142 COMBINED CYCLE JOURNAL, Second Quarter 2008

HRSG USERS GROUP

T
he HRSG User s
Group conducted
i ts 16
th
Annual
Conference & Expo-
sition in Austin, Tex, April
7-9, hosting a record 357
attendees (including 170
users) and 69 exhibitors.
A pre-conference seminar
on chemistry-influenced
HRSG tube failures and the
opening reception/dinner
dominated the first day.
Four formal presentations
anchored the open-forum
discussions on second and
third days which focused on
heat-transfer equipment,
water treatment, piping sys-
tems, controls, ductwork,
dampers, stacks, supple-
mentary firing, valves and
piping, environmental sys-
tems and balance of plant.
The day before
The pre-conference seminar, Chem-
istry-Influenced HRSG Tube Fail-
ures, was praised by attendees.
Dr Barry Dooley, one of the electric
power industrys foremost authori-
ties on water treatment, developed
the three-part program which includ-
ed participation by Laney Bisbey and
Scott Wambeke.
Dooley, who joined Structural
Integrity Associates as a senior asso-
ciate about two years ago, spent more
than two decades at the Electric
Power Research Institute where his
last position was technical executive
for materials and chemistry. Bisbey,
an associate of Dooleys at Structural
Integrity, is an expert on technolo-
gies for nondestructive examination
of materials. Wambekes expertise
is HRSG inspection and condition
assessment. He is employed by HRST
Inc, the leading independent boiler
consulting firm in the gas-turbine-
based sector of the electric power
industry.
Dooley began with the workshop
agenda:
n The FAC mechanism: appearance,
locations, mechanism, and influ-
ences.
n Typical and focused HRSG inspec-
tions for flow-accelerated corro-
sion.
n Current and future aspects of
NDE for FAC.
FAC in low-pressure (LP) evapora-
tors is the HRSG tube-failure mecha-
nism (HTF) experienced most often.
The others, in order of frequency of
occurrence, are:
n Thermal fatigue in the economiz-
er, superheater, and reheater, and
creep fatigue in the superheater
and reheater.
n Corrosion fatigue in LP evapora-
tors and economizers.
n Under-deposit corrosion in HP
evaporators. Mechanisms
include hydrogen damage,
acid phosphate corrosion,
and caustic gouging.
n Pitting.
Dooley estimates that
about 70% of the HTF inci-
dents are influenced by cycle
chemistry.
He told the group that
FAC is not an HRSG phe-
nomenon, although some
O&M personnel who earn
their paychecks at GT-based
cogen facilities and com-
bined-cycle plants might
believe otherwise. It is rela-
tively common in nuclear
and fossil-fired steam/elec-
tric stations and in indus-
trial plants, occurring in
condensate and feedwater
systems, piping around the
boiler-feed pump (including
desuperheating lines), pip-
ing to the economizer inlet
header, deaerators, feedwater-heater
shells and drains, steam-turbine
exhaust systems, and air-cooled con-
densers.
Dooley has been passionately
writing and lecturing about FAC for
the better part of his career. Despite
his efforts, and those of a few oth-
ers, it remains at the top of the HTF
incident list. Perhaps there are just
too many new people entering the
electric-power business today with-
out a good foundation in chemistry
fundamentals. FAC seems to be an
out of sight, out of mind kind of
thing. Most often, operations people
dont know they have a problem until
a pipe or boiler tube leaks.
FAC continues to occur in more
and more systems despite R&D since
the 1960s, Dooley continued. Carbon-
steel tubes, pipes, valves, headers,
and vessels containing flowing sin-
gle-phase water and wet steam (two-
FAC, field hardness testing
of P91/T91, piping issues
dominate program
April 6-8
Hyatt Regency Jacksonville Riverwalk
Jacksonville, Fla
COMBINED CYCLE JOURNAL, Second Quarter 2008 143
phase steam and water) are suscep-
tible. Mechanism is well understood:
Wall thinning caused by dissolution
of magnetite.
