Proceedings of 2nd International Conference on Mechanical and Production Engineering
Held on 9th – 10th July 2016, in Pattaya, ISBN: 9788193137345
HOW TO INCREASE HEAT TRANSFER AND REDUCE
WATERWALL TUBE FAILURE IN HIGH PRESSURE
BOILERS
Mr. Ashutosh Mehndiratta
Chief Manager (Production) Offsites,
KRIBHCO Shyam Fertilizers Ltd. Shahjahanpur
(U.P) India
Abstract: In spite of maintaining the very good
water chemistry in water / steam cycle of thermal
power plant, corrosion phenomena takes place in
the boilers. The product of corrosion in the feed
water system transported into the boiler and gets
deposited on the internal surface of water wall
tubes. It leads to overheating and On-load corrosion
and ultimately tube failure. To achieve the almost
zero tube failure in water wall of high pressure
boilers, post-operational chemical cleaning is
essential at the frequent intervals in the life span of
power plant which will improve heat transfer and
reduce under deposit on load corrosion. This paper
will discuss the phenomena of localised corrosion,
its remedial measures to achieve near zero tube
failure.
INTRODUCTION
The Kribhco Shyam Fertilizers Limited has 4 numbers
of fossils fired, sub critical, high pressure boilers112
kg/cm2. The saturation temperature of boiler water 333
ºC . The capacity of these boilers is 100T/Hr each,
These boilers are drum type types. Waterwall tubes of
these boilers are made of carbon steel or low alloy
steel. Deminerialized water is used in these boilers with
proper boiler water treatment generally recommended
by Original Equipment Manufacturer (OEM).
Generally Non volatile treatment (NVT) i.e. TSP is
used. Due to On-load corrosion in low pressure parts,
condenser and heat exchangers of boilers, deposition of
corrosion products and salt concentration takes place
on the internal surface of waterwall tubes. Ingress of
89
Dr. Meghna Mehndiratta
Consultant, KRIBHCO Shyam Fertilizers Ltd.
Shahjahanpur (U.P) India
raw water due to condenser leaks into the feed water
also increases the salt deposition and oxygen
concentration on internal surface due to boiling. The
condenser of 500 MW generators can contain 300
miles of tubing and approx. 50000 tube-to-tube-plate
joints, so some in-leakage of the external cooling water
is inevitable from time to time. Thermal conductivity
of this deposit is very low (about 2W/m/ºC) in
comparison of carbon steel (about 50 W/m/ºC), thus
significantly reduces the heat transfer and increases the
outer metal temperature. Frequent tube failure has been
observed in old boilers which ran more than 100,000
hours due to internal localised corrosion. Tube failure
investigation indicated that the main reason of
waterwall tube failure is either due to hydrogen
damage or caustic corrosion or overheating or the
effect of all.
How mild steel corrodes in boiler water
Water wall tubes in most of the fossil-fi red boiler are
made of carbon steel. In pure DM water, or in very
dilute acid or alkaline solutions at boiler temperature, it
normally corrodes very slowly to form the black iron
oxide known as magnetite (Fe3O4). The overall
reaction is:
3 Fe + 4 H2O -------
The corrosion rate is dependent by the rate at which the
reactant (water) can reach the metal surface and the
reaction product can leave the surface. In nearly neutral
solutions, magnetite is very slightly soluble and it
deposits as coherent and tenacious surface film, which
greatly impedes this two-way chemical traffic. The
 Proceedings of 2nd International Conference on Mechanical and Production Engineering
Held on 9th – 10th July 2016, in Pattaya, ISBN: 9788193137345

transport processes are dominated by slow state

diffusion through the oxide layer and the corrosion rate
is virtually independent of solution composition. The
corrosion rate is also diminishes with time as the oxide
thickness grows. Even after years of exposure, the
layer is no more than a few microns thick.

In more alkaline or more acid solutions, magnetite

becomes increasingly soluble and precipitates in a
different physical form. Instead of yielding a strongly
coherent film, it has a more porous structure. Soluble
species can now diffuse relatively rapidly through the
film and the corrosion rate is much faster, although it
still falls off the time as the oxide accumulated. The
deposition of salts and corrosion products observed in
different water wall tubes has been shown in the

Photograph

Figure-1 showing:

The various regions of heat transfer in a once

through boiler tube, with uniform heat flux.

Figure-1 Showing water-steam formation in water wall

tube.

