SUBJECT

METB113 ENGINEERING MATERIALS

PROJECT

TYPE OF CORROSION AND

CORROSION PREVENTION
TECHNIQUES USED IN POWER
GENERATING INDUSTRY

TITLE

POWER PLANT

NAME

PRAVIIN JAYAKUMAR

STUDENT ID

ME092616

Lecturer

MADAM SITI ZUBAIDAH BINTI OTHMAN

DEFINITION OF CORROSION
Corrosion is the deterioration of a metal as a result of chemical reactions
between it and the surrounding environment. Both the type of metal and the
environmental conditions, particularly what gases that are in contact with the
metal, determine the form and rate of deterioration. Corrosion of metals in power
plants is a commonly occurring phenomenon due to the continuous contact of the
metal with a corroding environment. Rusting, the formation of iron oxides, is a
well-known example of electrochemical corrosion. This type of damage typically
produces oxide(s) or salt(s) of the original metal. Corrosion can also occur in
materials other than metals, such as ceramics or polymers, although in this context,
the term degradation is more common. Corrosion degrades the useful properties of
materials and structures including strength, appearance and permeability to liquids
and gases.

IMPORTANCE OF CORROSION
The three main reasons for the importance of corrosion are: economics, safety,
and conservation. To reduce the economic impact of corrosion, corrosion engineers,
with the support of corrosion scientists, aim to reduce material losses, as
well as the accompanying economic losses, that result from the corrosion of
piping, tanks, metal components of machines, ships, bridges, marine structures,
and so on. Corrosion can compromise the safety of operating equipment by
causing failure (with catastrophic consequences) of, for example, pressure vessels,
boilers, metallic containers for toxic chemicals, turbine blades and rotors, bridges,
airplane components, and automotive steering mechanisms. Safety is a critical
consideration in the design of equipment for nuclear power plants and for disposal
of nuclear wastes. Loss of metal by corrosion is a waste not only of the
metal, but also of the energy, the water, and the human effort that was used to
produce and fabricate the metal structures in the fi rst place. In addition, rebuilding
corroded equipment requires further investment of all these resources metal, energy,
water, and human.

CORROSION IN POWER GENERATING INDUSTRY :

POWER PLANTS.
Corrosion in Nuclear Power Plants
Nuclear plants are designed for decades of operation. One of the challenges in
their maintenance is how to predict three types of phenomena related to corrosion:
i) Stress Corrosion Cracking

Stress corrosion cracking is the growth of cracks in metallic materials, enhanced

by both stress and corrosion. In this phenomenon, too, it is the properties of the
oxidised layer that affect the pace at which the degradation proceeds. As a result of
international collaboration and research carried out in Finland it has been possible
to develop increasingly accurate methods for predicting the progress of phenomena
related both to corrosion and stress corrosion cracking.

ii) Activity Build-up

Deposition of activated corrosion products onto the surfaces of the reactor cooling system. Metal
pipes, tubes, valves and other components housed in a nuclear power plant can be dramatically
affected by corrosion. Typically, the metal develops a protective coating that is under constant
attack by chemical fluctuations in the nuclear power process. Over time, the protective coating is
eroded. Localized pitting and structural weaknesses occur. If these are not detected, catastrophic
failure may result. CorrTran MV corrosion transmitters monitor online and real
time corrosion rates, and effectively measure localized pitting and corrosion, thus protecting the
nuclear power plant.

iii) Transpassive Corrosion

Another corrosion-related problem is a mechanism known as transpassive corrosion, which
affects in particular boiling-water reactors. In these reactors the coolant water at the reactor core
is strongly oxidising. Transpassive corrosion involves the dissolution of chromium from the
surface of stainless steel and nickel-base alloys. It is suspected that transpassive corrosion affects
the initiation of irradiation assisted stress corrosion cracking.

Prevention Techniques of Corrosion in Nuclear

Power Plants
Keeping Cracking in Check
A few years ago stress corrosion cracking of welded pipes made of stainless steel
was a worldwide problem in boiling-water reactors. As a result of international
collaboration this problem was detected at an early stage in Finland, and the cost of
the required renovation work was relatively low. The greatest stress corrosion
cracking challenge of today concerns parts that are affected by radiation in the
reactor. Irradiation assisted stress corrosion cracking is a process that advances
very slowly, taking years or even decades.
If indications of cracking are found during the annual refuelling outage, a decision
has to be made whether maintenance work will be carried out right away or
whether it can be postponed so that it can be included in the planned repair work
for the following year. The decision has to be based on sufficient knowledge of the
rate at which the crack grows.
Factors determining the speed of cracking are one of the main subjects of stress
corrosion research. This research is carried out in simulated power plant conditions
and facilitates the making of decisions about the urgency of maintenance tasks at
nuclear power plants.

