Relationship Between Design and Materials

for Thermal Power Plants

S. C. Chetal
 Contents

*Introduction to design codes

*Operational life vs design basis life
*Material selection basics
*Materials for boiler tubes and piping
*Relatively new boiler tube materials
*Manufacturing aspects
*Summary
 Introduction to Design Codes
*For boiler tubes, headers, piping and valves, the design codes
provide the formulas for establishing the minimum thickness.
*Every design code provides the basis for establishing allowable
stresses. Most engineers using ASME codes are not familiar with this
aspect.
*Codes are asset to designers, manufacturers and users. Codes are not
handbooks and are not safe in the hands of beginners
*ASME codes provide the tabulated data for the allowable stresses.
*IBR and European codes do not provide the allowable stress in
tabulated manner and one need codified material design data.
*The design codes do not exist for turbines.
 Basis for Establishing Allowable Stresses
*Lowest of the following:
1. The specified minimum tensile strength at room temperature divided
by 3.5
2. The tensile strength at temperature divided by 3.5
3. two-third of the specified minimum yield strength at room
temperature
4. Two-third of yield strength at temperature( allowed up to 90% of the
minimum yield strength for austenitic stainless steels except for
flanges. Two sets of allowable stresses in the codes)
5. 100% of average stress to cause creep rate of.01%/1000 hr
6. 67% of average stress to cause rupture at end of 100000 hr
7. 80% of minimum stress to cause rupture at end of 100000 hr
 What is Component Life When Designed as Per Codes
*Design of components as per ASME codes based on creep data of 100000 hr by no
means mean component life of 100000 hours or design as per European code of 200000
hr has life of 200000 hr.
*Operating life of a boiler tube as per ASME with factor of safety of minimum 1.25 on
minimum stress to rupture is not much different from European code with factor of
safety of 1.25 on average stress to rupture for 200000 hr.
*The real life is linked to how the plant had operated. All things remaining same, thicker
parts because of higher fatigue damage will have shorter life. If the operation is with in
design conditions, boiler tubes will be able to operate for longer period than main steam
header.
*A unit designed as base load will be impacted by two shift plant operation due to
increased fatigue damage allowing less admissible creep damage.
*A boiler tube designed as per ASME codes is assured of life in excess of 230,000 hr due
to margins on minimum stress to rupture. It could be further more because of operating
pressure lower than design pressure, material stronger than code and tube thicker than
design thickness. It will be far less if overheating takes place leading to metal temp
higher than design temp.
 Material Properties and Design Codes
*Inclusion of a material in design codes is a long process; new
materials normally included initially as code case in ASME.
*The tensile ductility and creep ductility do not get directly in the
design but codes include materials with adequate ductility.
*The fracture mechanics does not enter directly into design but
codes specify minimum impact properties at the lowest design
temperature and puts upper limit on tensile strength at room
temperature for a number of steels as materials with high strength
invariably have poor toughness.
* Codes do not provide the background of creep data extrapolation
methods. European codes demand minimum data generation for
33000 hr while ASME demand data for just over 10000 hr with
values also for shorter time. Material data on least 3 heats required.
 Material Selection Basics
*Adequate mechanical strength at design temperature( high tensile
and creep properties, high low cycle and high cycle fatigue, high
impact strength at minimum temperature and high ductility)
*Corrosion resistance (scaling resistance, also water chemistry
important)
*Excellent weldability and manufacturability
*Physical properties (high thermal conductivity, high thermal
diffusivity, low thermal expansion coefficient)
*Operating experience for similar application and design conditions
*Availability of materials in required sizes
*Inclusion in design codes and allowed by regulatory body
*Overall economics
 Development of T91/P91 Steel
• One of the most popular steel for superheater and reheater.
• Developed in USA for application in sodium cooled fast reactors which use austenitic
stainless steel with view to reduce chromium and nickel. The steel was developed by
ORNL after a number of melts were tested with attention paid to mechanical
properties, corrosion, welding, fabricability and code requirements apart from
economics
• The strongest material in Cr-Mo family at that time with allowable stresses comparable
to SS304. Fatigue resistance much higher than SS 304 due to better physical properties.
• Chemical composition: 9Cr-1Mo-.2 V-.08 Nb-.05 N.
• Allowable stresses in MPa
• Temperature C 550 575 600 625
Gr 91 107 88.5 65 45.5
Gr 22 43.5 34.4
Gr 9 42.9 30 20.6
SS304 93.3 79.6 65.4 51.4
Best Practice Guidelines for Usage of Grade 91 Steel Components
*Codes do revise the allowable stresses as more data is available on creep.
*A number of users upgrade the material specifications and manufacturing
requirements to realise high reliable component.
*ASME specifications for nitrogen and aluminium are.03-0.07% and.02%
respectively, and hardness is max 250HB. The operating experience of
premature failures has led to specify N/Al ratio of minimum 2 and preferably
minimum 4. The minimum hardness of base material should be 200HB and
limited to 230HB for tubes with severe cold forming operation.
*The postweld heat treatment should be performed within 8hours of
completion of the joint. PWHT temperature is raised to 750C to improve
toughness. The hardness of weld and HAZ is between 190 to 300 HB
 How to Handle Improper Heat Treatment
Example of Gr 91. A few failures reported due to overheating.
• Recommended PWHT 730-775C
* If a portion of the component is heated above the heat treatment
temperature stated above, one of the following choices:
(1)The component in its entirety be normalised and tempered.
(2) If the temperature exceedance is not beyond 800C,the weld metal
be removed and replaced.
(3) The portion of the component heated above 800C and 75mm on
either side of overheated zone be replaced.
(4) The allowable stress to be taken as that of Grade 9 material and
affected portion be heat treated within specified values stated above.
 Introduction to Grade 92
*Continuous development of creep resistant steels with consideration for oxidation
resistance.9to 12% Cr steels with different alloying elements by steel producers.
*Grade 92,9Cr-2W, an improved creep resistant steel over Gr 91,was introduced
initially for steam piping and headers and its usage for superheater and reheater
tubing is recent development. The oxidation resistance is comparable to Gr 91 as
content of Cr is same.
Material C Cr Mo V W Nb others
91 .1 9 1 .22 .08 N .05
92 .1 9 .45 .2 1.75 .06 N .05+ B
Allowable stresses in MPa
Temp C 550 575 600 625
91 107 88.5 65 45.5
92 123 99.5 77 56.5
 Economics in Choice of Materials
• Choice between T91 and T92 for boiler tubing as an a example
Benefit of higher admissible stress leading to lower tube thickness
in case of T92 to be weighted against higher cost of T92.
• USC plant with tube design mid-wall temperature of 600C
• T92 will be around 13% lower in thickness.
• Cost of T92 tubing is typically 20% higher than T91 mainly due to
less usage and still an ASME code case.
• Overall economics in such a case of boiler tubing in favour of T91.
• The situation in case of header is different with Gr 92 better from
transient thermal stresses leading to relatively shorter start up
time
 Introduction to T23/T24Steels
*Need for increased steam parameters to improve efficiency led to development
materials with enhanced creep properties and weldability to eliminate postweld heat
treatment for water walls.
*Improvements in T22 grade. Low carbon from weldability and replacing Mo by W in
T23. Addition of carbide forming elements V, Nb, Ti and small addition of B to improve
creep properties.

