Failure Investigation of an In-service Steam Boiler

Okpala Alexander Nwachukwu; Burubai Woyengi-Ebinipre

doi:doi:10.11648/j.ajmme.20170103.12

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Failure Investigation of an In-service Steam Boiler

Okpala Alexander Nwachukwu, Burubai Woyengi-Ebinipre

Published in American Journal of Mechanical and Materials Engineering (Volume 1, Issue 3)

Received: 25 April 2017 Accepted: 25 May 2017 Published: 10 July 2017

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Abstract

Failure investigation was carried out on a refinery steam boiler had a history of good performance with few leakages and damages that were successfully weld repaired. The steam boiler tubes were observed to have developed several perforations / punctures on numerous furnace chamber tubes, twenty two years after commissioning. In the course of the investigation, background data and history of failure were collected with available photographic evidences, visual examination, low magnification examination, chemical analysis, SEM analysis, EDS analysis, macrostructure examination, microstructure examination, tensile test hardness and micro-hardness tests. It was concluded that the failure of the tubes were due to upsets in the water chemistry that has promoted caustic gouging from ID at localized places. Adjustments to boiler water chemistry which should be made to maintain strict congruent phosphate pH control was then recommended.

Published in	American Journal of Mechanical and Materials Engineering (Volume 1, Issue 3)
DOI	10.11648/j.ajmme.20170103.12
Page(s)	69-77
Creative Commons	This is an Open Access article, distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits unrestricted use, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format, provided the original work is properly cited.
Copyright	Copyright © The Author(s), 2024. Published by Science Publishing Group

Keywords

Caustic, Gouging, Perforations, Steam, Boiler, Tubes, Microstructure

References

[1]	ASTM E3 – 01 Standard Guide for Preparation of Metallographic Specimens, ASTM International, West Conshohocken, PA, 2004.
[2]	Babcock and Wilcox (2005), Boiler tube Analysis, Babcock and Wilcox Power Generation group, p1.
[3]	Chumbley, L. S. and Hanke, L. D (1986), Scanning Electron Spectroscopy, Failure Analysis and Prevention, Vol 11, ASM Handbook, American Society for Metals, pp 1072-1096.
[4]	Daniel, L. C. N, Jansen Renato, Edibeto Bastos, Adrina Rocha and Ibrahim Abud (2010), stress and integrity analysis of a steam super heater tubeof a high pressure boiler, Materials Research, Vol 7, No. 1, Brazil.
[5]	Douglas Bain and David Christophersen (2010), Some Common Mechanisms Leading to Failures in Heat Recovery Steam generators, http://www.veoliawatertech.com/crownsolutions/ressources /documents/2/21809, NACE-HRSG-Failure-Analysis.pdf.
[6]	Guat Peng and Norlia Berahim (2010), Failure analysis of Power Utility Boiler Tubes, Conference of Electrical Power Supply Industry- CEPSI Conference Proceedings, Taipei, PP 1-28.
[7]	TCR (2004), Failure and root cause analysis, a technical White paper, TCR Engineering, India, P8. http://tcradvanced.com/downloads/tcr-whitepaper-failure-analysis.pdf.
[8]	Corey Lehman (2015), Hot water and steam boiler water treatment: Avoiding tube and system failure performance loss, HPAC Engineering publication, http://hpac.com/heating/hot-water-and-steam-boiler-water-treatment.
[9]	GE Company (2012), Boiler System failure, G. E water and power publication, https://www.gewater.com/handbook /boiler_water_systems/ch_14_systemfailure.jsp.
[10]	TCR Advanced (2016), Boiler Tube Failure investigation, TCR Advanced Engineering publication, India, P4, http://www.tcreng.com/download/Boiler-Tube-Investigation.pdf.

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APA Style

Okpala Alexander Nwachukwu, Burubai Woyengi-Ebinipre. (2017). Failure Investigation of an In-service Steam Boiler. American Journal of Mechanical and Materials Engineering, 1(3), 69-77. https://doi.org/10.11648/j.ajmme.20170103.12

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ACS Style

Okpala Alexander Nwachukwu; Burubai Woyengi-Ebinipre. Failure Investigation of an In-service Steam Boiler. Am. J. Mech. Mater. Eng. 2017, 1(3), 69-77. doi: 10.11648/j.ajmme.20170103.12

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AMA Style

Okpala Alexander Nwachukwu, Burubai Woyengi-Ebinipre. Failure Investigation of an In-service Steam Boiler. Am J Mech Mater Eng. 2017;1(3):69-77. doi: 10.11648/j.ajmme.20170103.12

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@article{10.11648/j.ajmme.20170103.12,
  author = {Okpala Alexander Nwachukwu and Burubai Woyengi-Ebinipre},
  title = {Failure Investigation of an In-service Steam Boiler},
  journal = {American Journal of Mechanical and Materials Engineering},
  volume = {1},
  number = {3},
  pages = {69-77},
  doi = {10.11648/j.ajmme.20170103.12},
  url = {https://doi.org/10.11648/j.ajmme.20170103.12},
  eprint = {https://article.sciencepublishinggroup.com/pdf/10.11648.j.ajmme.20170103.12},
  abstract = {Failure investigation was carried out on a refinery steam boiler had a history of good performance with few leakages and damages that were successfully weld repaired. The steam boiler tubes were observed to have developed several perforations / punctures on numerous furnace chamber tubes, twenty two years after commissioning. In the course of the investigation, background data and history of failure were collected with available photographic evidences, visual examination, low magnification examination, chemical analysis, SEM analysis, EDS analysis, macrostructure examination, microstructure examination, tensile test hardness and micro-hardness tests. It was concluded that the failure of the tubes were due to upsets in the water chemistry that has promoted caustic gouging from ID at localized places. Adjustments to boiler water chemistry which should be made to maintain strict congruent phosphate pH control was then recommended.},
 year = {2017}
}