Dooley outlined the parameters
influencing FAC, specifically:
n Water chemistry: oxidizing/
reducing potential, pH, and
temperature.
n Hydrodynamics: flow/turbu-
lence and mass transport,
component geometry and
upstream influences, and
steam quality.
n Pipe/vessel material com-
position: chromium, copper,
molybdenum.
He then dissected each of
these parameters for attend-
ees, showing exactly how they
impacted FAC and what strat-
egies were most practical/cost
effective for mitigating their
effects. Dooleys remarks are
summarized below:
n Single-phase FAC can be
control l ed by f eedwater
and evaporator chemistry.
Requirements: Positive ORP
(oxidizing/reducing potential)
and no reducing agent.
n Some two-phase FAC can be
addressed by materials solu-
tions (use of steel containing
1.25% chromium); some by
focusing on LP evaporator chemis-
try (increasing ammonia or adding
trisodium phosphate or sodium
hydroxide if allowed).
n Monitor iron levels and maintain
them at less than 2 ppb in feedwa-
ter and less than 5
ppb in drums.
Wr a p p i n g
up, Dooley stressed that you have
to be proactive to avoid FAC dam-
age. Address the root cause if it has
occurred. Maintain tight control of
chemistry, perform regular inspec-
tions, and repair/replace damaged
components as soon as practicable.
Wambeke began with a dia-
gram of the most common FAC risk
locations on a simplified boiler
sketch (figure). He said that an
experienced inspector relies
on his or her eyes, ultrasonic
testing (UT), and sludge evalu-
ation for an accurate assess-
ment of conditions.
For example, shiny black,
flat black, and polished areas
often are associated with
FAC. Some reddish or
magenta color is a good
sign because it indicates
some oxygen, which is
good for FAC protection.
Orange-peel texture is
indicative of single-phase
FAC, tiger stripes two-
phase. Variables impact-
ing sludge evaluation
include location, quan-
tity, magnetic properties,
color, and particle size.
Note that the absence
of sludge doesnt mean
theres no problem.
Drum
internals
Steam drum
Downcomer
Economizer
Feeder manifold
Feeder
Tubes
Upper
headers
Risers
Lower
headers
Approach FAC inspection by first ranking areas of impor-
tance based on risk. Next UT suspect areas, starting with
the highest risk first. Borescope for telltale patterns
144 COMBINED CYCLE JOURNAL, Second Quarter 2008
Wambeke addressed two com-
mon misconceptions about FAC often
heard in plants:
n FAC doesnt occur in straight
tubes and piping. Typically thats
true but it does happen and more
often than you might want to
believe.
n Solving the problem in one area
does not automatically move FAC
damage elsewhere. FAC does not
have to happen; it can be stopped,
or at least greatly minimized.
Bisbee set the stage for an in-
depth review of NDE technologies
for FAC assessment by stating the
case for regular inspections. Avoid-
ing unscheduled outages caused by
component failures was at the top of
the list. Other benefits include com-
ponent life extension and avoidance
of unnecessary repair/replacement
work because of early identification
and correction of issues.
Important to accurate component
condition assessment is a plan, like
the one Bisbee proposed to seminar
attendees:
n Review environment, operating
conditions, materials, service his-
tory, and industry experience of
plant components.
n Identify critical components, pos-
sible damage mechanisms, and
susceptible locations.
n Select the appropriate inspection
techniques for the detection and
characterization of subject dam-
age.
n Perform a baseline inspection to
quantitatively establish compo-
nent condition.
n Assess component serviceability
based on inspection results.
n Establish an inspection interval
for re-examination to monitor pro-
gression of damage or degradation;
or, determine repair/replacement
requirements based on component
serviceability predictions.
There are several available meth-
ods for inspecting/examining any
given component. Each has a defined
range of capabilities, limitations, cost
of implementation, support require-
ments, and reliability. Common
sense tells you the selection process
must match the most appropriate
inspection method and scope to the
specific component and inspection
objective in the most time-efficient
and cost-effective way.