*Grade C Cr Mo W V Nb Ti B
22 .10 2.25 1
23 .07 2.25 .2 1.6 .25 .05 30ppm
24 .07 2.4 I .25 .08 40ppm
T23and T24 tubes heat treatment is normalised and tempered. T23 is developed in Japan
And T24 in Germany.
 T23/T24 Steels
*T23 andT24 grades have significantly higher allowable stresses over grade T 22 and thus
leading to lower thickness for tubes and headers.
*Relative thickness for design temperature of 545C 191bar
Grade Thickness comparison in comparison to 22 grade
22 1
23 0.58
24 0.52
91 0.40
*Limits of temperature from steam oxidation of 580C rather creep
*PWHT: Mix reaction to no need for PWHT up to 10mm thickness.
Further concern on increase in hardness for welds without PWHT due to ageing.
Better to perform postweld heat treatment
 Austenitic Stainless Steels for Superheater
*Adequate mechanical strength (Creep)
*Steam oxidation resistance
*Weldability
Allowable stress in MPa
Temperature C 600 625 650
304H 65.4 51.4 41.7
347H 92.3 69.3 53.9
347HFG fine grain ASTM7-10 with better creep and oxidation resistance in
comparison to 347H. Code case 66.7
304H Cu(18Cr-9Ni-3Cu-Nb-N. Shot peened for better oxidation resistance)
code case 121 97.4 78
 VM12- SHC
• VM12-SHC( super high corrosion resistant) steel developed by Vallourec
12Cr-1.6 Co-1.5 W-.4Si-B.
• High temperature steam oxidation resistance better than T91 &T92.
• Allowable stresses better than T91 but lower than T92.
• Covered in ASME as code case 2781 and allowed up to 620C
• Maximum allowable stress in ksi
• Temp F(C) VM12 T92 T91
1050(565) 15.5 16.1 12.9
1100(593) 11.3 12.3 9.6
1150(621) 7.3 8.9 7.0
 Sanicro 25
*Heat resistant austenitic stainless steel
22Cr 25Ni 3W 1.5Co, 3Cu .45 Nb .25 N
*Very high elevated temperature strength, precipitation hardening
*High corrosion resistance
* Manufacturing similar to 304H Cu. No PWHT
*yield strength/average stress to rupture in Mpa

