ht. J. Pres.

Vex & Piping 61 (1995) 157-175

0302?-0161(94)00103-0
ELSEVIER

ElsevierScience Limited Printedin NorthernIreland 0308-0161/95/$09.50

A Practising Engineelss Expeliences in Ovemoming Inhemnt Design Pmblems in Thermal Power Station Boilels

JAMES A COLLINS Assistant Power Station Manager Electricity Department, City of Cape Town Civic Centre, Hertzog Boulevard, P 0 Box 82, Cape Town, 8000

ABSTRACT I am a practising engineer and not an engineering theorist, my knowledge of fracture mechanics, probabilistic theory and theoretical failure analysis is virtually zero. I do, however, have a wealth of experience in diagnostic engineering built up over many years of thermal power plant failure analysis. This paper seeks to highlight the failure, by thermal power station manufacturers, to truly analyse the potential for premature failure in the design of coal and oil fired boilers with which I have been associated.

INTRODUCTION

Nearly thirty years of involvement reliability of generation availability

with thermal power stations, at the sharp end where the is second only to the safety of personnel, teaches one a

few things about boiler designers, manufacturers and erectors. During the presentation of this paper I will be referring plant. Although to operating temperatures and pressures of various types of boiler

I have come to terms with the metrication of temperatures I find the

standard unit of pressure has varied so much over the years, and from country to country, that I no longer try to keep pace with the changes. The simple table of approximations set

out below will enable the reader to convert from whatever I may use to something which is hopefully more familiar. 1 p.s.i. M 7 kPa 1 bar x 15 p.s.i.

157

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J. A. Collins

1 water gauge = /4 kPa 1 bar w 100 kPa

DISCUSSION

Adaptation of Pn?vious Designs Designers are under considerable pressure to put together a viable package which will be competitive in an open tender situation. The trend towards total package turnkey contracts This pressure has

has made tendering for thermal power station plant highly competitive.

been intensified by the background of a shrinking market, where denationalised electricity producers are now able to purchase on the world market. How tempting it must be to offer a previously successful design to meet the next potential clients nequilements. Designers of thermal power station boilers work towards producing a given flow rate of steam, at the turbine stop valves, at a specified temperature and pressure; these are not, however, the only parameters which need to be considered.

The quality, in terms of calorific value and ash content, and constituent trace elements of fossil fuels vary from country to country and region to region. United Kingdom coal, for example, contains chlorine which, when used in pulverised fuel boilers, deposits molten

chlorides on the furnace walls. The side and rear furnace wall tubes, therefore, need to be more robust or sheathed with stainless steel to prevent premature failure due to fireside corrosion. Again UK coal has a relatively high sulphur and hard, grit like, ash content. for the removal of dust from

Whilst such properties are ideal for electrostatic precipitation

the flue gases they do have their adverse effects. Molten sulphates adhere to superheater elements with resultant corrosion, whilst the grit erodes particularly the medium carbon steel economiser tubes. Tube material wall thickness calculations for design creep life are not simply a factor of temperature, pressure and hoop stress.

Remaining with coal, those of Southern Africa contain virtually the provision environmental of electrostatic precipitators a very ineffective protection.

no sulphur; making

form of flue gas cleaning and

Where there is a deficiency in trace elements for effective

ionisation fabric filter bag houses are the only effective solution, and these are being retro-

Inherent design problems in boilers

159

fitted at great cost to power stations all over South Africa.

A boiler designed solely for pulverised fuel firing can not be effectively

used for oil

firing. The fireball with pulverised fuel is considerably larger than that with oil. For this reason, and to minimise rear wall impingement, inefficient the furnace is larger. This makes for

radiant heat pick up when fired with oil, and subsequent over-firing to attain the Such overfiring produces a higher than design temperature

design steam outlet conditions.

in the convection areas of the boiler with resultant loss of creep life.