Of the six different heat transfer regions, five are

Photograph showing:
waterwall tubes of 100T/Hr. boilers having a very
thick deposit ranging thickness 1.0-1.5 mm..
Regions of Heat Transfer in Boilers
Recirculating drum type boilers are in use in KSFL.
Drum type boiler consists of three separate
components: an evaporator (waterwall area), where
water is converted to a steam-water mixture: a drum, in
which two phases are separated and a super heater.
usually present in a recirculation boiler (the exception
is the dry out / post-dry out regions. Dry out should not
occur in recirculation boilers, but is possible if the flow
in a tube is reduced for any reason, or if one or more
adjacent tubes are plugged).
At the inlet, both wall and liquid are below saturation
temperature and heating is by convection. At some
point along the tube, the wall temperature exceeds the
saturation temperature and bubbles are formed on the
wall, although the bulk liquid temperature is below
saturation. This is the region of sub-cooled nucleate
boiling. (Continuing along the tube, the region of
saturated nucleate boiling, where the bulk liquid
temperature reaches saturation, is then enters).
As more steam is formed, small bubbles coalesce to
form large bubbles (slug flow). Eventually, these
combine to give a central core of steam and leave an
annular flow of water along the wall. Further along the

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 Proceedings of 2nd International Conference on Mechanical and Production Engineering
Held on 9th – 10th July 2016, in Pattaya, ISBN: 9788193137345

tube, the liquid film on the wall becomes sufficiently into boiler re.
thin for convective heat transfer to the liquid surface Ammonia is Ammonia
not can attack
coupled with direct evaporation to become the only corrosive at copper
means of heat transfer, because this method of heat high containing
transfer is highly efficient, nucleation of bubbles at the temperatur alloys in
wall ceases through lack of sufficient superheat. At the e condenser
and feed
same time, increasing steam velocity results in heaters in
entrainment of liquid in the form of droplets. Depletion presence
of the liquid film by evaporation and droplet formation of oxygen
eventually results in complete dryout of the tube wall. Na3PO4 Less< 5 Magnetite Neutralizes Na3PO4
or NaOH ppb , acid or NaOH
A dramatic increase in wall temperature occurs at the dosed Fe3O4 chloride can be
dryout point. In the post-dryout region heat transfer is and acid concentrat
by convection in the steam phase, the droplets sulphates ed by
gradually disappearing by evaporation. At low heat boiling,
forming
fluxes direct impingement of droplets on to the wall corrosive
may also occur. Evaporation of all droplets finally solutions
produces single phase superheated conditions. High High Hematite Reduced No
Oxygen >200 (Alpha rate of neutralizin
ppb Fe2O3) transport of g action
WATER CHEMISTRY iron into Ingress of
boiler chloride
Impurities and additives present in water fed to high compared results in
pressure boilers are controlled within closely defined with rapid
low oxygen corrosion.
limits for two very good reasons.
# To reduce corrosion in the water-steam circuits to a
Besides controlling the levels of dissolved oxygen and
minimum under normal and fault conditions
pH by means of chemical additives, as indicated in
# To reduce transport of iron oxide, hardness salts,
Table, very strict limits are specified on the
silica etc. into the boiler and turbine. These substances
concentrations of many other substances.
deposit out on the heat transfer surfaces and turbine
blades. Accelerated corrosion in many regions of high
CORROSION AND DEPOSITION IN VARIOUS
pressure boilers is known to be brought about by
HEAT TRANSFER REGIONS:
concentration of corrosive substances (chlorides,
sulphates, hydroxides and phosphates) by boiling. The
Convective Heating region:
main water chemistry regimes used to reduce corrosion
In this region, at the inlet to a boiler, there have been
and transport of iron oxide etc. to a minimum are given
no reported instances of tube failure owing to heat flux
in Table 1.
conditions. In the absence of boiling, the increase in
corrosion rate should be small and related to the higher
Table1 showing: together with the advantages and
metal temperature and activation energy of the
disadvantages of each regime.
Regime Dissolve Protective Advantages Disadvant
corrosion process in pure water. Studies on surfaces
d oxide ages which have been oxidized under good water chemistry
Oxygen on tube conditions show that even at high heat fluxes as high as
level surface 800 kW/m2, negligible amounts of sodium and chlorine
All Less< 5 Magnetite Presence of No
are taken up from NaCl, NaOH, NaHSO4, Na2SO4
volatile ppb , ammonia neutralizat
treatmen Fe3O4 reduces ion action and Na3PO4 solutions. Some iron is deposited from Fe
t transport of at (OH)2, which is likely to be the initial form of iron
(0.5 ppm iron from high produced by protective or aggressive corrosion under
NH3) feed train temperatu
alkaline conditions.

