Failure Analysis of the Corroded Water Wall Tube in a 50MW Thermal Power Plant

High temperature corrosion of the water wall tube in a 50 MW thermal power plant was investigated which caused several boiler accidents. X-ray diffraction (XRD) and scanning electron microscopy (SEM) equipped with energy dispersive spectrometer (EDS) were used to observe the cross-sectional morphology of the tube and analyze the oxide scales. Results show that the boiler water and the coal quality did not meet the requirements. High temperature corrosion of water wall tubes was attributed to the using of coal which had a higher ash content and lower received lower heating value. Higher dissolved oxygen and incrustation in the boiler water caused serious corrosion at the inner surface of water wall tube, which led to the possibility of decarburization and degradation of the steel. Suitable coal blending and stability of the thermal load were the effective means to prevent the high temperature corrosion of the tube.