean time

between weld leaks for the example
illustrated is between 420 and 460
hours of operation
and some others.
Growing experience with P91/
T91 forcing code changes, written
by Henry, appeared as an industry alert in the 1Q/2005 issue of
the CCJ (p 8). That article was a
catalyst for an industry conference
on high-chrome steels developed
and conducted by the HRSG Users
Group last July (refer to Special
workshop explores P91/T91 issues,
impending ASME Code changes,
CCJ, 3Q/2005, p 3).
In fact, Henrys presentation in
37

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London was a detailed account of the

failure of a girth weld joining mainsteam piping to a main steam stop/
control valve after less than 5000
hours of total operation. The piping
had been fabricated from Grade 91
material and the valve body was a
1.25Cr-1Mo-0.25V alloy; the weld
had been made using a 2.25Cr-1Mo
filler metal. Metallurgical analysis
indicated that all processing associated with the welding and subsequent heat treatment of the joint
had been properly conducted.
A limited structural analysis
was performed to determine how
the joint was loaded during various
phases of operation, but it failed to
identify the source of the loading
responsible for premature joint failure. However, it did indicate that
neither the pressure loading nor
thermal transient loads could have
played any significant role in the
onset of cracking.
Investigation indicated that axial
loads of significant magnitude could
be generated at the failure location
because of the mismatch in both
material properties and geometry,
and a transition piece was designed
for installation between the pipe
and valve body to minimize the
geometry effect. The importance of
axial loads to the premature failure
38

of the joint led to a consideration of

elastic follow-up as a contributor
to the failure process, a possibility
that would require a more detailed
analysis.
Consult Henrys 1Q/2005 article
referenced above for more detail on
this incident (see passage beginning
with subhead Proper joint design).
Inspection, maintenance, and
reliability of HRSGs manufactured in a decentralized global
market, T Itay, E Rindenau, and
D Laredo, Israel Electric Corp Ltd
(Israel) and D G Robertson and I A
Shibli, ETD (UK).
ETDs Shibli, who was the conference coordinator, presented on
HRSG tube failures with three Israeli colleagues. The title of the paper
does not do justice to the content.
It is a good overview of tube failure
experience based on work by the
authors, the Electric Power Research
Institute, the HRSG Users Group,
and others. Worthwhile reading for
asset managers responsible for new
construction and for plant managers
assigned commissioning duty who
may be feeling a bit paranoid about
tube leaks.
The authors began with the
thought that maintenance-free
equipment is an attractive idea, but

that a highly competitive global market focused on cutting cost militates

against it. The low-cost mentality of
owner/operators often dictates the
use of globally sourced contractors
with less-than-satisfactory performance records and inadequate training programs. This is conducive to an
abnormally high rate of weld defects.
With a high-capacity, triple-pressure
HRSG requiring upwards of 19,000
tube welds, poor craftsmanship can
mean many leaks.
Shibli and coauthors pointed out
that the wall thickness of tubing
for many HRSGs is less than that
for conventional fired boilers and
that HRSG tubing is less tolerant
of fabrication defects and of loss of
wall section through pitting attack
or other corrosive loss. The most
frequently encountered defects,
they said, are inadequate fit-up of
the tubes, lack of penetration, burn
through, irregular root, and excessive penetration.
Say defect and one naturally
thinks of nondestructive examination techniques to identify problems
early and do necessary rework before
commissioning. However, Shibli
said that such irregularities cannot
always be detected by radiographic
or ultrasonic test methods.
An obviously painful experience

COMBINED CYCLE JOURNAL, First Quarter 2006

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with recently constructed HRSGs

that was reported by the authors but
not specifically attributed noted the
need for extensive field repairs to
tube-to-tube butt welds in supplied
harps. Onsite radiography verified
the integrity of the rework. Despite
this effort, approximately 100 weld
failures occurred during hydro and
about another 50 failures occurred
during the first 5000 hours of service.
Reliability calculations based on
collected data indicated that the
MTBF (mean time between failure)defined as weld leakswas
between 420 and 460 hours of operation. Using accepted statistical techniques and assuming that all of the
leaks experienced were infantile
problems, the failure-rate curve
shown in Fig 7 was developed.
Examination of HP evaporator and economizer tube samples
revealed the following defects in
tube-to-tube butt welds: poor weld
profile, pinhole defects at the start
of the weld root run, internal porosity, cracking of weld metal in the root
area, hairline defect linking porosity with surface pinhole, lack of
fusion in weld cap, poor alignment,
lack of fusion in sidewall associated
with slag inclusions, segment of TIG
wire fused into the weld root and

protruding into the tube bore. Photomicrographs provided in the paper

detail most of these findings.
Welding and inspection procedures
were reviewed as a first step in eliminating a repeat of such performance
in future HRSG construction. Procedures were acceptable in terms of
welding parameters and heat-treatment requirements. However, investigators found that a wide range of
material thickness was addressed by
a single procedure. And the size of
the tungsten electrode specified was
large in terms of the minimum material thickness.
Analysis of the hydrotest failures showed that they had occurred
predominately at the bottom of the
tube welds. This suggested that the
welds had been made from top to
bottom, despite a welding procedure
that called for an upward progression. Comparison of the weld and
failure records showed that the tube
failures most likely were related to
welder skill levels and the difficulty
of welding.
Finally, investigators noted a
lack of documentation. No evidence
was available to indicate that welds
were inspected as completed and
before they became inaccessible.
Radiographs also were of variable
quality.