Reducing Activity Build-up By Optimised Water Chemistry

Possible accumulation of activated corrosion products into the oxide films is a slow
process that may take years or even decades. It is usually monitored by
measurements carried out during the annual refuelling outage.
Monitoring techniques have been developed recently that can be used also while
the plant is producing power. Some of these methods have been commercialised
and delivered to power plants and process industries in several countries. At Finnish
nuclear power plants these systems are being used in monitoring tasks that will last
for several years. In laboratory studies the monitoring system is used in designing
optimal water chemistry conditions for a plant. Similarly, the system is used to
determine how changing water chemistry conditions affect a plants materials
during the shutdown and startup processes.

Vital Protective Layer

In nuclear power plants the temperature of the cooling water reaches about 300oC
and the pressure up to 120 bar. The pressure bearing components in contact with
the cooling water are made of stainless steel or nickel base alloys. Oxygen in water
reacts with the outermost layers of these metals, forming a thin oxide layer that
slows down further corrosion. Minor alloying elements added to the steel may
enhance the protectiveness of this layer. Corrosion products are released from the
thin metal oxide layer by the flow of the cooling water. These particles become
activated as they pass through the core of the reactor, and are deposited on the
inner surfaces of the pipes. The resulting activity build-up tends to make the
maintenance operations of nuclear plants more costly in the long run.

Corrosion in Hydropower Plants

A hydropower plant station uses the kinetic energy of falling water to produce electrical energy.
Water is stored behind a massive wall of concrete which retains water ina a valley to a high
level-called a dam. The water then released and flows downhill through turbines which drive
electrical generators. Gravitational potential energy is changed to kinetic energy, and then to
electrical energy
Hydropower converts kinetic energy from falling water into elec-tricity. As an
environmental benefit, the generation of hydropow-er produces no greenhouse gases or other
waste pollutants, nor does it generate any waste product which requires special han-dling or
disposal. However, the falling of water itself results inthe release of hydrogen sulfide, a highly
odorous gas which can be corrosive to metals in high concentrations. Concentrations of hydrogen
sulfide are so high at Paraiso, that employees working near the settling ponds are required to
wear gas masks to prevent toxic gas poisoning. Also affected are the concrete walk-ways
surrounding the settling ponds, which are deteriorating as a direct result of the corrosive gas.
When it was decided that the plant would undergo a modernization, the potential threat hydrogen
sulfide posed to new distributed control systems was not taken into consideration. Within three
days of installation, all corrosion failed due to corrosion.

Prevention Techniques of Corrosion in

Hydropower Plants
The demolition of the old deteriorated steel cooling water pipeline, fabrication of the new HDPE
spool units and their installation had to take place in a way that was both timely and organized
another reason prefabrication of the spools was an essential part of the project. Also, the
demolition and installation could not disrupt the power plant from its main function, therefore
only one of the plants generating units could be down at one time.ISCO Industries served as the
lead on the job, working in conjunction with a mechanical contractor and another contractor to
remove the old steel cooling pipe and then to replace it with the new prefabricated HDPE pipe
spool system.Demolition began on the existing pipe as soon as one of the power generating units
was shut down, secured and locked/tagged out. The fabrication of the new replacement HDPE
pipe took place at ISCOs facility during the time the existing steel pipeline was demol-ished.
The fabrication was timed in such a way that the spools arrived on site for installation as the old
pipe was removed. The HDPE pipe was installed above ground so it was necessary to fully use
the pipes bending radius to handle the unique situation. Unlike steel pipe, HDPE pipe is very
flexible.Once a new HDPE pipeline was installed, the unit was watered down and then brought
back online. This happened for each of the three spool units, one at a time, to avoid shut-ting
down more than one power generating unit during installation.All three spool units came online
without any issues or leaks. The project was completed safely and ahead of schedule. Now, the
power plant has a new, fully functioning HDPE pipe cooling system that will not rust or corrode.

Corrosion in Thermal Power Plants

Cold End Corrosion

Using fuels with sulfur in steam generating units yields a potential hazard of sulfur
corrosion at the cold end of the boiler. The severity depends on many factors like
percentage of sulfur in the fuel, excess air, moisture in flue gas, etc. Many options
are available to contain cold end corrosion
Boilers generating steam for use in power generation and process power plants use
different type of fuels. These fuels contain sulphur to differing percentages. The
higher the percentage of sulphur, the higher will be the risk of cold end corrosion
in the boiler. The sulphur in the fuel during combustion gets converted to sulphur
dioxide. Depending upon the other impurities present in the fuel and excess air
levels, some portion of the sulphur dioxide gets converted to sulphur trioxide. The
presence of moisture in the flue gas due to moisture in fuel and air, sulphur
dioxide, and trioxide, combines with moisture and forms sulphuric acid and
sulphuric acid. These acids condense from around 115 degree centigrade to slightly
higher than 160 degrees, depending upon the concentration of SO3 and watervapour.
Some of the other types of corrosion generally encountered in themal power plants
are:
i) Water/gas/acid corrosion
ii)High temperature corrosion
iii)Low temperature corrosion
iv)Oil-ish corrosion
v)Stress corrosion
vi)Fatigue corrosion

