a M cD e rm o tt c o m p a n y

Boiler Tube Analysis

Reduce Future
Boiler Tube Failures
2
Look to the Industry Leader for Comprehensive Tube Assessment
Boiler tubefailures continueto betheleading causeof forced outages in fossil-fired boilers. To get your boiler back on
line and reduce or eliminate future forced outages due to tube failure, it is extremely important to determine
and correct the root cause. Experience shows that a comprehensive assessment is the most effective method
of determining the root cause of a failure.
With more than 125 years experience designing, fabricating, building and servicing boilers, Babcock &Wilcox
is a recognized industry leader and a logical source for tube failure evaluation.
A tube failure is usually a symptom of other problems. I n addition to evaluating the failure itself, you
should investigate all aspects of boiler operation leading to the failure to fully understand the cause.
Babcock & Wilcox can assist you in this full-scope investigation with our experienced field service engineers
helping to gather all the pertinent information. I n many cases, the field investigation can isolate the root
cause that led to the tube failure.
World-class Research Center
For tube sample analyses, B&W can
draw on the experience and capabilities
of our world-class I SO certied Alliance
Research Center (ARC), Alliance, Ohio.
We have metallurgical and chemical
engineering expertise to complement
our knowledge of boiler design and
operation. At the ARC, we analyze
hundreds of samples every year and
provide a full range of failure analyses
and material evaluation services.
Materials can be examined at
magnications as great as 100,000X
using our Scanning Electron
Microscope (SEM). I n conjunction
with the SEM, our electron probe
microanalysis capability allows analysis
of chemical elements on the tube
surfaces which aids in root cause
evaluation. Deposits, whether on
the water side or gas side of the tube,
also can be analyzed at the ARC
using X-ray diffraction and mass
spectroscopy techniques.
ScanningElectronMicroscope L
A chemist testsdepositsremovedfromboiler tubesusingX-raydiffraction. L
AllianceResearch Center L
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Caustic Attack
Symptoms: Localized wall loss on the inside diameter (I D) surface of the
tube, resulting in increased stress and strain in the tube wall.
Causes: Caustic attack occurs when there is excessive deposition on I D tube
surfaces. This leads to diminished cooling water flow in contact with the
tube, which in turn causes local under-deposit boiling and concentration
of boiler water chemicals. I f combined with boiler water chemistry upsets
of high pH, it results in a caustic condition which corrosively attacks and
breaks down protective magnetite.
Oxygen Pitting
Symptoms: Aggressive localized corrosion and loss of tube wall, most
prevalent near economizer feedwater inlet on operating boilers. Flooded
or non-drainable surfaces are most susceptible during outage periods.
Causes: Oxygen pitting occurs with the presence of excessive oxygen in
boiler water. I t can occur during operation as a result of in-leakage of air
at pumps, or failure in operation of preboiler water treatment equipment.
This also may occur during extended out-of-service periods, such as outages
and storage, if proper procedures are not followed in lay-up. Non-drainable
locations of boiler circuits, such as superheater loops, sagging horizontal
superheater and reheater tubes, and supply lines, are especially susceptible.
More generalized oxidation of tubes during idle periods is sometimes
referred to as out-of-servicecorrosion. Wetted surfaces are subject to
oxidation as the water reacts with the iron to form iron oxide.
When corrosive ash is present, moisture on tube surfaces from condensation
or water washing can react with elements in the ash to form acids that lead to
a much more aggressive attack on metal surfaces.
Hydrogen Damage
Symptoms: I ntergranular micro-cracking. Loss of ductility or embrittlement
of the tube material leading to brittle catastrophic rupture.
Causes: Hydrogen damage is most commonly associated with excessive
deposition on I D tube surfaces, coupled with a boiler water low pH
excursion. Water chemistry is upset, such as what can occur from condenser
leaks, particularly with salt water cooling medium, and leads to acidic
(low pH) contaminants that can be concentrated in the deposit.
Under-deposit corrosion releases atomic hydrogen which migrates into
the tube wall metal, reacts with carbon in the steel (decarburization)
and causes intergranular separation.
Caustic attack
at backing ring
Oxygen pitting
on tubeID
Brittlefailuredue
to hydrogen damage
Finding the Root Cause is Critical
Have you ever repaired a tube leak and put the boiler back in service, only to be forced off-line by
another leak? I dentifying and correcting the root cause is essential. Shown on the following pages
are some of the failure mechanisms found in fossil boiler tubes. When you see tubes in your boiler
like those illustrated, take advantage of B&Ws tube expertise to help you determine and eliminate
