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, in Wilmington,
Delaware. Heworks inthefieldof industrial andutilitysteamcycle
corrosion, water andsteamchemistry, reliability, andfailureanalysis.
After periods of R&D at Lehigh University and engineering
practiceatWestinghouseSteamTurbineDivision, Dr. J onasstarted
hiscompanyin1983. Thecompanyisinvolvedintroubleshooting,
R&D (EPRI, GE, Alstom), failureanalysis, andintheproduction
of special instrumentsandsamplingsystems.
Dr. J onas has a Ph.D. degree (Power Engineering) fromthe
Czech Technical University. He is a registered Professional
Engineer intheStatesof DelawareandCalifornia.
LeeMachemer isaSenior Engineer atJ onas, Inc., inWilmington,
Delaware. Hehas13yearsof experiencewithindustrial andutility
steam cycle corrosion, steam cycle and water chemistry, and
failureanalysis.
Mr. Machemer received a B.S. degree(Chemical Engineering)
fromtheUniversity of Delawareand is a registered Professional
Engineer intheStateof Delaware.
ABSTRACT
This tutorial paper discusses the basics of corrosion, steam
and deposit chemistry, and turbineand steamcycledesign and
operationas they relate to steam turbine problems and
problemsolutions.
Major steam turbine problems, such as stress corrosion
crackingof rotorsanddiscs, corrosionfatigueof blades, pitting,
and flow accelerated corrosion are analyzed, and their root
causesandsolutionsdiscussed. Alsocoveredare: lifeprediction,
inspection, andturbinemonitoring. Casehistories aredescribed
for utilityandindustrial turbines, withdescriptionsof rootcauses
andengineeringsolutions.
INTRODUCTION
This tutorial paper discusses steamturbinecorrosionanddepo-
sition problems, their root causes, and solutions. It also reviews
designandoperation, materials, andsteamanddeposit chemistry.
Referencesareprovidedat theendof thepaper.
Withanincreaseof generatingcapacityandpressureof individ-
ual utilityunitsinthe1960sand70s, theimportanceof largesteam
turbinereliability andefficiency increased. Theassociatedturbine
sizeincreaseanddesignchanges (i.e., larger rotors anddiscs and
longer blades) resulted in increased stresses and vibration
problems and in the use of higher strength materials (Scegljajev,
1983; McCloskey, 2002; Sanders, 2001). Unacceptable failure
rates of mostly blades anddiscs resultedininitiationof numerous
projectstoinvestigatetheroot causesof theproblems(McCloskey,
2002; Sanders, 2001; Cotton, 1993; J onas, 1977, 1985a, 1985c,
1987; EPRI, 1981, 1983, 1995, 1997d, 1998a, 2000a, 2000b, 2001,
2002b, 2002c; J onasandDooley, 1996, 1997; ASME, 1982, 1989;
Speidel and Atrens, 1984; Atrens, et al., 1984). Some of these
problems persist today. Cost of corrosion studies (EPRI, 2001a,
Syrett, et al., 2002; Syrett andGorman, 2003) andstatistics(EPRI,
1985b, 1997d; NERC, 2002) determined that amelioration of
turbine corrosion is urgently needed. Same problems exist in
smaller industrial turbines and the same solutions apply
(Scegljajev, 1983; McCloskey, 2002; Sanders, 2001; Cotton, 1993;
J onas, 1985a, 1987; EPRI, 1987a, 1998a; J onasandDooley, 1997).
The corrosion mechanisms active in turbines (stress corrosion
cracking, corrosion fatigue, pitting, flow-accelerated corrosion)
areshowninFigure1.
Figure1. CorrosionMechanismsActiveinSteamTurbines.