COMBINED CYCLE JOURNAL, First Quarter 2006

Monitoring,
inspection,
materials
assessment
Chemical monitoring of HRSGs:
Key measurements for operational control and fault-condition diagnosis, Geoff Bignold, GJB
Chemistry for Power Ltd (UK).
Bignolds presentation is a handy
eight-page review of what plant
managers should consider to ensure
long-term reliable operation of a
combined-cycle plants steam/water
circuit. This goal cannot be achieved
unless appropriate chemical targets
are met to minimize corrosion and
deposit accumulation. A combination
of online monitoring of key parameters, reinforced by regular offline
confirmatory analyses, is key to success, said Bignold.
It is important to ensure that
plant operators receive sufficient
warning when a chemical fault condition develops, he continued. Thus,
instrumentation reliability must be
such that the data presented will be
trusted and that appropriate action
to restore operation within target
values will be taken immediately.
39

probabilistic procedure, N Le Mat

Hamata, ETD (UK) and J Korous,
BiSafe Ltd (Czech Republic).
The presentation by Hatmata and
Kourous, like the one by Muravin
and colleagues, was aimed at metallurgists rather than plant operations personnel. It discussed defect
assessment performed on a welded
tubular Y-joint typically used in
high-temperature regions of an
HRSG. Life obtained using the
European HIDA deterministic procedure was compared to that resulting from a probabilistic treatment
by considering scatter in the material property data. Enough said.

Bignold suggested parameters to

monitor and where to do it to provide representative data and keep
instrumentation costs manageable.
Chemistry variables addressed
include direct conductivity, conductivity after cation exchange, pH,
dissolved oxygen, silica, phosphate,
sodium, iron, and copper. He also discussed limitations and compromises
that arise during startup and shutdown, the significance of changes in
sample-line flow, reactions in sample
lines, etc.
Assessment of resistance to
crack propagation by quantitative acoustic emission in creepdegraded P22, 15Cr-1Mo-1V, and
14Mo-V63 steels, G Muravin, L
Lezvinsky, and B Muravin, Physical
Diagnostics Ltd (Israel).
The first line of the paper prepared
by Muravin and colleagues in support of their presentation suggests
that it is of limited value to plant
operations personnel: The article is
devoted to investigation of the interdependence between acoustic emission energy and mechanical energy
released during fracture toughness
tests and creep development.
Integrity assessment of a cracked
Y-piece using the Alias-HIDA
40

European standardization activity with respect to HRSGs, Corrado Delle Site and Andrea Tonti,
ISPESL (Italian Dept of Inspection
and Safety).
For anyone needing an update on
European standards for boilers and
unfired pressure vessels, the paper
developed by Delle Site and Tonti
based on their presentation, is a good
place to start. Their conclusions:
n More comprehensive European
standards for HRSGs should be
developed.
n EN12952 is applicable to HRSGs
but does not cover important aspects
related to creep. In fact, creep is not
addressed properly in any European standard. Creep amendment
of EN13445 applies only to unfired
pressure vessels, not to boilersat
least at this time.
n Because EN12952 does not address
creep, other specific design rules
can be used for steam boilers provided that they meet European
Pressure Equipment Directive
(PED) safety requirements.
n Presently, none of the boiler
design/construction codes with
the widest international use
specifically, the ASME (American), BS (British), TRD (German), and EN12952 (European
Union)adequately addresses
the underlying design weaknesses that have been identified as
the root causes of persistent failure mechanisms in HRSG tubes
and headers.
Improving the life expectancy
of base-load-designed HRSGs
under cyclic operations, Akber
Pasha and Tony Thompson,Vogt
Power International Inc (US).
Pasha and Thompson both have
long-term experience in the design
of HRSGs and are among the mostcapable engineers in the industry to
describe the various damage mechanisms encountered during fabrica-

tion and operationand the impact

cycling has on them. In addition to
reviewing the traditional life-cycle
analysis (LCA), they introduced
the concept of a cycling operational
analysis (COA). Combined, LCA
and COA can be used to identify the
critical components that would limit
HRSG life and the causative manufacturing or operating procedure.
Goal of the analysis is to identify
the most cost-effective methods for
increasing HRSG life. These may
include replacement of critical components, installation of additional
equipment to decrease the severity of the cycling effects (automated
vents and drains and stack dampers, for example), or modifying operating procedures to reduce stress
intensities.
Almost all of what Pasha and
Thompson decided to include in
their paper has been published
elsewhere, but probably not in such
a convenient format. Three summary tables make a good checklist
of what you should remember. One
summarizes HRSG damage mechanisms and the impact of cycling (if
any) on the severity of each mechanism. To illustrate:
Mechanism. Low-cycle fatigue.
How it works. Damage occurs at
low cycles when strain is high. This
is the prevailing damage mechanism
in boilers.
Effect of cycling. Increases because the number of cycles
increases.
The second table, a damage-mechanism matrix for HRSGs presents
components in rows and damage
mechanisms in columns. Grid boxes
are colored where the damage mechanism applies, blank where it does
not. For example, superheaters can
be impacted adversely by low-cycle
fatigue, creep, thermal shock, differential expansion, oxidation/exfoliation, chemical corrosion, and erosion
of tube internal surface. Little or
no damage results from corrosion
fatigue, flow-accelerated corrosion,
corrosion-product migration, deposition, erosion or corrosion of external
tube surface, etc.
The third table presents general
design rules for units operating in
base-load and cycling service. To
illustrate: Design base-load units
for creep only; consider creep and
fatigue, as well as creep/fatigue
interaction, when designing HRSGs
for cycling service.
Finally, Pasha and Thompson
offered alternatives for extending
an HRSGs lifetime if calculation of
remaining life is less than desired.
ccj

COMBINED CYCLE JOURNAL, First Quarter 2006