the root cause of the problem. Better yet, let us assist you in putting together a complete condition
assessment program to help you nd tube problems before failures occur.
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Acid Attack
Symptoms: Corrosive attack of the internal tube metal surfaces, resulting in an
irregular pitted or, in extreme cases, a swiss cheese appearance of the tube ID.
Causes: Acid attack most commonly is associated with poor control of process
during boiler chemical cleanings and/or inadequate post-cleaning passivation
of residual acid.
Stress CorrosionCracking (SCC)
Symptoms: Failures from SCC are characterized by a thick wall,
brittle-type crack. May be found at locations of higher external stresses,
such as near attachments.
Causes: SCC most commonly is associated with austenitic (stainless steel)
superheater materials and can lead to either transgranular or intergranular
crack propagation in the tube wall. I t occurs where a combination of
high-tensile stresses and a corrosive fluid are present. The damage results
from cracks that propagate from the I D. The source of corrosive fluid may be
carryover into the superheater from the steam drum or from contamination
during boiler acid cleaning if the superheater is not properly protected.
Waterside Corrosion Fatigue
Symptoms: I D initiated, wide transgranular cracks which typically occur
adjacent to external attachments.
Causes: Tube damage occurs due to the combination of thermal fatigue and
corrosion. Corrosion fatigue is inuenced by boiler design, water chemistry,
boiler water oxygen content and boiler operation. A combination of these
effects leads to the breakdown of the protective magnetite on the I D surface
of the boiler tube. The loss of this protective scale exposes tube to corrosion.
The locations of attachments and external weldments, such as buckstay
attachments, seal plates and scallop bars, are most susceptible. The problem
is most likely to progress during boiler start-up cycles.
Superheater Fireside Ash Corrosion
Symptoms: External tube wall loss and increasing tube strain. Tubes
commonly have a pock-marked appearance when scale and corrosion
products are removed.
Causes: Fireside ash corrosion is a function of the ash characteristics of
the fuel and boiler design. I t usually is associated with coal firing, but also
can occur for certain types of oil firing. Ash characteristics are considered
in the boiler design when establishing the size, geometry and materials
used in the boiler. Combustion gas and metal temperatures in the convection
passes are important considerations. Damage occurs when certain coal ash
constituents remain in a molten state on the superheater tube surfaces.
This molten ash can be highly corrosive.
High-temperature Oxidation
Similar in appearance and often confused with fireside ash corrosion,
high-temperature oxidation can occur locally in areas that have the highest
outside surface temperature relative to the oxidation limit of the tube material.
Determining the actual root cause between the mechanisms of ash corrosion
or high-temperature oxidation is best done by tube analysis and evaluation of
both ID and OD scale and deposits.
1.561"
0.063"
1.583"
0.087"
1.573"
0.055"
1.556"
0.136"
0.160"
0.175"
0.183"
0.116"
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TubeWall
Nickel Plating
TubeInsideDiameter
Pitted appearanceof
internal tubecaused
fromacid attack
SEM photo of stress
corrosion cracking
Corrosion fatigue
on tubeID adjacent
to attachment
Sectional photo of
tubewith severewall
loss fromfiresideash
corrosion
Surfaceappearanceof
metal showing fireside
coal ash corrosion
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Waterwall Fireside Corrosion
Symptoms: External tube metal loss (wastage) leading to thinning and
increasing tube strain.
Causes: Corrosion occurs on external surfaces of waterwall tubes when the
combustion process produces a reducing atmosphere (substoichiometric).
This is common in the lower furnace of process recovery boilers in the pulp
and paper industry. For conventional fossil fuel boilers, corrosion in the
burner zone usually is associated with coal ring. Boilers having maladjusted
burners or operating with staged air zones to control combustion can be
more susceptible to larger local regions possessing a reducing atmosphere,
resulting in increased corrosion rates.
Fireside Corrosion Fatigue
Symptoms: Tubes develop a series of cracks that initiate on the outside
diameter (OD) surface and propagate into the tube wall. Since the damage
develops over longer periods, tube surfaces tend to develop appearances
described as elephant hide, alligator hide or craze cracking. Most
commonly seen as a series of circumferential cracks. Usually found on
furnace wall tubes of coal-fired once-through boiler designs, but also has
occurred on tubes in drum-type boilers.
Causes: Damage initiation and propagation result from corrosion in
combination with thermal fatigue. Tube OD surfaces experience thermal
fatigue stress cycles which can occur from normal shedding of slag,
sootblowing or from cyclic operation of the boiler. Thermal cycling, in
addition to subjecting the material to cyclic stress, can initiate cracking