Purpose, Design, andOperationof SteamTurbines
Thesteamturbineis thesimplest andmost efficient enginefor
convertinglargeamountsof heat energyintomechanical work. As
thesteamexpands, it acquireshighvelocityandexertsforceonthe
turbineblades. Turbinesrangeinsizefromafewkilowattsfor one
stage units to 1300 MW for multiple-stage multiple-component
units comprising high-pressure, intermediate-pressure, and up to
three low-pressure turbines. For mechanical drives, single- and
double-stage turbines are generally used. Most larger modern
turbines are multiple-stage axial flow units. Figure 2 shows a
typical tandem-compound turbinewith acombined high pressure
(HP), intermediatepressure(IP) turbine, andatwo-flowlow-pressure
(LP) turbine. Table1(EPRI, 1998a) providesalternateterminology
for several turbinecomponents.
211
STEAMTURBINE CORROSION
ANDDEPOSITSPROBLEMSANDSOLUTIONS
by
Otakar J onas
Consultant
and
LeeMachemer
Senior Engineer
J onas, Inc.
Wilmington, Delaware
Figure2. Typical TandemCompound, SingleReheat, Condensing
Turbine. (Courtesyof EPRI, 1998a)
Table1. AlternateTerminologyfor TurbineComponents.
Steamentersfromthemainsteamlinesthroughstopandcontrol
valvesintotheHPsection. Thefirst(control) stageisspacedslightly
apart fromsubsequent stages to allowfor stabilization of theflow.
After passingthroughtheHP turbine, coldreheat pipingcarriesthe
steamtothereheater (if present) andreturnsinthehot reheat piping
to theintegratedHP andIP cylinder to pass throughtheIP turbine
section. Theflowexits theIP turbinethrough theIP exhaust hood
andthenpassesthroughcrossover pipingtotheLP turbineandexits
tothecondenser throughtheLP exhaust. Thetypical modernsteam
turbine has a number of extraction points throughout all sections
wherethesteamisusedtosupply heat tothefeedwater heaters.
Duringits expansionthroughtheLP turbine, thesteamcrosses
thesaturationline. Theregionwherecondensationbegins, termed
the phase transition zone (PTZ) or Wilson line (Cotton, 1993;
EPRI, 1997c, 1998a, 2001b), is the location where corrosion
damagehas been observed. In singlereheat turbines at full load,
thiszoneisusually at theL-1stage, whichisalsointhetransonic
flowregion where, at thesonic velocity (Mach =1), sonic shock
waves can be a source of blade excitation and cyclic stresses
causing fatigue or corrosion fatigue (EPRI, 1997c; J onas, 1994,
1997; Stastny, et al., 1997; Petr, et al., 1997).
Design
Because of their long design life, steamturbines go through
limited prototype testing where the long-termeffects of material
degradation, such as corrosion, creep, and low-cycle fatigue,
cannotbefullysimulated. Inthepast, whendevelopmentwasslow,
relativelylong-termexperiencewastransferredintonewproducts.
Withnewturbinetypes, larger sizes, newpower cycles, andwater
treatmentpracticescomingfastinthelast25years, experiencewas
short and limited, and problems developed, which need to be
correctedandconsideredinnewdesignsandredesigns. Whilethe
turbineseemstobeasimplemachine, itsdesign, includingdesign
against corrosion, iscomplex.
Therearefiveareasof designthat affect turbinecorrosion:
Mixedtunedbladerowstoreducerandomexcitation.
Lower stressandstressconcentrationsincreasingresistanceto
SCC andCF.
Flowpathdesignusingcomputerizedflowdynamicsandviscous
flowlower flow induced vibration, which reduces susceptibility
toCF.
Newmaterialsfor bladepinsandboltingresistantagainstSCC.
Maximumservicesteady stressesandstressconcentrations.
Flowinducedvibrationanddeposition.
STEAMTURBINE CORROSION
ANDDEPOSITSPROBLEMSANDSOLUTIONS
Innewdesignsandredesignsof turbinecomponents, useshould
be made of the new design tools, including 3D finite element
stress and vibration analysis and 3D viscous flow analysis, and
consideration of condensation and impurity behavior. Blade
resonancefrequenciesshouldbeverifiedbytelemetry. Toensurea
corrosion-freedesign, acorrosion engineer and achemist should
beconsultedduringthedesignactivity.