A multi-disciplinary approach
probably will be necessary to accom-
modate the variety of components,
operating environments, and damage
mechanisms encountered. This may
involve use of two, three, or possibly
all of the following:
n Nondestructive testing (NDT),
to determine the current state of
damagespecifically, to detect
and characterize flaws, defects,
and degradation.
n Metallurgical examination, to
evaluate material condition and
identify damage mechanisms.
n Engineering analysis, to predict
future damage accumulation and
serviceable life.
n Online monitoring, to improve
prediction capabilities and iden-
tify operating modes conducive to
damage.
FAC is characterized by a loss in
wall or component thickness. NDE
methods that apply for detecting metal
loss, and how much, include these:
n Ultrasonic testing (UT), including
simple, B-scan, C-scan, phased
array, and guided wave.
n Electromagnetic acoustic trans-
ducers (EMAT).
n Pulsed eddy-current testing.
n Digital radiography.
Bisbee reviewed how UT works
and how its used to measure wall
thickness. Most plant personnel are
familiar with this. UT typically is
accurate to within 1 mil and is appli-
cable for a large thickness range.
But its generally impractical if large
areas must be inspected and it has
a low probability of detecting small
surface-thickness variations, such as
those caused by pitting.
UT technology keeps improv-
ing. Scanners combined with digital
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data acquisition systems now rapidly
measure and store large volumes of
inspection data. New software per-
mits analysis and presentation of
thickness data in convenient formats.
Plus, material wastage rates can be
determined by crunching data from
successive inspections.
Here are some notes on types of
UT that you may not be familiar
with:
n B-scan is conventional UT com-
bined with an encoded scanner
having single-axis scanning capa-
bility. Scanner can be manual or
automated and plots of wall thick-
ness and location are provided.
Cross-sectional view of the test
area is in two dimensions.
n C-scan goes a step further. It has
multi-axis (x-y) scanning capabil-
ity and creates a 3-D cross-section-
al view of the test location.
n Phased-array UT, which has
gained favor in gas-turbine inspec-
tion, finds defects that convention-
al UT would miss and provides
top-quality characterization of
those defects.
Advantages of B- and C-scan and
phased-array for wall-thickness test-
ing are their ability to scan continu-
ously and quickly, provide an actual
thickness measurement, produce
an image of a pipe-surface contour,
and serve as a good follow-up tool for
screening techniques. Drawbacks:
Difficult to scan over corroded sur-
faces, require access to the pipe sur-
face, and not practical for screening
large areas.
Guided-wave, or G-scan, can do
things the other technologies cant,
but the systems are expensive. For
example, it can screen insulated pipe
for wall-loss degradation as well as
pipe thats buried or running through
penetrations. G-scan is capable of
examining up to 300 ft of pipe from
one location, making it especially
cost effective in difficult-to-access
locations.
It works off a ring of transducers
that are wrapped around the pipe.
No couplant is required and gener-
ally no surface preparation. The ring
for pipes 2 to 8 in. diam is solid and
can be mounted in less than a min-
ute provided theres a 3-in. clearance
around the pipe. For pipes up to 36
in., the ring is inflatable and requires
a clearance of 2 inches. Guided waves
are sent both up and down the pipe
and the resultant reflections are
analyzed; the entire pipe cross sec-
tion is inspected. Results are semi-
quantitative. G-scan is considered an
excellent screening tool.
Keep in mind that the more
sophisticated the inspection tools, the
higher their cost, the more training
operators need, and the more support
functions they require. To illustrate:
The sophisticated analysis and pat-
tern recognition necessary to inter-
pret G-scan results require years of
experience.
EMAT, an alternative to UT,
works by producing and detecting
acoustic waves in metal using electro-
magnetic fields. It covers less distance
than G-scan and generally requires
access to the pipe surface. However,
it is insensitive to surface conditions
and can operate at high temperatures
and inspect at high speed.