A 60MW boiler cannot be adapted for efficient experience in Botswana. Desuperheater

33MW operation, as was my used for final superheater

sprays, normally

temperature control only at low loads, is still required at 60% of maximum flow rate, for full load operation; even after removing 40% of the superheater surface area. Here we are

looking here at a country where, despite being called The Jewel of Africa, Botswana is not self sufficient in power generation. Financial constraints put on Parastatal Organisations, by

Governments, force the acceptance of the lowest tender irrespective of overall suitability for the purpose.

A pressurised furnace design of boiler reduces the capital cost by eliminating the need for induced draught fans, but the cost in manpower and down time of maintaining the

integrity of the boiler casing is high. Pernaps the boiler makers anz looking for lucrative post commissioning contracts. It is also unethical to sell a pressurised furnace design to a country or region where there are no welders to repair the inevitable boiler casing leaks, as was my experience in Khartoum. Such countries are generally poor, are desperate to expand their to accept the lowest

generation capability, and are forced by aid donors or Governments tender. There is no consideration

of the longterm maintenance costs, or the effect of

generating plant down time on their electricity grid system.

Emphasis on Radiant Heating Surface Ama in Eady *e

Boilers

The designers of the first large (SOOMW) boilers during the late 1950s and early 1960s, who had been very successful with smaller boilers, failed to make proper calculations of heat absorbtion rates, particularly in the furnace area. They seemed to be more concerned with

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J. A. Collins

radiant heating surface area to achieve final superheater outlet temperatures in line with specified turbine inlet conditions. creep. The inevitable result being premature tube failures due to

PULVERISED FUEL BURNER LEVELS

FIGURE

Figure 1 shows a simplified

part furnace view of a 5OOMW pulverised fuel boiler

designed to deliver 1.6 x 1O6kg/hr of steam to the turbine stop valves at 178bar pressure and 528C. This boiler, in addition to the normal curtain wall for efficient use of radiant heat energy for the conversion of water into saturated steam, contained two steam division walls. The boiler designers believed this additional superheater surface area was necessary When tube failures due to creep in the

to attain the specified turbine stop valve conditions.

lower half of the steam division walls became common place after only 18 000 steaming hours the problem. was investigated. Collection of data from thermocouples, fluid flow rates,

combustion rates and combustion efficiency allowed heat absorbtion rates to be calculated which proved:

Inherent design problems in boilers

161

retention of the steam division walls in their as designed condition exhausted the tube material creep life in critical areas to 15 000 steaming hours, compared to the specified design creep life of 100 000 hours.

b)

retention of the steam division walls, replacing the tubes with the best quality stainless steel, would extend the creep life to only 25 000 hours.

c)

complete removal of the steam division walls would lead to the boiler being incapable of achieving its design outlet steam conditions.

The final solution was to reduce the steam division walls to a large pendant type design stopping short of the furnace area. In addition to this, flow bias nozzles were fitted in the pulverised fuel lines to reduce the intensity of the fireball in the upper furnace areas.

,3rd STAGE SUPERHEATER

4th STAGE SUPERHEATER

FIGURE

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J. A. Collins

Figure 2 shows a simplified

part furnace view of a 55OMW pulverised fuel boiler

designed to deliver 1.75 x lo6 kg/hr of steam to the turbine stop valves at 157bar bressure and 525C. Whereas most modem pulverised fuel fired boilers of this size produce the

required output conditions with a double bank primary superheater and twin loop secondary superheater; this boiler, still operating in the UK thirty three years after commissioning, has eight (8) separate stages of superheating surface area. To be fair to the designers this was the first boiler to be built in Western Europe with a capacity over 350MW, but illustrates again the obsession for gaining maximum benefit from radiant heat energy. In this example the third and fourth stage superheater bottom bends, located towards the top of the furnace area, suffered an unacceptable level of creep failures after 30 000 steaming hours. The ideal solution would have been to replace the bottom bends with either stainless steel or 2S%Cr l%Mo alloy steel; these solutions, however, would have required either inconel welds or post weld heat treatment respectively, both of which are costly exercises. The third alternative, which was accepted, was to replace the bends with a l%Cr /z%Mo alloy steel. Owing to the constraints attached to retro-fitting, the tube wall thickness could not be increased to the

required value for design creep life, so stainless steel heat shields were fitted to the bends after welding.

