Residual lifetime assessment of thermal power plant superheater header

Abstract This paper highlights a case study of typical premature failure of a radiant platen superheater tube of 210 MW thermal power plant boiler. Visual examination, dimensional measurement and chemical analysis, are conducted as part of the investigations. Apart from these, metallographic analysis and fractography are also conducted to ascertain the probable cause of failure. Finally it has been concluded that the premature failure of the super heater tube can be attributed to localized creep at high temperature. The corrective actions has also been suggested to avoid this type of failure in near future.

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Failure Investigation of Radiant Platen Superheater Tube of Thermal Power Plant Boiler

The pressure reducer desuperheater (PRDS) pipeline is used for reducing the pressure and desuperheating of the steam in different auxiliary pipeline. When the PRDS pipeline is failed, the reliability of the boiler is affected. This paper investigates the probable cause/causes of failure of the PRDS tapping line. In that context, visual inspection, outside diameter and wall thickness measurement, chemical analysis, metallographic examination and hardness measurement are conducted as part of the investigative studies. Apart from these tests, mechanical testing and fractographic analysis are also conducted as supplements. Finally, it has been concluded that the PRDS pipeline has mainly failed due to graphitization due to prolonged exposure of the pipe at higher temperature. The improper material used is mainly responsible for premature failure of the pipe.

Failure Analysis of PRDS Pipe in a Thermal Power Plant Boiler

Electricity generation from renewable energy sources is emerging as a result of global carbon emission reduction policies. However, most renewable energy sources are non-dispatchable and cannot be adjusted to meet the fluctuating electricity demands of society. A flexible operation process has been proposed as an effective solution to compensate for the unstable nature of renewable energy sources. Thermal load fluctuations during flexible operation may cause creep-fatigue damage to the high-temperature components of thermal power plants, as they are designed with a focus on creep damage under a constant power level. This study investigated the residual life of high-temperature components, such as a superheater tube and a reheater header, to failure under flexible operation conditions using finite element analysis and empirical models. First, we determine an analytical solution for the straightened superheater tube under thermal conditions and compare it with the numerical solution to verify the numerical models. Through the verified finite element model, the creep-fatigue life of the reheater header is estimated by considering flexible operation factors and employing the Coffin-Manson and Larson-Miller models. Although fatigue damage increases with decreasing minimum load and ramp rate, we confirmed that creep damage significantly affects the residual life during flexible operation. In addition, a surrogate model was proposed to evaluate the residual life of the reheater as a function of the flexible operation factors using the machine learning methodology, based on the results of finite element methods. It can be used to predict its residual life without performing complex thermal-structure analysis and relying on empirical models for fatigue and creep life. We expect our findings to contribute to the efficient operation of thermal power plants by optimizing the flexible operation factors. 

Effect of Flexible Operation on Residual Life of High-Temperature Components of Power Plants

During the inspection of the heating surface of No. 2 boiler in a thermal power plant, it was found that the fins of the thin tube in the middle partition wall were cracked. In order to find out the cause of fin cracking, a comprehensive experimental study was carried out on the thin tube of middle partition wall with fin cracking by means of appearance analysis, mechanical property analysis, chemical composition analysis and metallographic microstructure detection. The results showed that the fin cracking of thin tube in the middle wall of Chen 2 boiler was due to the large stress on the thin tube in the middle wall caused by the poor expansion of the tube screen during the operation, and finally the fin weld root which was easy to produce stress concentration cracks. It was recommended to find out the causes of the poor expansion of the thinning pipe of the middle partition wall on site, and at the same time, focused on the root of the nearby tube panel fin weld to check whether there was any cracking, and replaced the defects in time to prevent the similar cracking failure from happening again.

Analysis of the Cracking of the Fins of the Thin Tube in the Middle Partition Wall of the Boiler

This investigation was primarily aimed to examine the failure of a platen superheater outlet header of a 210MW thermal power plant. Preliminary macroscopic examinations along with detailed scanning electron microscopic and finite element modeling studies were carried out to understand the probable cause of failure. In addition, chemical analysis, microstructural characterization, evaluation of mechanical properties are the necessary supplements to understand the reason for the failure. Finally, it was concluded that start stop transients, temperature fluctuations during operation (minor in magnitude, but large in number), abnormal thermal shocks (few but severe) and design deficiency are considered as possible causes of formation of thermal fatigue cracks in the ligament region of the investigated platen superheater outlet header.

Failure investigation of Platen Superheater Outlet Header

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Failure investigation of Platen Superheater Outlet Header