Pulsed eddy-current technol-
ogy relies on a pulsed magnetic field
to produce eddy currents affected by
material thickness. It is suitable for
general wall-loss determinations, not
localized damage, because the thick-
ness determined is an average over
the probes footprint. PETC requires
no coupling or surface preparation, can
work through insulation, and is capa-
ble of high-temperature online testing.
Digital radiography (RT) is of
two types:
n Digital computed RT, which uses
a photostimulable image plate
instead of RT film. It works this
way: RT exposes the image plate,
which is scanned. The latent image
is digitized and recorded; software
processing allows image analysis.
n Digital direct RT instantly dis-
plays the image on a screen, there-
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146 COMBINED CYCLE JOURNAL, Second Quarter 2008
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by eliminating subsequent scan-
ning. Software processing allows
image analysis as it does for digi-
tal computed RT.
Radiation is less than for conven-
tional RT but still requires evacua-
tion of test locations. Computed RT
processing takes almost as long as
chemical processing of conventional
radiographs. Imaging is two-dimen-
sional; however, by adjusting image
brightness, a range of thicknesses
can be examined in one shot.
Formal
presentations
The first presentation, on Tuesday
morning, was Operational Flexibili-
ty Enhancements of Combined-Cycle
Power Plants, by Dr Stefan Murza
of Siemens Energy. Murzas main
point was that operational flexibil-
ity is a key success factor for plants
designed for base-load service now
being operated in the intermediate/
cycling mode because of changing
market conditions.
He said the as-designed startup-
time for a combined cycle installed in
the late 1990s can be reduced by more
than half with enhancements such as
a fast-start stress controller for the
steam turbine, efficient piping war-
mup system, auxiliary boiler for seal-
ing steam, condensate polisher, etc.
Flexibility improvements to the
HRSG are critical, Murza continued,
to enable fast starts. For example
heat losses must be prevented with
enhancements such as automated
drains and vents, stack damper,
standby heating; stress limits reas-
sessed based on future operating
scenarios; and a fatigue monitoring
system installed to manage creep
and low-cycle fatigue over the units
lifetime.
He then discussed how the OEM
conducted a site assessment, the
results of which are used to develop
and implement a custom upgrade
package. After listening to the pre-
sentation, it was difficult to imagine
that a US owner would hire a turbine
OEM with no boiler manufacturing
experience to perform all the tasks
proposed. Siemens certainly would
be involved in developing and imple-
menting startup optimization pro-
grams for the gas and steam turbine/
generators, but users questioned
after the session did not associate the
name with HRSGs, water treatment,
and some other areas mentioned.
Interestingly, a paper on integrat-
ed technologies that enhance power-
plant operating flexibility, written
by US-based Siemens personnel for
the 2007 Power-Gen International
meeting in New Orleans, focused on
the companys key expertise areas in
rotating equipment and plant control
systems.
Field hardness testing. Andy
Allen of Progress Energy made the
formal presentation Tuesday after-
noon on Field Hardness Testing of
P91 Materials, based on work con-
ducted by him, Neal Holden, and
other colleagues. Allen said his com-
pany had been struggling with con-
flicting portable hardness test results
on P91 for a few years.
The dilemma, he continued, is
that inspection costs are a very sig-
nificant line item in O&M budgets so
it was important to identify and use
the portable field method that could
be verified as accurate in the 190-245
HB Brinnel hardness range based on
comparative tests run on laboratory
devices. Another consideration: Sur-
face preparation is costly; how much
is really necessary?
The objective was to develop a
field testing procedure for determin-
ing representative hardness mea-
surements on P91 piping. Four sur-
face-preparation methods and five
portable test methods were evalu-
ated. The field test method developed
had these key elements:
n Light disk grind (5 mils or less),
flapper wheel 120 grit.
n If initial result is in the acceptable
range, accept it.
n If high, reject as too hard.