Flexibility

of Boiler St~~ctum for Thermal Cycling

Designers fail to take proper cognisance of the movements and stresses induced during thermal cycling of a boiler. My experience in this area could warrant a paper in its own

right, only a selection of the most glaring examples are highlighted here. All, however, were unnecessary errors in design philosophy, could have been eliminated and were rectified at great cost in down time and capital investment by the users.

Figure 3 shows the typical method of restraining the furnace wall tubes to buckstays on many boilers irrespective of age or size. Considering a top slung 500MW boiler, the load condition is

expansion measured at the furnace bottom approximately 350mm. The differential

from the cold to full

movement between the furnace wall tubes exposed

to the full heat of the furnace and the buckstays, which are mounted on the boiler casing, is approximately inevitable. 15mm. Over a few years of thermal cycling a failure at the weakest point is

The weakest point is the heat effected zone of the tie to tube tack weld, and the

Inherent design problems in boilers

163

FIGURE

whole weld pulls out leaving a pin hole in the tube. This type of failure, hidden from sight, is costly in boiler down time as it is difficult to locate and awkward to repair. Figure 4

shows a modified tube attachment successfully retro-fitted Y

to several boilers in the UK.

ENLARGED PLAN VIEW

FIGURE

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J. A. Col1in.s

FIGURE

f /

FIGURE

Inherent design problems in boilers

165

Figure 5 shows a design of a primary reheater exiting from the gas pass, through the boiler roof into the top dead space, and connecting to the header. The temperature within the top dead space of a typical 5OOMW boiler is 350C and, in order to provide a gas seal, the reheater tubes are physically attached to the roof. Considering the relative length of tie rods restraining the header and the roof, the differential movement due to expansion between

the header and the roof is in the order of 35mm. This arrangement eventually lead to an unacceptable rate of tube to header weld failures after 30 000 steaming hours. modification flexibility The

shown in Figure 6 was designed and retro-fitted to the boilers to introduce more

to the structure, and further weld failures were eliminated.

The 30MW oil fired boilers in Khartoum

being floor mounted expands upwards.

Figure 7 is a schematic arrangement of the main steam pipework leaving the boiler, showing the installation of pipe hangers on a twenty metre vertical leg. There are three basic types of pipe hangers: a) fixed hangers - where there is no relative movement steelwork and pipework. between structural

OUTLET

HEADER

FIGURE

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J. A. Collins

W
cl

spring hangers - where there is no relative movement but where the possibility of shock loading exists. constant load hangers - where there is relative movement between structural steelwork and pipework but the restraining forces applied remain constant.

The vertical section of the main steam pipework

was supported on fixed steelwork with

spring hangers whilst the boiler, at the superheater outlet position expanded 25mm vertically. The vertical section of pipework was, therefore, supported by the superheater outlet header and pipework when the boiler was fully expanded with the inevitable heat effected zone weld cracking after 8 000 steaming hours. The pipework on all boilers was rehung on constant load hangers with no further weld failures.

Reverting to larger boilers the economiser of the 55OMW boiler detailed earlier was constructed with the economiser elements mounted on stools attached to the rear enclosure water wall tubes, while the economiser inlet header is fixed to the boiler casing. Unlike the earlier example of furnace wall tube attachments, due to the relatively low heat pick in the

water walls of the rear enclosure from cold, the casing initially expands faster than the water walls. In the fully flexing heated condition is therefore the water walls expand more than the casing.

Considerable failures.

experienced at the tube to header welds with resultant were undertaken to allow the

Major attachment and expansion loop modifications

economiser elements and header to expand at the same rate and to the same extent.

