Scribd Logo
Upload

Welcome to Scribd!

  • 136 views

    TETRA HRSG Tube Failure Statistics White Paper

    Uploaded by

    MohEladib
    This white paper discusses heat recovery steam generator (HRSG) tube failures. It analyzes failure data from over 86 HRSG sites to identify common failure locations and mechanisms. Superheater and reheater tubes accounted for nearly 50% of failures. The most common failure mechanisms were creep, fatigue, and creep-fatigue, together representing 40% of failures. Corrosion-related failures such as underdeposit attack accounted for 23% of failures. The data indicates that hot-end components like superheaters and reheaters are most prone to failures from thermal stresses and movements.

    Copyright:

    © All Rights Reserved
    Download as PDF, TXT or read online from Scribd

    TETRA HRSG Tube Failure Statistics White Paper

    Uploaded by

    MohEladib
    136 views3 pages
    This white paper discusses heat recovery steam generator (HRSG) tube failures. It analyzes failure data from over 86 HRSG sites to identify common failure locations and mechanisms. Superheater and reheater tubes accounted for nearly 50% of failures. The most common failure mechanisms were creep, fatigue, and creep-fatigue, together representing 40% of failures. Corrosion-related failures such as underdeposit attack accounted for 23% of failures. The data indicates that hot-end components like superheaters and reheaters are most prone to failures from thermal stresses and movements.

    Original Description:

    hrsg tube failure

    Copyright

    © © All Rights Reserved

    Available Formats

    PDF, TXT or read online from Scribd

    Did you find this document useful?

    Is this content inappropriate?

    This white paper discusses heat recovery steam generator (HRSG) tube failures. It analyzes failure data from over 86 HRSG sites to identify common failure locations and mechanisms. Superheater and reheater tubes accounted for nearly 50% of failures. The most common failure mechanisms were creep, fatigue, and creep-fatigue, together representing 40% of failures. Corrosion-related failures such as underdeposit attack accounted for 23% of failures. The data indicates that hot-end components like superheaters and reheaters are most prone to failures from thermal stresses and movements.

    Copyright:

    © All Rights Reserved
    Download as PDF, TXT or read online from Scribd
    Download as pdf or txt
    136 views3 pages

    TETRA HRSG Tube Failure Statistics White Paper

    Uploaded by

    MohEladib
    This white paper discusses heat recovery steam generator (HRSG) tube failures. It analyzes failure data from over 86 HRSG sites to identify common failure locations and mechanisms. Superheater and reheater tubes accounted for nearly 50% of failures. The most common failure mechanisms were creep, fatigue, and creep-fatigue, together representing 40% of failures. Corrosion-related failures such as underdeposit attack accounted for 23% of failures. The data indicates that hot-end components like superheaters and reheaters are most prone to failures from thermal stresses and movements.

    Copyright:

    © All Rights Reserved
    Download as PDF, TXT or read online from Scribd
    Download as pdf or txt
    of 3