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 Proceedings of 2nd International Conference on Mechanical and Production Engineering
Held on 9th – 10th July 2016, in Pattaya, ISBN: 9788193137345

Nucleate boiling regions: water to diffuse into the deposit where the water
Three types of situation are possible. Two of these are becomes trapped and boils.
concerned with the formation of oxide deposits with The boiling of deposit in entrapped water produces
different porosities on a tube surface and the effect of relatively pure steam which tends to diffuse out of
this on corrosion. In the first instance, all oxide is the deposit, leaving behind super heated non-boiling
assumed to deposit from iron dissolved in solution and equilibrium solution of caustic, which is responsible
to form an oxide layer of low porosity (<10%). In the for caustic corrosion or acidic solution, which is
second situation, all oxide is considered to deposit from responsible of hydrogen damage in waterwall tubes as
particles suspended in the liquid and to have a high discussed below.
porosity (>50%). The situation in a real boiler may lie
anywhere between these two extremes. The third CAUSTIC CORROSION
situation is concerned with boiling at defects on a tube
surface. Salt concentration under the deposit by Wick boiling
phenomena states that If the salt concentrated under the
Oxide deposit of high porosity: deposit is having high pH due to concentration of
Oxide of high porosity (>50%) is found to deposit in caustic from TSP dosing, it start dissolution of
drum as well as once-through boilers under both low protective magnetite (Fe3O4) layer on the evaporator
and high oxygen water chemistry conditions. The tube wall inner surface and form sodium ferrite
deposition rate is approx. proportional to the (NaFeO2) and sodium ferroate (Na2FeO2) as shown in
concentration of particulate iron oxide and the square the equation.
of the heat flux. The best approximation to the Fe3O4 + 4 NaOH -------
real situation is given by H2O
Photograph showing:
D = k q2 c t Caustic corrosion of boilers.
Where, D = amount of magnetite deposited (kg/m2)
q = the heat flux (W/m2)
c = concentration of iron in water (kg/m3)
t = time (hour)
k = constant ( approx. 5 X 10-13 / W2 m2/s
In a wick boiling mechanism, salts dissolved in the
boiler water can be concentrated by factors > 104
Generally, the protective magnetite scale thickness is
10-15 microns in the waterwall tube. When the
corrosion rate increases due to upset of water chemistry
parameters in boiler, (due to salt ingress and
concentration), the deposit formation also increases due
to corrosion of metal and precipitation of contaminants
whose water solubility decreases at higher temperature
on the evaporator tube surface.
To maintain the pH in boiler water, in case of reduction
of pH due to salt ingress, addition of more Tri Sodium
Phosphate (TSP) is required. In this process, at some
places on the internal surface of waterwall tubes,
deposit thickness increases and the protective iron ACIDIC CORROSION
oxide scale becomes non protective and porous in Solution of low pH is generated in high pressure
nature. Porous, insulating types of deposits allow boiler boilers in two different ways:

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 Proceedings of 2nd International Conference on Mechanical and Production Engineering
Held on 9th – 10th July 2016, in Pattaya, ISBN: 9788193137345

* pH of the entire boiler water is reduced when As these micro cracks accumulate, tube strength
contaminants which are acidic or becomes acidic when diminishes until stresses imposed by the internal
heated in to the boiler. pressure exceed the tensile strength of the remaining,
* The bulk boiler water remains alkaline but acidic intact metal. At this point a thick-walled, longitudinal
solutions are generated within corrosion pits. burst may occur depending on the extent of hydrogen
by the action of dissolved oxygen and chloride. The damage as shown .
most common acid forming contaminant is sea water or
a river water which is low in carbonate and sulphate. In
the boiler, the acidity is increased locally to corrosive
concentrations by boiling.
In the acidic or highly alkaline conditions, iron reacts
and hydrogen is liberated.