Internal Access to Boilers for Inspection and Repair Designers, and consultants employed to specify design requirements, must believe the product of their labours is so good that internal access will never be required. involvement In thirty years of

with power stations I have found only one boiler where real thought had been safe and easy access.

given to providing

The 30MW oil fired boilers in Khartoum are a prime example of where no thought was given. A routine inspection of the furnace required two days of preliminary work to

remove a complete burner assembly together with all the dampers and controls for access through the windbox. Where access doors were provided to other parts of the boiler there

were no fixed gantries leading to the doors necessitating the erection of tower scaffolds.

Inherent design problems in boilers

167

HERE

Figure 8 shows a particularly

dangerous example of lack of thought towards safe

boiler internal access. It is normal practise in the design of large boilers for every third tube of the rear furnace wall, instead of following vertically the profile of the furnace nose, to continue

upwards forming a screen for safe boiler access. This boiler was supplied with

side access doors onto the furnace nose below the screen tubes, and only half a metre from a drop of thirty metres into the ash hopper at the bottom of the boiler.

The next example was considered for inclusion in the previous category on flexibility of structures but is, perhaps, more relevant to this subject. Figure 9 is a schematic view of the primary superheater inlet header of a 5OOIGW boiler which suffered quite regular tube to header weld failures during thermal cycling. The only access to the header area was by dragging oneself through a tunnel formed by the tubes only 380mm high. Inspection and

location of failures, together with the cutting, grinding and welding repair operations, had to be performed by contortionists in this restricted space.

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J. A. Collins

FIGURE

FIGURE

10

Inherent design problems in boilers

169

Figure 10 shows the simple modification modification in this area.

carried out for ease of access. As a bonus the which virtually eliminated further leaks

also created a greater level of flexibility

PRIMARY S/H RISERS

VJRATED IAM TUBES

FIGURE

11 \

Probably the worst access problem encountered was on the same boiler, but this time in the secondary reheater, and shown in Figure 11. There was no access for inspection or repair without the major removal of undamaged tubes and rewelding on completion. Access

to this area was so bad that it was only ever undertaken during triennial boiler overhauls. A boiler tube leak in this area was dealt with by cutting the tubes in the dead space above the gas passes and capping off at the header.

The Importance of Cottect Positioning of Fitments The location of internal and external fitments can be critical to the effective and reliable

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J. A. Collins

commercial operation of a boiler and its associated auxiliaries. aspects, site supervision needs to be vigilant

In addition to the design

to ensure that erection drawings are strictly

adhered to. Both examples in this area come from the 30MW oil fired boilers in Khartoum.

>
FROM BLR 1
1

I-

MEASUREMENT

FIGURE

12

Although a Unitised power station, with one boiler providing

steam to one turbine,

there is a main steam interconnector allowing Boiler 1 to feed Turbine 2, or vice versa, in an emergency. The interconnector isolating valves were positioned as shown in Figure 12, The steam in the

ten metres above the main steam leg, leaving a dead section of pipework.

top section, adjacent to the isolating valve, condenses allowing water droplets to fall into the main steam leg below causing stress corrosion cracking, On internal inspection of the main steam leg the expected pitting and cracking was found, but diagnosed in time to allow elimination by blending. The isolating valves were repositioned immediately above the main

steam leg to prevent further damage.

Inherent design problems in boilers

171

The boilers in Khartoum, although commissioned only in 1985, have tubes expanded into the boiler drum rather than the more traditional welded attachment for modern boilers. A succession of tube expansion failures investigation, during 1987 and 1988 led to an extensive The

revealing two erection defects which together contributed to the failures.

wrong datum height had been used for the mounting of the boiler drum water level control equipment constraining the level 28mm below design. Secondly, the feed water inlet

manifold, mounted internally through the length of the boiler drum, was fixed rotationally one bolt pitch (45) away from design. The culmination of these two erection defects

allowed water at 185C to impinge directly onto the top row of tube expansions which were partially exposed to saturated steam at 253OC. The resultant continual thermal shocks

imposed on the tube expansions brought about the failures which were totally eradicated by the correction of the defects built into the boilers. More vigilant site supervision would have saved the need for modification of external boiler drum fitments, which were made extremely

costly as the welding expertise had to be imported from the United Kingdom.