of the less elastic external tube scales and expose the tube base material
to repeated corrosion.
Short-term Overheat
Symptoms: Failure results in a ductile rupture of the tube metal and is
normally characterized by the classic sh mouth opening in the tube
where the fracture surface is a thin edge.
Causes: Short-term overheat failures are most common during boiler start
up. Failures result when the tube metal temperature is extremely elevated
from a lack of cooling steam or water ow. A typical example is when
superheater tubes have not cleared of condensation during boiler start-up,
obstructing steam flow. Tube metal temperatures reach combustion gas
temperatures of 1600F or greater which lead to tube failure.
Long-term Overheat
Symptoms: The failed tube has minimal swelling and a longitudinal split that
is narrow when compared to short-term overheat. Tube metal often has heavy
external scale build-up and secondary cracking.
Causes: Long-term overheat occurs over a period of months or years.
Superheater and reheat superheater tubes commonly fail after many years
of service, as a result of creep. During normal operation, alloy superheater
tubes will experience increasing temperature and strain over the life of
the tube until the creep life is expended. Furnace water wall tubes also can
fail from long-term overheat. I n the case of water wall tubes, the tube
temperature increases abnormally, most commonly from waterside problems
such as deposits, scale or restricted ow. I n the case of either superheater
or water wall tubes, eventual failure is by creep rupture.
Firesidecorrosion
of studded tube
Crazecracking
of ODsurface
Transverseview
of surfacecrack
Thin-edged sh
mouth rupture
View of tubeOD
at failure
(creep failure)
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Graphitization
Symptoms: Failure is brittle with a thick edge fracture.
Causes: Long-term operation at relatively high metal temperatures can result
in damage in carbon steels of higher carbon content, or carbon-molybdenum
steel, and result in a unique degradation of the material in a manner referred
to as graphitization. These materials, if exposed to excessive temperature,
will experience dissolution of the iron carbide in the steel and formation of
graphite nodules, resulting in a loss of strength and eventual failure.
Dissimilar Metal Weld (DMW) Failure
Symptoms: Failure is preceded by little or no warning of tube degradation.
Material fails at the ferritic side of the weld, along the weld fusion line. A failure
tends to be catastrophic in that the entire tube will fail across the circumference
of the tube section.
Causes: DMW describes the butt weld where an autenitic (stainless steel)
material joins a ferritic alloy, such as SA213T22, material. Failures at DMW
locations occur on the ferritic side of the butt weld. These failures are
attributed to several factors: high stresses at the austenitic to ferritic interface
due to differences in expansion properties of the two materials, excessive
external loading stresses and thermal cycling, and creep of the ferritic
material. As a consequence, failures are a function of operating temperatures
and unit design.
Erosion
Symptoms: Tube experiences metal loss from the OD of the tube. Damage
will be oriented on the impact side of the tube. Ultimate failure results from
rupture due to increasing strain as tube material erodes away.
Causes: Erosion of tube surfaces occurs from impingement on the external
surfaces. The erosion medium can be any abrasive in the combustion gas
ow stream, but most commonly is associated with impingement of fly ash
or soot blowing steam. I n cases where soot blower steam is the primary cause,
the erosion may be accompanied by thermal fatigue.
Mechanical Fatigue
Symptoms: Damage most often results in an OD initiated crack. Tends to
be localized to the area of high stress or constraint.
Causes: Fatigue is the result of cyclical stresses in the component. Distinct
from thermal fatigue effects, mechanical fatigue damage is associated with
externally applied stresses. Stresses may be associated with vibration due
to ue gas flow or sootblowers (high-frequency low-amplitude stresses),
or they may be associated with boiler cycling (low-frequency high-amplitude
stress mechanism). Fatigue failure most often occurs at areas of constraint,
such as tube penetrations, welds, attachments or supports.
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Failureof
carbon steel tube
at butt weld
Photomicrograph
showing
graphitization
DMW failurewhere
ferritic material has
completelyseparated,
leaving theDMW
Erosion on
tubeOD
Mechanical fatigue
failureat
an attachment
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Photomicrograph
showing DMW
creep voids at
ferritic interface
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We can help you detect, analyze and
correct the problems leading to tube
failures. B&W has developed a line of
tube inspection services to aid you in
evaluating your boilers tubing. These
patented techniques have a proven
track record of success in helping you
identify tubes that may lead to failures.
NOTIS

