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Abstract
Flow-accelerated corrosion (FAC) is a phenomenon that results in metal loss from piping, vessels and equipment made of carbon steel. It
occurs under conditions of ¯ow, geometry and material, which are common in high-energy piping and tubing in nuclear, fossil and industrial
power plants. Substantial progress has been made towards understanding the mechanism and in preventing FAC. This paper provides a
sprinkling of that knowledge with particular emphasis for fossil and industrial plants. q 2000 Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved.
Keywords: Flow-accelerated corrosion; Feedwater; Hydrazine
Table 3
Serious FAC failures in fossil plants from 1982 [3]
can become rapid: wall thinning rates as high as 3 mm/year This dissolution process is controlled by the oxidizing/
have occurred. The rate of metal loss depends on a complex reducing potential (ORP) of the water. Basically the more
interplay of many parameters including the feedwater chem- reducing the feedwater, the higher is the dissolution and
istry, the material composition, other materials in the feed- level of corrosion products measured in the feedwater.
water systems, and the ¯uid hydrodynamics. Under alkaline, deoxygenated (reducing) conditions the
The FAC process is an extension of the generalized corro- primary reaction of iron dissolution is inhibited by increas-
sion process of carbon steel in stagnant water. The major ing pH or by decreasing the reducing environment (i.e. ORP
difference is the effect of the water ¯ow at the oxide±solu- becoming more positive). This causes a reduction of the
tion interface. FAC can be divided into coupled processes ferrous ion (Fe 21 and Fe(OH) 1) concentration.
that take into account the presence of the porous magnetite The solubility of ferrous hydroxide (Fe(OH)2) rises with
layer on the steel surface up to about 3008C (Fig. 1): increasing temperature to a maximum at around 1508C, then
decreases with a steep drop to the solubility of magnetite
² The ®rst process produces soluble ferrous ions at the between 200 and 2508C.
oxide±water interface and can be separated into three
simultaneous actions: 2.1. Factors in¯uencing FAC
± metal oxidation occurs at the iron±magnetite interface
The scienti®c basis of ¯ow-accelerated corrosion together
in water with a reducing potential (ORP , 0 mV);
with laboratory studies do not provide the utility engineer
± the ferrous species diffuse from the iron surface to the
with the tools needed to solve real plant problems. To meet
main water ¯ow through the porous oxide layer;
this need, a number of models have been developed to
± the magnetite oxide layer at the oxide±water interface
predict the rate of FAC [4±7]. There are several key para-
dissolves by a reductive process that is promoted by
meters which affect the rate of FAC; these are discussed
the presence of hydrogen.
below.
² The second process involves the transfer of the ferrous
Because the FAC process as described above involves at
ions into the bulk water across the boundary layer. The
least two steps (soluble iron production at the oxide/water
concentration of ferrous ions in the bulk water is very low
interface and transfer of the corrosion products to the bulk
compared to the concentration of ferrous ions at the oxide
solution across the diffusion boundary layer), it is necessary
solution interface. The corrosion rate (FAC) increases if
to consider both the corrosion processes (steel oxidation,
there is an increase of water ¯ow past the oxide±water
oxide dissolution, charge transfer, etc.) and mass transfer.
interface.
The role of the major in¯uencing factors can be classi®ed as
follows:
² Hydrodynamics factors, i.e. ¯ow velocity, pipe rough-
ness, geometry of the ¯ow path, steam quality or void
fraction for two-phase ¯ows.
² Environmental factors, i.e. temperature, pH, reducing
agent and oxygen concentration, oxidizing±reducing
potential, water impurities.
² Metallurgical factors, mainly the chemical composition
of the steel. The most bene®cial element has been deter-
mined to be chromium. An alloy with a nominal chro-
mium content as low as 1% will have low or negligible
Fig. 1. Schematic representation of oxide formed on iron-based feedwater FAC rates. There is evidence that even lower amounts of
surfaces during operation with deoxygenated all-volatile treatment (AVT) chromium (as low as 0.1%) may signi®cantly reduce
under reducing conditions (ORP p 0 mV). FAC in single-phase systems.
88 R.B. Dooley, V.K. Chexal / International Journal of Pressure Vessels and Piping 77 (2000) 85±90
Table 4
Comparison of normal cycle chemistry limits at the economizer inlet for AVT feedwater and oxygenated treatments (values in parentheses represent the
achievable and desirable levels)
Cycle chemistry parameter AVT (mixed metallurgy) AVT (all-ferrous) Oxygenated treatment (OT) (all-ferrous)
Mixed-metallurgy systems can only use Type A feed- FAC programs which will ensure an adequate level of
water chemistry which maintains a reducing environment safety.
under all operating regimes to protect the copper based
tubing. This means that the carbon steel interconnecting
piping and the economizer inlet tubing must also be exposed
References
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