Fe + 2 NaOH = Na2FeO2 + H2
Fe + 2 HCl = FeCl2 + H2

If the hydrogen is liberated in an atomic form, it is

capable of diffusing into the steel. Some of this
diffused, atomic hydrogen will combine at metal grain
boundaries or inclusions to produce molecular
hydrogen, or it will react with iron carbides in the
metal to produce methane.
Fe3C + 4 H = CH4 + 3 Fe
Because neither molecular hydrogen nor methane is
capable of diffusing through the steel, these gases
accumulate, primarily at grain boundaries. Eventually,
the gas pressure created will cause separation of the
metal at its grain boundaries, forming discontinuous,
intergranular micro cracks as shown in the
micrograph
Micrograph showing the fissures and cracks inside
the metal due to hydrogen damage.
Photograph showing: Waterwall tubes failure due
to hydrogen damage because of localised acidic
condition.
EXPERIMENTAL PROCEDURE FOR DEPOSIT
ASSESSMENT IN WATERWALL TUBE
Boiler tube sampling:
Four water wall tubes are cut from the four corner /
sides of the high heat flux zone of the boilers, i.e.
mainly from the uppermost portion of (2-3 meters
above) burner zone. The tube sample are prepared as
per ASTM D-3483, machined and cut longitudinally in
two parts, one being the hot side (internal surfaces
facing fire side) and the other, the cold side (internal
surfaces facing remote side). Internal deposition from
the samples is removed for chemical analysis
mechanically by pressing the machined sample in a
vice. The average quantity of internal deposits is
calculated separately for both the sides from the
difference between sample tube weights, measured
before and after the deposits are removed chemically.

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 Proceedings of 2nd International Conference on Mechanical and Production Engineering
Held on 9th – 10th July 2016, in Pattaya, ISBN: 9788193137345
Deposit quantity assessment:
Water wall tube samples are collected from site and
machined on the outer surface. The outer machined
surface of the tube is painted with corrosion resistant
lacquer. The internal surface area (A, in cm2) is
measured and the initial weight (W1, in mg) of the tube
samples is measured. The water wall tube sample is
cleaned in 5% inhibited hydrochloric acid solvent at 65
ºC and put on a magnetic stirrer till the deposit is
removed completely from the internal surfaces. Then it
is washed with demineralised water and an alkaline
solution and dipped in a surface passivation solution
for 5-10 minutes. The final weight of the sample (W2,
in mg) is measured. The quantity of internal deposit
(DQ, in mg.cm2) is calculated by the following
formula.
W1 – W2 = DQ
CRITARIA FOR CHEMICAL CLEANING
Chemical cleaning of a boiler is suggested on the basis
of the quantity of internal deposit present in the water
wall tubes of the boiler. When the quantity of deposit
exceeds 40 mg/cm2, the tube surfaces are considered to
be very dirty surfaces as per the Indian Standard
10391-1998 and the chemical cleaning is suggested to
improve the heat transfer and reduce the overheating.
The guidelines are given in
Table-2.
Table-2 Showing limits of deposit quantity allowed
in water wall tubes at different pressure.
The deposit quantity measured in high pressure boilers
of different site are given here along with the trend
chart and recommendations for chemical cleaning.
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CONCLUSIONS
Failure investigation studies of water wall tubes of
different capacity boilers indicated the reasons of
tube failure are:
Formation of localised alkaline / acidic conditions is as
per the mechanism of wick boiling phenomena under
the deposit due to ingress of raw water into the
condensate water. Acidic localised condition is
responsible for hydrogen damage as observed in many
old boilers where the deposit is very high and adherent
type. Alkaline condition is responsible for caustic
corrosion where the deposit is dense and porous in
nature. Overheating of tubes due to deposition of salts
on the internal surface of tube.
REMEDIAL MEASURES
It is suggested, to control the ingress of cooling water
from the condenser tube leakage which will reduce the
phenomena of salt concentration on the internal surface
of boiler tubes.
If the internal oxide growth increases from the limit as
per the Indian Standards of IS-10391-98. Post –
operational chemical cleaning of boilers should be
carried out to remove the existing porous deposit and to
form a new adherent magnetite layer. Magnetite layer
will work as a protective layer and reduce the
possibilities of on-load corrosion.
ACKNOWLEDGEMENT
Author express gratitude towards
Mr. O.P. Gupta(M.D)KSFL, Shahjahanpur ,U.P. India
Mr. N.K.Agarwal.(Ad.G.M) KSFL U.P. India &
Mr.S.P.Singh (D.G.M.) KSFL U.P. India
REFERENCES
1) Test methods for accumulated deposition in a
steam generator tube, 2005, ASTM
International,West Conshohocken, PA, USA,
ASTM Standard D-3483-05.
2) Code of practice for chemical cleaning of
boilers, 1998, Bureau of Indian Standards,
New Delhi, IS-10391-98.
3) Sugimoto A, Ueki, H. Sakuma, S., Proc.
American Power Conference, 1972. Illinois
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Held on 9th – 10th July 2016, in Pattaya, ISBN: 9788193137345

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