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148 COMBINED CYCLE JOURNAL, Second Quarter 2008
n If low, disk grind 20 mils using a
flapper wheel 120 grit.
n If still low, examine further (rep-
lica, core, or boat sample).
Allen said that the Telebrineller
hardness tester (Teleweld Inc) with
the HiLight scope manufactured
by NewAge Testing Instruments Inc
offered the highest accuracy among
the instruments tested. It also per-
mits a screen inspection with less
surface preparation.
The decarburization layer is soft
and produces low readings. Influ-
ence of the decarburization layer is
significant with the DynaMIC 20
(GE Inspection Technologies Inc)
205 tip (UCI method), less so with
the Telebrineller. The MIC20 UCI is
operator-sensitive. Specifically, the
probe must be perpendicular to the
pipe and flat for a good reading.
Rebound methods (EQUOtip and
MIC 20 Dyna D) exhibit error signifi-
cantly to the low side with -in.-wall
pipe. They are not recommended for
typical reheater piping.
High-energy piping failures.
Wednesday mornings formal pre-
sentation, Lessons from Yesterdays
High-Energy Piping Failures for
Todays Combined-Cycle Projects,
was made by Dr Martin Prager of
The Materials Properties Council Inc
(MPC) and Dennis Sullivan of Ame-
ren Corp.
They reviewed experience with
welded piping operating in the creep
rangein particular, the causes of
failures at electric utilities over the
last 25 years. Several of the more
than 50 slides were scary photo-
graphs of large steam pipes that
had split open along longitudinal
welds. Primary reasons for the fail-
ures boiled down to a lack of sophis-
tication in engineering calculations
and welding technology.
Prager and Sullivans purpose was
to alert attendees that the new alloys
for HRSGs pose even greater risks to
the industry, and what they believed
had to be done to protect against in-
service failures.
MPCs position on P91/T91, which
has become the preferred materi-
al high-temperature sections of the
HRSG and main-steam piping system,
is as follows: The vanadium-modi-
fied 9% chromium steel is a complex
alloy requiring great care and control
of composition, heat treatment, and
details of processing to achieve its opti-
mized, high-strength (although poten-
tially unstable) properties.
The tolerance bands on composi-
tion and heat treatment are narrow
and the alloy can be ruined. It is far
less tolerant of errors, or lack of con-
trol of processing details, than the
alloys traditionally used in utility
powerplants. In addition, the 91 alloy
is part of a class of materials highly
susceptible to Type IV failures in the
weld heat-affected zone (HAZ).
This is an insidious failure mode
attributed to local differences of
material within the HAZ where the
optimum microstructures for creep
resistance cannot be retained after
welding.
Prager and Sullivan compiled
three slides worth of bullet points
on why problems occur with chrome-
moly steelsa valuable checklist
for anyone involved in the specifica-
tion, fabrication oversight, or repair/
replacement of these materials. For
this report, the summary of that
material will suffice:
n Highly sensitive, poorly under-
stood alloys requiring stringent
controls are, when entrusted to
inexperienced fabricators, a recipe
for big headaches.
n The microstructure, difficult to see
because of its fineness, is destabi-
lized by strain, time, and tempera-
ture.
The bottom line:
n Leave nothing to chance.
n Control and qualify all aspects of
materials, manufacturing, pro-
curement, and erection.
n Inspections are necessary, but
R&D on methods is needed.
Piping Failures Downstream
of Attemperators, presented by
Steve Freitas and Daniel Watson of
CCI-Control Components Inc, was
the final formal presentation on the
program. A large portion of what was
discussed can be found in these four
references available at www.com-
binedcyclejournal.com/archives.html:
Click 1Q/2005, click Attemperators.
. . on the cover of that issue; click
2Q/2005, click Cycling, P91/T91. . .
on the cover and scroll to the sidebar
on Attemperator frustrations. . .;
click 3Q/2006, click Monitoring and
maintaining. . .; click 3Q/2007, click
Key elements of successful PM pro-
grams. . . . ccj
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