Temp. C 304H Cu Sanicro 25 Inconel 617M

600 140/182 180/230 190/265
650 135/116 155 187/187
700 68 95 119
750 37 50 69
800 25 43
 Inconel 740H
• Nickel base precipitation hardenable superalloy that offers unique combination of creep
resistance at elevated temperature along with resistance to coal ash corrosion.
• Specially developed for advanced ultra supercritical power plant by US for steam
conditions of 35MPa/760C main steam condition.
• 24Cr 18Co 1Al 1Ti 1Nb +B
• Included in ASME as code case 2702. Need postweld heat treatment f unlike Inconel
617 for boiler tubes. Suffers embrittlement on elevated temperature exposure with
room temperature impact strength falling from 110 to 40J/cm2
• Comparison of allowable stress in MPa
Temp. C Inconel 617M Inconel 740H
650 124 226
700 81 146
750 50.4 84.1 About 35% reduction in thickness
800 31.3 34.5
 Maximum Recommended Metal Temperature
• Maximum recommended design metal temperature is governed by creep
properties and corrosion behaviour( both steam side and fire side)
• Corrosion behaviour: loss in metal thickness, scale formation leading to
increased metal temperature and concern for scale exfoliation.
• Maximum recommended design temperature for a few grades
Grade Maximum temperature C
T22,T23,T24 580
T91 610
T92 620
VM12 620
SS347 650
Super 304H 670
 Welding Dissimilar Materials
*Operating experience of dissimilar weldments not as satisfactory as
welds in similar materials.
*Coefficient of thermal expansion of two materials with austenitic
stainless steels having coefficient around 50% higher than Cr- Mo steels
*Location of weld important and should be away from discontinuities
like shell to nozzles. Weld nozzles to header in same material and then
execute dissimilar weld in nozzle to piping.
*Execution of dissimilar welds in shop rather at site.
*Metallurgical considerations
Risk of cracks during welding, carbon transfer during PWHT and service,
corrosion resistance and PWHT temperature of two base materials
 Damage Potential of Overheated Tube
Case of T22 as an example

Temperature C Average Rupture Strength MPa

10,000 100,000 200,000
520 156 103 91
530 138 90 79
540 122 78 68
565 91

10 degree rise from 520 to 530 or 530 to 540 C reduces life by half

45 degree rise fro 520 to 565C reduces life to just 5%

Creep-Fatigue Interaction for some Materials
 Summary
*Wide choice available for materials for a given component.
Economics should be given importance in material selection.
*R&D for new materials with improved creep properties and
corrosion resistance is a continuous process.
*Weldability is crucial for success of any material.
*Be in touch with operating experience of power plants and
new materials being included in ASME to arrive at optimum
material selection and associated fabrication requirements.
*Make best use of optimum material specifications to facilitate
plant life extension.
Thank you