Quality Contml of Materials Used During Construction and Repair The strict control of materials, both in the factory and at site, during boiler manufacture and construction is essential for successful commercial operation of a boiler. The inclusion of

rogue materials in a boiler can take some time to come to light, and generally result in great inconvenience, loss of revenue and increased capital expenditure for the user. For

example, scaffold tubes have been known to last up to 8 000 hours in a primary reheater carrying steam at 35bar pressure and 350C while being exposed to gas temperatures up to 550C.

Whilst carrying out creep life assessments, after twenty years service, on a final superheater outlet header on a 500MW boiler carrying steam at 178bar pressure and 535C disturbing results were found. One section of the header, approximately 1500mm in length,

indicated a residual creep life of zero while the remainder of the header showed a residual life in excess of 60 000 hours. Spectra-analysis of the respective materials revealed that the material specification of the section with zero creep life was medium carbon steel. The

correct material specification, like that of the remainder of the header, was 2%%Cr l%Mo alloy steel. This discovery, after reporting to the boiler inspectorate, resulted in considerable

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J. A. Collins

expense to the user in boiler down time and replacement of the rogue material section.

Strictly organised, identified

and controlled material storage is very important both

in fabrication workshops and at site. A 5OOMW boiler reheater suffered tube leaks regularly due the inclusion of l%Cr 1/%Mo alloy steel in areas where 21/4%Cr l%Mo should have been used. There was no pattern to the failures, or the distribution alloy steel of rogue

materials within the tube elements. The cost to the user in boiler down time from boiler tube leaks was calculated to be less than that for total replacement Considerable inconvenience availability. of the tube elements.

and cost was incurred, therefore, through regular loss of boiler

A 33MW boiler in Botswana suffered continual failures in the secondary

superheater tube elements. Spectra-analysis of the boiler contractors tube racks showed that medium carbon steel tubing had been placed on racks labelled for 2*/4%Cr l%Mo tubing. The resultant tube replacements and loss of revenue due to boiler down time was, on this occasion, recovered from the offending user from loss of generation capability. contractor, but at considerable inconvenience to the

Thorough

non-destructive

testing of boiler

components

is essential, prior

to

installation, for the boiler to give good and reliable service. Hot finished, seamless, extruded tubing, particularly with wall thicknesses over 6mm, are prone to contain laminations within

the material structure. In a straight length of tube this is not a problem, but once the tube is manipulated to form a bend the laminations can be separated forming cracks within the tube wall. A 5OOMW boiler, which had 1OOmm bore x 12mm wall thickness tubes feeding the furnace wall tube bottom headers, suffered several failures of this type. The crack

propagates unnoticed within the tube wall to the surface with catastrophic results. Unless witnessed first hand it is difficult to believe how a boiler operating at 178bar pressure can

rid itself of over one hundred (100) tonnes of water and steam through one hole in a matter of minutes.

Improvements,

over the last twenty years, in non-destructive

testing techniques Properly

employed during boiler construction and repair have improved

the situation.

managed use of the methods now available can greatly improve the commercial effectiveness of boilers of all sizes. A 550MW boiler constructed in 1960 was selectively re-examined by

Inherent design problems in boilers

173

radiography condemned. radiography

in 1975 and, by the standards operating in 1975, 80% of the welds tested were During construction and major boiler tube replacement programmes 100%

is not always possible. It is, however, important in the early stages to identify

bad welders or where poor techniques are being employed. Once these have been eradicated batch sampling up to 30% is sufficient.