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TY  - JOUR
T1  - Failure Investigation of an In-service Steam Boiler
AU  - Okpala Alexander Nwachukwu
AU  - Burubai Woyengi-Ebinipre
Y1  - 2017/07/10
PY  - 2017
N1  - https://doi.org/10.11648/j.ajmme.20170103.12
DO  - 10.11648/j.ajmme.20170103.12
T2  - American Journal of Mechanical and Materials Engineering
JF  - American Journal of Mechanical and Materials Engineering
JO  - American Journal of Mechanical and Materials Engineering
SP  - 69
EP  - 77
PB  - Science Publishing Group
SN  - 2639-9652
UR  - https://doi.org/10.11648/j.ajmme.20170103.12
AB  - Failure investigation was carried out on a refinery steam boiler had a history of good performance with few leakages and damages that were successfully weld repaired. The steam boiler tubes were observed to have developed several perforations / punctures on numerous furnace chamber tubes, twenty two years after commissioning. In the course of the investigation, background data and history of failure were collected with available photographic evidences, visual examination, low magnification examination, chemical analysis, SEM analysis, EDS analysis, macrostructure examination, microstructure examination, tensile test hardness and micro-hardness tests. It was concluded that the failure of the tubes were due to upsets in the water chemistry that has promoted caustic gouging from ID at localized places. Adjustments to boiler water chemistry which should be made to maintain strict congruent phosphate pH control was then recommended.
VL  - 1
IS  - 3
ER  -

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Author Information

Okpala Alexander Nwachukwu

Department of Mechanical Engineering, Niger Delta University, Wilberforce Island, Nigeria
Burubai Woyengi-Ebinipre

Department of Agricultural & Environmental Engineering, Niger Delta University, Wilberforce Island, Nigeria

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APA Style

Okpala Alexander Nwachukwu, Burubai Woyengi-Ebinipre. (2017). Failure Investigation of an In-service Steam Boiler. American Journal of Mechanical and Materials Engineering, 1(3), 69-77. https://doi.org/10.11648/j.ajmme.20170103.12

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ACS Style

Okpala Alexander Nwachukwu; Burubai Woyengi-Ebinipre. Failure Investigation of an In-service Steam Boiler. Am. J. Mech. Mater. Eng. 2017, 1(3), 69-77. doi: 10.11648/j.ajmme.20170103.12

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AMA Style

Okpala Alexander Nwachukwu, Burubai Woyengi-Ebinipre. Failure Investigation of an In-service Steam Boiler. Am J Mech Mater Eng. 2017;1(3):69-77. doi: 10.11648/j.ajmme.20170103.12

Copy | Download

@article{10.11648/j.ajmme.20170103.12,
  author = {Okpala Alexander Nwachukwu and Burubai Woyengi-Ebinipre},
  title = {Failure Investigation of an In-service Steam Boiler},
  journal = {American Journal of Mechanical and Materials Engineering},
  volume = {1},
  number = {3},
  pages = {69-77},
  doi = {10.11648/j.ajmme.20170103.12},
  url = {https://doi.org/10.11648/j.ajmme.20170103.12},
  eprint = {https://article.sciencepublishinggroup.com/pdf/10.11648.j.ajmme.20170103.12},
  abstract = {Failure investigation was carried out on a refinery steam boiler had a history of good performance with few leakages and damages that were successfully weld repaired. The steam boiler tubes were observed to have developed several perforations / punctures on numerous furnace chamber tubes, twenty two years after commissioning. In the course of the investigation, background data and history of failure were collected with available photographic evidences, visual examination, low magnification examination, chemical analysis, SEM analysis, EDS analysis, macrostructure examination, microstructure examination, tensile test hardness and micro-hardness tests. It was concluded that the failure of the tubes were due to upsets in the water chemistry that has promoted caustic gouging from ID at localized places. Adjustments to boiler water chemistry which should be made to maintain strict congruent phosphate pH control was then recommended.},
 year = {2017}
}

Copy | Download

TY  - JOUR
T1  - Failure Investigation of an In-service Steam Boiler
AU  - Okpala Alexander Nwachukwu
AU  - Burubai Woyengi-Ebinipre
Y1  - 2017/07/10
PY  - 2017
N1  - https://doi.org/10.11648/j.ajmme.20170103.12
DO  - 10.11648/j.ajmme.20170103.12
T2  - American Journal of Mechanical and Materials Engineering
JF  - American Journal of Mechanical and Materials Engineering
JO  - American Journal of Mechanical and Materials Engineering
SP  - 69
EP  - 77
PB  - Science Publishing Group
SN  - 2639-9652
UR  - https://doi.org/10.11648/j.ajmme.20170103.12
AB  - Failure investigation was carried out on a refinery steam boiler had a history of good performance with few leakages and damages that were successfully weld repaired. The steam boiler tubes were observed to have developed several perforations / punctures on numerous furnace chamber tubes, twenty two years after commissioning. In the course of the investigation, background data and history of failure were collected with available photographic evidences, visual examination, low magnification examination, chemical analysis, SEM analysis, EDS analysis, macrostructure examination, microstructure examination, tensile test hardness and micro-hardness tests. It was concluded that the failure of the tubes were due to upsets in the water chemistry that has promoted caustic gouging from ID at localized places. Adjustments to boiler water chemistry which should be made to maintain strict congruent phosphate pH control was then recommended.
VL  - 1
IS  - 3
ER  -

Copy | Download