Thefollowingshouldbeconsideredindesignof steamturbines:
CrevicesCrevicescanact asimpuritytrapsandconcentrators,
facilitate formation of oxygen concentration cells, and may
generatehighstresses by theoxidegrowthmechanism. Theworst
crevicesarethosewithcorrosiveimpuritiesandmetal temperature
within the salt zone. Some disc bore and keyway and blade
tenon-shroudcrevicesfall intothiscategory.
GalvaniceffectsWhendissimilar materialsarecoupledtogether,
corrosionof bothmaterialscanbeaffectedbytheassociatedshift in
corrosion potentials into the stress corrosion cracking (SCC) or
pitting regions. The more active of the two materials may suffer
galvanic corrosion. In addition, in some environments, the
potential shift could beinto theregion whereoneof thecoupled
materialsissusceptibletostresscorrosioncrackingor pitting.
Precipitationfromsuperheatedsteamanddeposition.
Concentrationonoxidesby sorption.
Nonhomogeneousnucleationof concentrateddropletsandcrystals
onsurfaces.
Dissolvedimpuritiesdeposit fromsuperheatedsteamwhentheir
concentrationexceedstheir solubilities, whichsharplydecreasesas
thesteamexpands. Dependingontheir vapor pressure, theycanbe
present as a dry salt or an aqueous solution. In the wet steam
region, they areeither dilutedby moistureor couldconcentrateby
evaporationonhot surfaces.
Theregionof passivity for ironandlowalloy andcarbonsteels
isnarrow, fallingwithinthepH rangeof 6to10. SincepH control
inapower plant ismostly for theprotectionof thepreboiler cycle
and the boiler, it often does not match the needs of the turbine
surfaces. ThepHintheturbinedependsontemperature, mechanical
and vaporous carryover of impurities, and water treatment
chemicalsfromtheboiler andtheir volatility(distributionbetween
thevapor andthesurfacefilm).
Whenhydrochloricacidformsincycleswithammoniaall-volatile
treatment (by decompositionof chlorinatedorganics, Cl
leakage
frompolishers, or seawater or other cooling water leakagein the
condenser), ammoniumchlorideforms in thewater, and theacid
may beneutralized. However, becauseof itsvolatility, ammonium
chloride is transported with steam into the turbine where it
hydrolyzes, formingNH
3
gasandHCl.
Deposits on turbine surfaces in units with sodium phosphate
boiler water treatment (most drumboilers) areless corrosive(J onas
andSyrett, 1987; EPRI, 1984b; J onas, 1985d). Sodiumphosphateis
a better neutralizing agent through the cycle; fewer acids are
transported into the turbine and phosphate frequently codeposits
with harmful impurities, providing in-situ neutralization and
passivation. This is most likely the reason for lower frequency of
turbine corrosion in systems with phosphate water treatments.
Measurementsof pittingpotential of discandbladingalloysconfirm
thebeneficial effectsof sodiumphosphateinthepresenceof NaCl.
Besides the corrosion during operation, turbines can corrode
during manufacture (corrosive products from machining fluids,
exposure to tool tip temperatures), storage (airborne corrosive
impurities, preservatives containing Cl and S), erection (airborne
impurities, preservatives, cleaning fluids), chemical cleaning
(storage of acid in hotwells), nondestructive testing (chlorinated
cleaning and NDT fluids), and layup (deposits plus humid air).
Manyof thesecorrosivesubstancesmaycontainhighconcentrations
of sulfur andchloridethat couldformacids upondecomposition.
Decomposition of typical organics, such as carbon tetrachloride
occursat about 300F (150C). Thecompositionof all of theabove
compounds should becontrolled (maximumof 50 to 100 ppmS
andCl eachhasbeenrecommended), andmost of themshouldbe
removedbeforeoperation.