Prevention technique of cold end corrosion

There are many methods used world over to contain cold end corrosion. These
methods fall in the category of in-combustion reduction and post-combustion
reduction.
The in-combustion reduction methods include:

Burning low sulphur fuel

Low excess air burners
Fuel additives
Fluidized bed combustors
Going in for low sulphur fuel sometimes become economically unviable for the
process for which the steam generators are used. Today many low excess air
designs are available in the market. These burners adopt many ways to reduced
excess air requirement without affecting the unburnts in the flue gas after
combustion. Fuel oil additives like simple magnesium oxides are used to contain
cold end corrosion due to sulphur. The magnesium oxide is injected in to the
furnace or mixed with fuel which combines with sulphur oxides to form
magnesium sulphate. In fluidized bed combustors, lime addition is a simple
method used to reduce sulphur corrosion.

MOST COMMON TYPES OF CORROSION OCCUR IN

POWER PLANTS
Uniform Corrosion
Uniform corrosion is characterized by corrosive attack proceeding evenly over the entire
surfacearea, or a large fraction of the area of the metal under attack. Uniform
corrosion results in loss of material until failure. This is the most widespread form of corrosion
that is observed.

Pitting Corrosion
Pitting corrosion is a localized form of corrosion by which pits or "pin holes" are produced in
considered, to be more dangerous than uniform corrosion damage because it is more difficult to
predict and design against. Corrosion products often cover the pits making the detection often
very difficult. A small, narrow pit with minimal overall metal loss can lead to the failure of an
entire engineering system.

Crevice Corrosion
Crevice corrosion is a localized form of corrosion that occurs in the presence of stagnant solution
in a small (micro) crevice. Local chemistry change areas) such as those formed under gaskets,
washers, insulation material, fastener heads, surface deposits, disbonded coatings, threads, lap
joints and clamps, can result in crevice corrosion.

Galvanic Corrosion
Galvanic corrosion refers to corrosion damage induced when two dissimilar materials are
coupled in a corrosive electrolyte. It occurs when two (or more) dissimilar metals are brought
into electrical contact under water. When a galvanic couple forms, one of the metals in the
couple becomes the anode and corrodes faster than it would all by itself, while the other becomes
the cathode and corrodes slower than it would alone. Either (or both) metal in the couple may or
may not corrode by itself (themselves) in seawater.

Microbiologically Induced Corrosion (MIC)

Microbiologically Induced Corrosion or MIC refers to corrosion caused by biological organisms
or microbes. These microbes are categorized by common characteristics such as their byproducts (i.e., sludge producing) or compounds they effect (i.e. sulfur oxidizing). Theyall fall
into one of two groups based upon their oxygen requirements; one being aerobic (requires
oxygen) such as sulfur oxidizing bacteria, and the other being anaerobic, (requires little or no
oxygen), such as sulfate reducing bacteria.

MOST COMMON CORROSION PREVENTION TECHNIQUES USED IN

POWER GENERATING INDUSTRY
Electrochemical Characterisation methods
Linear sweep voltammetry (LSV) Linear sweep voltammetry or LSV is one of the most
commonly used methods for characterising corrosion phenomenon. It involves sweeping the
potential of the
working electrode and measuring the current response. With LSV one can obtain valuable
information regarding the corrosion mechanisms, corrosion rate and susceptibi
lity of specific materials to corrosion in various environments.
Electrochemical impedance spectroscopy (EIS)
In recent years Electrochemical Impedance Spectroscopy or EIS has been successfully applied to
the study of corrosion systems. One of the advantages of EIS over DC techni
ques is the possibility of using very small amplitude signals without significantly disturbing the
properties being measured.
Electrochemical Noise (ECN)
During localized corrosion electrochemical noise isgenerated by a combination of stochastic
(random) processes, such as breakdown of passive films and repassivation. ECN involves the
measurement of the current and/or potential noise and analysis of the data using Fast Fourier
Transform (FFT).

CONCLUSION
Hot corrosion & erosion are serious problems in power generation equipment, in gas
turbines for ships and aircrafts and in other energy conversion and chemical process systems and
should be either totally prevented or detected at an early stage to avoid catastrophic failure.
Application of a proper combination of preventive approaches should lead, in practice, to a
significant decrease in the number of failures due to hot corrosion. Hot corrosion and Erosion
preventive methods to the existing environment are (a) change of metal i.e. use of super alloy (b)
use of inhibitors and (c) use of coatings.
The development of modern coal fired power generation systems with higher thermal
efficiency requires the use of construction materials of higher strength and with improved
resistance to the aggressive service atmospheres. These requirements can be fulfilled by
protective coatings. At present, methods to minimize the extent of hot corrosion and erosion have
been identified; however considerable research effort is needed for application and quantitative
evaluation of these methods under consideration of interest in the coal-gasification processes.

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