NondestructiveOxideThickness
Inspection Service
An ultrasonic NDE test coupled
to a computer model enables the
calculation of remaining creep life
for steam cooled superheater and
reheater tubes.
FHyNES

Furnacewall Hydrogen damage

NondestructiveExamination Service
Thi s ultrasonic test utilizes multiple
transducers to scan tubes for
attenuation due to hydrogen damage.
A chemist measures thecorrosion rateof a material using
alternating-current impedance.
Fast-Scanning Thickness(FST-Gage
)detects
wall loss and internal tubedamage.
MANTIS

Modular Automated Nondestructive

Thickness Inspection Service
The marriage of electronically acquired
ultrasonic thickness measurements with
computer-aided data management
and analysis makes evaluation of wall
thickness straightforward and efcient.
FST-GAGE
TM
Fast-Scanning Thickness Gage
Our newest testing service uses
technology developed by B&Won a
project sponsored by the Electric
Power Research I nstitute (EPRI ).
The FST-GAGE is an EMAT-based
(ElectroMagnetic Acoustic Transducer),
nondestructi ve examination technique
that enables rapid scanning of boiler
tubes to detect wall loss and internal
tube damage.
Cleaning Your Boiler
When the elimination of tube damage
requires chemical cleaning, B&Ws
water chemistry and deposit removal
expertise can help. The chemistry
section at the Alliance Research
Center can perform cleaning tests to
determine the best chemicals and
methods to clean your boiler tubes
without harming the tubes themselves.
Our water chemistry field specialist
then can provide the expert, on-site
project management capability to
ensure a successful cleaning.
Corrosion Assessment
I f the conditions leading to corrosive
damage are not clear, then the
corrosion section of the ARC can be
called in to help. Extensive laboratory
facilities are available to simulate
boiler conditions and identify causative
conditions. These simulations can
be performed for both fireside and
steamside applications.
Put B&Ws Team to Work for You
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a M cD e rm o tt c o m p a n y a M cD e rm o tt c o m p a n y
For more information, or a complete listing of our sales and service offices worldwide, call 1-800-BABCOCK (222-2625)
in North America. Outside North America, call (330) 753-4511 or fax (330) 860-1886 (Barberton, Ohio, USA). Or access our
Web site at http:// www.babcock.com.
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The information contained herein is provided for general information purposes only and is not intended or
to be construed as a warranty, an offer, or any representation of contractual or other legal responsibility.
E101-3153 3MX7F The Babcock &Wilcox Company. All rights reserved.
NOTIS

, FHyNES

, and MANTIS

are trademarks
and Powering the World Through Teamwork and
Innovation is a service mark of The Babcock
& Wilcox Company.
FST-GAGE
TM
is a licensed EPRI product.
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