Molybdenum disulfide, MoS
2
, has been implicated as a
corrodent in power systemapplications (Turner, 1974; Newman,
1974). It can cause stress corrosion cracking of superalloys and
steels by producingan acidic environment. Its oxidation products
form low pH solutions of molybdic acid and even ammonium
molybdate, whichcanformduringoperation, causingrapidattack
of turbinesteels. MoS
2
has beenusedas athreadlubricant andin
theprocess of disc-rotor assemblingwhenthediscs arepreheated
and shrunk on the rotors. Analysis of disc bore and keyway
surfaces oftenreveals thepresenceof molybdenumandsulfur. In
steam, MoS
2
reduces thenotchstrengthof disc steel, to about 30
percent of itsstrengthinair. It hasalsobeenimplicatedinbolt and
rotor shaft failures.
Layupcorrosionof unprotectedturbinesincreasesrapidlywhenthe
relativehumidity of air reachesabout 60percent. Whensalt deposits
arepresent, pitting during unprotected layup is rapid. Pit growth in
turbinebladeandrotor alloysinchloride-metal oxidemixturesinwet
air isabout asfast asinaboilingdeaerated28percent NaCl solution.
Turbinelayupprotectionbycleandryair isrecommended.
Progress incontrollingturbinecorrosionthroughbetter control
of thesteamchemistry includes(J onas, 1982, 1985d, 1994; EPRI,
1984b, 1986, 1994a, 1994c, 1997b, 1997c, 1998b, 1998c, 1999,
2002a; J onas, et al., 1993, 2000; J onas and Syrett, 1987;
Schleithoff, 1984, Progressin..., 1981):
Decreasingconcentrationof corrosiveimpuritiesinmakeupand
feedwater, lower air inleakageandcondenser leakage, etc.
Layupprotection.
Residual machiningstresses.
Nonuniformflows.
Bladevibrationinducedfromavibratingrotor or disc.
Self-excitationsuchasflutter.
Randomexcitation-resonancewithadjacent blades.
Bad blade design with wrong incidence flow angle and flow
separation.
Elevated concentrations of steam impurities (particularly of
chloride, sodium, and sulfate) and the resulting deposition and
concentrationby evaporationof moistureareunderlyingcausesof
corrosion fatigue. When feedwater, boiler water, and steam
impurity levels exceed recommended limits, cycle chemistry can
beacontributor or eventheroot cause. Poor shutdownandlayup
procedures are primary contributors to aggressive environments
that canleadto pittingandcorrosionfatigue. Highsteamsodium
or cation conductivity may indicate conditions that can lead to
rapid accumulation of deposits and concentrated liquid films on
bladesurfaces.
Solutions
Thesolutionstobladecorrosionfatigueproblemsinclude:
Designwithfrictiondamping.
Improvement of steamchemistry.
Long-termactionsfor dealingwithcorrosionfatiguebeginwith
economic and remaining life assessments. Depending upon the
severityof theproblemandthecoststoeliminateit, somesolutions
maynotbepractical for all circumstances. Theavailableprevention
strategies fall into four main categories: redesigning thebladeto
reduce resonance, redesigning the blade or attachment to reduce
stresslevels, improvingsteampurity, and/or changingthematerial
or surface(better surfacefinish, shot peening) of theblade.
Stressreductionoptionsinclude:
Increasingthedampingof theblades.
Wet steamextractionpipesandextractionslots.
Casings.
Disc pressurebalanceholes.
Leakinghorizontal joint.
Transitionbetweenthestationary bladesandthebladering.
Whilemostcasesof flow-acceleratedcorrosiondamageareslow
to develop and are found during scheduled inspections, FAC of
piping and turbine casing horizontal joints can lead to leaks and
FAC of rotorsanddiscscaninitiatecracking.
Root Causes
Root causes of FAC in theturbine(EPRI, 1996, 1998a; J onas,
1985b) include:
Locally highflowvelocitiesandturbulence.
Highmoisturecontent of thesteam.
LowpH of moisturedroplets.
Water/steamimpurities.