Vigilance Requiled of Boiler Maintenance Engineels This section serves to accept that it is not only designers and manufacturers of boilers who can be at fault, the users of boilers are not necessarily blameless. A perfectly acceptable

boiler design can cause no end of problems if not maintained correctly. Boiler maintenance engineers need always to be vigilant during boiler inspections, irrespective of their level of experience, and to be aware of potential disasters and incorrect diagnosis.

During a routine ten yearly over pressure test on the reheater of a 55OMW boiler a very small damp patch was noticed on a header. After drying the area, to ensure water had not dripped from elsewhere, the dampness reappeared some thirty minutes lafer. Polishing and testing with dye penetrant showed the possibility of several small imperfections.

Examination of drawing indicated that the header was forged in two pieces and joined by a submerged arc weld, the cap of which had been ground off for ultrasonic examination, making the weld invisible to the naked eye. Excavation by grinding, polishing, testing and regrinding eventually uncovered a crack, emanating from the weld root, which extended three quarters of the way round the header. The header in question, 700mm outside diameter with a wall thickness of 55mm, operated at a pressure of 35bar containing superheated steam at 450C. Failure to notice this easily overlooked defect would have produced a disastrous inservice failure well before the next hydraulic test ten years later.

In order to overcome excessive grit erosion, and extend the life of thin walled reheater tubes in the same 55OhW boiler with a good residual creep life, stainless steel erosion shields were fitted during a boiler overhaul. Ineffective quality control over the work

resulted in the erosion shields, each 1500mm long, being welded to the tubes at both ends. Differential thermal expansion between the tube and shield materials caused the welds to tear

out with resultant tube failures. This lack of vigilance required a further loss of three weeks

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J. A. Collins

boiler availability

and additional contractual costs for rectification.

A routine non-destructive

test survey on a boiler produced a report which indicated

that a majority of the welds onto a superheater header were cracked, and required repair before returning the boiler to commercial service. This involved the repair of five hundred

and forty six welds, at considerable contractual cost to the user and loss of boiler availability. The resulting investigation revealed that the welds tested were at a ferritic to stainless steel Non-

boundary and the testing had been carried out using a magnetic particle technique.

destructive tests using methods suitable for a ferritic to stainless boundary showed that only the eight welds previously passed as sound required repair.

CONCLUSIONS

1.

Boiler designers, manufacturers and erectors need to keep a closer contact with the users of their product and maintain a post commissioning interest. Only in this way will the problems encountered be rectified in future boiler designs. Manufacturers of aero-engines, and their industrial derivatives, have a system of Service Bulletins. and problems

These serve to keep users informed of updates in design, modifications encountered by other users; surely the manufacturers facilities could do the same.

of other major engineering

2.

This paper, although very critical of designers, is aimed equally at the consultants. It is they, after all, who set the parameters within which the designers operate. Technical specifications from consultants must be more detailed in the exact needs of the end user, and include extended maintenance periods for certain types of boiler failure. An item purchased from a shop carrying a twelve month guarantee will be

returned to the supplier if it fails within that time. Similarly, a boiler designed for a life of 100 000 hours, subject to use in compliance with the manufacturers operating and maintenance instructions, should not suffer continual down time due to poor design or manufacture. Admittedly this would increase the level of original capital

investment, but would that not be recovered many times over in the first twenty years of a reliable boilers life? It would also ensure that comers were not cut at the

Inherent design problems in boilers

175

design, manufacture and erection stages.

3.

Environmental

protection issues need to be more stringently specified.

Rather than

merely quoting the current statutory requirements for environmental

pollution, users,

consultants and manufacturers should demand the best that is available.

4.

The examples given in this paper are merely a small selection of the problems encountered by one person, and relate to only five designs of boiler. If the design

philosophy, manufacture and erection deficiencies were multiplied by the number of practising engineers, and then by the number of boiler designs available, the man hour and capital costs wasted world wide due to these issues become enormous.