    White Paper on Technical Issues

    Heat Recovery Steam Generator (HRSG) Tube Failures


    Introduction
    Tetra Engineering Group, Inc. (TETRA) has assisted the owners of natural gas-fired combined cycle
    plants with effective remedies to HRSG thermal performance and integrity issues since 1993. Over
    that time, TETRA inspected hundreds of HRSGs of all types and sizes from nearly every HRSG
    manufacturer and performed numerous failure analyses on HRSG components.
    Heat Recovery Steam Generators
    Heat Recovery Steam Generator (HRSG) tubes are the interface where useful energy from the waste
    heat contained in gas turbine exhaust is used to generate steam. HRSGs have undergone substantial
    changes in design over the past 20 years as the technology matured, starting from small single-
    pressure units driven by aeroderivative gas turbines to today’s large triple-pressure units with reheat
    running steam pressures in the high-subcritical region [1], not to mention the various once-through
    designs. Besides fundamental design differences, modern HRSGs are also subject to a wider range of
    duty in power applications. Baseload operation was normal for earlier HRSGs, but today’s deregulated
    electric power market imposes that many new large HRSGs cycle or operate in flexible duty.
    The relatively simple design and less severe operating conditions than in radiant boilers running with
    coal or oil create a more benign environment for the HRSG heat exchanger tubes. Nonetheless, failures
    do happen, and of particular concern are tube failures, which are not uncommon. Modern demands
    on HRSGs has effectively driven them to see many of the tube failures that occurred on radiant boilers,
    with some differences.
    When TETRA published the Tube Failure Diagnostic Guide in 2004, the authors anticipated the higher
    pressures and temperatures that emerging HRSG designs would impose on tubes. The result would be
    greater risk of high temperature damage due to creep, corrosion fatigue and damage due to stresses
    that result from differential thermal expansion. TETRA’s observations over the last 15 years have
    largely confirmed that prediction.
    Tube Failure Statistics
    Tube failures occur in all heat exchanger modules, from the cold-end economizers to the hot-end
    superheaters and reheaters, but the most prevalent types of damage mechanism in each area will be
    different. The nature of service (base load or cycling), fuel type and water quality will also influence
    the frequency of occurrence for a given damage mechanism. Mechanisms include: Creep, Fatigue,
    Creep-Fatigue, Underdeposit Attack, Flow-Accelerated Corrosion (FAC), Mechanical Erosion, Stress-
    Corrosion Cracking (SCC), Overheating and Mechanical (Tensile) Overload.
    So Which Failure Modes Are Most Common?
    Very few comprehensive statistics have been published on failure locations and damage mechanism
    in modern HRSGs. To gain insight into frequency and types of failures, Tetra Engineering has compiled
    statistics from internal company projects on tube failure locations in HRSGs from 86 different sites in
    North/South America, Europe, Middle East and Asia. The data covers roughly 8 years of TETRA projects
    and is summarized in Figure 1 and Figure 2. Although it is not an exhaustive accounting of all projects
    in the period, it does provide a useful indication of the frequency of occurrence of failures by HRSG
    location and by mechanism. Superheater and Reheater tubes are the most prominent tube types in
    our assessments, accounting for close to 50% of all the failures. That’s probably influenced by the fact
    that these tube failures are the biggest ‘surprises’. With steam tubes making up nearly half of the
    numbers, its no wonder that creep and fatigue (separately and combined) are the two most common
    failure mechanisms, representing 40% of all failures. Corrosion in its various forms (such as cold-end
    corrosion or under-deposit attack) represent 23% of the failures. Flow-Accelerated Corrosion was the
    cause of failure in only 8% of the failures investigated (although failures sometimes continue to happen
    after the cause and solution has been identified).
    White Paper on Technical Issues – HRSG Tube Failures

    Failure Locations

    SuperHeater
    5% 14%
    Reheater 24%
    HP Economizer
    LP Economizer 8%
    HP Evaporator 12%
    LP Evaporator 24%
    PreHeater 8%
    Other Tubes 5%

    Figure 1: Failure locations

    Tube Failure Statistics


    Creep
    5% 10%
    Fatigue
    14%
    Corrosion
    8% 23%
    Fabrication
    Defect 10%
    Tensile Overload
    10% 23%
    FAC

    Other

    Creep-Fatigue

    Figure 2: Tube Failure mechanisms

    Conclusion
    A sizeable sampling of the tube failure mechanisms and locations identified in projects performed by
    TETRA over recent years shows that hot-end components are the biggest problem area, with nearly
    half the failures investigated occurring in these tube locations. This is consistent with the observed
    failure mechanisms where creep, creep-fatigue and fatigue account for close to 40% of the failures.
    The occurrence of fatigue failures is most common in components subject to high thermal stresses and
    movements, i.e. such as the superheater and reheater tubes. The relatively low frequency of FAC
    failures is somewhat surprising given the amount of attention it receives. Unless a HRSG design is at
    fault, Tetra’s clients don’t often see repeat failures of FAC, because the remedies are generally well-
    understood.
    White Paper on Technical Issues – HRSG Tube Failures

    Bibliography

    [1] D. Moelling, P. Jackson et F. Anderson, HRSG Tube Failure Diagnostic Guide - 2nd edition, Tetra
    Engineering Group Inc, 2004.

    You might also like