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POWER-GEN Europe 2013

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Modified commissioning procedure
for USC boilers using material T24





Jrg Bwe, Martin Becker
Hitachi Power Europe GmbH
Germany





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Introduction
For higher efficiency in power boilers steam parameters (temperature and pressure) have to be
raised. These higher steam parameters need the use of new materials with higher creep strengths
values. One of this for these purposes developed material is 7CrMoVTiB10-10 (T24) which
should also be the best candidate for water walls as no post weld heat treatment is required.

In the 1980s Mannesmann developed T24 as advancement of T22 for applications in chemical
plants. The first testing / working with an official approval for T24 occurred at the end of the
1990s. Involved were Mannesmann, power plant manufacturers and utilities, TV (German
technical supervision authority) and professional associations, such as the VGB (association of
utility plant operators) and FDBR (association of component manufacturers):

Within the framework of two national research projects with the designations A 77,
starting in 1994 and A 129, ending in 2001 the material T24 was qualified for pressure
part applications.
Qualification is documented in the first VdTV sheet 533, 9.2001 and following and the
DIN EN 10216.

Before application of T24 in HPE power stations T24 has been used in a number of European
power plants Altbach, Neckar 2, Weisweiler, Belgium, Poland, Denmark and has fully met
the expectations based on its performance.

T24 has higher creep strength than the conventional T12 in the temperature zone of boiler
waterwall and has been used for HPE tower boilers under construction and commissioning. No
post weld heat treatment has been applied as recommended by the standards.

This material was used in a number of new boilers in Europe. But at the first commissioned
boilers of the new generation of power plants, cracks occurred in the butt welds after the
chemical cleaning processes during first operation hours under medium temperature water
conditions in the evaporator.

Investigations were executed at HPE- and other laboratories to analyse the root cause.
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The following two damage mechanisms have been identified and both could be reproduced in
laboratories.
Hydrogen-Induced Stress Corrosion Cracking
Cracks occurred on the welds of 7CrMoVTiB10-10 in connection with chemical
cleaning processes. As cause, the presence of hydrogen sulphide in the liquid medium
was identified and therefore, this has to be avoided in case of heat-resistant steels.
Anodic Stress Corrosion Cracking
In tests in high-temperature water, anodic stress corrosion cracking occurred in the
areas of T24 tube-tube welds in the temperature range 150 C to 280 C with high
oxygen contents and / or impurities.

Countermeasures have been developed and tested in laboratories and test facilities.
Furthermore a comparison of the counter measures with the implementation results on site
during commissioning has been done.

To avoid the critical conditions of the influence circle Mechanical Loads Hitachi developed
a heat treatment of the completely installed plant using hot gas/hot air. In the process,
temperatures of around 500C can be reached and thus marked relaxations can be realized in
the highly loaded areas. For the calculation of the stress relaxation characteristic material data
were determined by Hitachi and used in calculation models. The determined reductions are in
accordance with measurements on various samples.













Calculation model for stress relaxation by heat treatment on the basis of creep rupture test of
short duration.
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In addition to the described heat treatment local pad annealing can be conducted afterwards or
after repairs.

For the influence circle Medium the critical temperature range 150C 280C is smoothly
passed during start-up of the plant (3-4K/min). Moreover, the oxygen content is targetedly
adjusted to < 20ppb during AVT operation. During normal operation of the plant the
temperatures in T24 are outside the critical range.

For the safe avoidance of the input of hydrogen sulphide in the T24 heating surfaces same
have to be excluded reliably from the chemical cleaning process and to be cleaned by flush.

The efficiency of these measures was proved in laboratory tests, tested in the test circuits and
conducted during start-up of Neurath G + F, Boxberg and will be implemented in all
following projects.

Conclusion:
Based on the presented investigation results the following procedures are required to prevent
damages at T24 waterwalls:

1. Stress relief heat treatment (SRHT) at around 500 C at membrane wall
O
2
-level according to VGB guideline
2. Strict observance of feed water quality in operation
3. Smooth passing of temperature window between 150 C 280 C
4. Reduction of chemical cleaning scope and prevention of the occurrence of detrimental
chemical compounds

With the new modified commissioning procedure the USC boilers of the power plants
Neurath G, Neurath F, Boxberg and Rotterdam were started and the first boilers have already
passed the trial run successfully.

The article will present these investigations and will give answers to the questions how to
operate a boiler with material T24 in the walls successfully.
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