Solutions
It is recommended that acomprehensiveFAC control program
be implemented, including an evaluation of the most susceptible
pipingandother components(EPRI, 1996). Areasof local thinning
need to be periodically inspected and repaired. Approaches to
piping repair include replacement with low alloy steels, weld
overlay, and plasmaarc and flamespraying to protect susceptible
surfaces. Thematerial appliedshouldhavehighchromiumcontent.
If a component is replaced, the material of the new component
should contain some chromium. For example, carbon steel pipe
should be replaced with 1.25 percent or higher chromiumsteel.
Little can be done about changing the moisture concentration in
fossil turbines. Steam chemistry improvements through better
control of feedwater andboiler water chemistry, suchasreduction
of organic acids, could result in increase of pH of the early
condensateandlessFAC (EPRI, 1997b, 1997c, 1999).
PROCEEDINGSOFTHETHIRTY-SEVENTHTURBOMACHINERY SYMPOSIUM2008 222
Treatment of feedwater, such as maintaining high pH levels
(above 9.6) and elevated oxygen concentrations, can also reduce
FAC intheturbine.
Other Phenomena(Noncorrosion)
Although not specifically corrosion related, there are other
problems that occur in steam turbines including: deposition on
bladesurfaces; water dropleterosionof wetstageblades; lowcycle
thermal fatigueof heavyhightemperaturesectionsof rotor, casing,
and pipes; solid particleerosion of turbineinlets and valves; and
water inductionandwater hammer.
DepositiononBladeSurfaces
Deposits are the result of impurities in the feedwater, boiler
water, andattemperatingwater beingcarriedover into theturbine
(J onasandDooley, 1997; EPRI, 1997b, 2001b; J onas, et al., 1993;
J onas, 1985d). All impurities are soluble in superheated and wet
steamand their solubility depends on pressure and temperature.
The steam leaving the steam generator is at the highest steam
pressure and temperature in the cycle. As it passes through the
turbine, the pressure and temperature decrease, the steamloses
its ability to hold the impurities in solution, and the impurities
precipitateanddeposit ontheturbinebladesandelsewhere.
The main impurities found in turbine deposits are magnetite,
sodiumchloride, andsilica. It takesonlyafewhoursof achemical
upset, suchas amajor condenser leak or aboiler carryover event,
to build up deposits, but it takes thousands of hours of operation
withpuresteamtoremovethem.
The impact of deposits on turbine performance is the most
pronounced in the HP section. Performance loss depends on
deposit thickness, their location(steampressure), andtheresulting
surface roughness (EPRI 2001b). Deposits will change the basic
profile of the nozzle partitions resulting in losses caused by
changes inflow, energy distribution, andaerodynamic profiles, as
well as by surfaceroughness effects. Thesechanges can result in
large megawatt and efficiency losses. With replacement power
typicallyover $100/MWhandcostingasmuchas$7000per MWh
inthesummer of 1998, thesavings fromreducingthis deposition
canbevery high.
IntheLP turbine, deposits areoftencorrosive, they canchange
theresonant frequency of blades, increasethecentrifugal loadon
blade shrouds and tenons and, in the transonic stages, they can
influencethegenerationof shock waves.
SolutionsOptimization of cycle chemistry (J onas, 1982,
Progress in..., 1981; EPRI, 1986, 1994c, 1998b, 1998c; 1985d,
2002a; J onas, etal., 2000, 2007; ASME, 2002) istheeasiestmethod
for reducing impurity transport and deposition. Theoptimal cycle
chemistry will result inreducedcorrosionandminimizedimpurity
transport. Thisisespeciallyimportantif copper alloysarepresentin
thesystembecausetheoptimal feedwater pH for copper alloysand
ferrousmaterialsarenotthesameandtheincorrectpHcanresultin
highlevelsof ironor copper transport. Other methodsfor managing
depositiononbladesurfacesinclude:
ThresholdstressrequiredtoinitiateSCC inbladeattachments.
Effectsof bladetrailingedgeerosiononcracking.
Acceleratedstresscorrosiontesting.