JournalofMetallurgicalEngineering(ME)Volume4,2015www.mejournal.

org
doi:10.14355/me.2015.04.007

ACaseStudy:CorrosionFailureofTubeHeat
Exchanger
IbrahimMGhayad,Z.AbdelHamid,N.Gomaa
CentralMetallurgicalResearch&DevelopmentInstitute(CMRDI),P.O.Box:87Helwan,Cairo,Egypt
ighayad@yahoo.com
Abstract
A failed heat exchanger was sent to CMRDI to investigate the possible causes of leaks occurred in the tubes of the heat
exchanger.Theheatexchangertubesweremadeofstainlesssteel316straighttype.Theheatexchangerservedtoheatupwater
basin (desalinated water) during the cold winter time. The water contains a high chloride level. Corrosion testing indicated
susceptibility towards pitting corrosion especially at high temperature. It was suggested that controlling chloride level and
properadjustmentofpHaretheoptimumsolutionstoavoidcorrosionofheatexchangerpipes.
Keywords
TubeHeatExchanger;Corrosion;FailureAnalysis

Introduction
A shell and tube heat exchanger is a class of heat exchanger designs [15]. It is the most common type of heat
exchangerinoilrefineriesandotherlargechemicalprocesses,andissuitedforhigherpressureapplications.Asits
nameimplies,thistypeofheatexchangerconsistsofashell(alargepressurevessel)withabundleoftubesinside
it. One fluid runs through the tubes, and another fluid flows over the tubes (through the shell) to transfer heat
betweenthetwofluids.Thesetoftubesiscalledatubebundle,andmaybecomposedofseveraltypesoftubes:
plain,longitudinallyfinned,etc.Therecanbemanyvariationsontheshellandtubedesign.Typically,theendsof
eachtubeareconnectedtoplenums(sometimescalledwaterboxes)throughholesintubesheets.Thetubesmaybe
straightorbentintheshapeofaU,calledUtubes.
To be able to transfer heat well, the tube material should have good thermal conductivity. Because heat is
transferredfromhottoacoldsidethroughthetubes,thereisatemperaturedifferencethroughthewidthofthe
tubes. Because of the tendency of the tube material to thermally expand differently at various temperatures,
thermalstresseswilloccurduringoperation.Thisisinadditiontoanystressfromhighpressuresfromthefluids
themselves.Thetubematerialalsoshouldbecompatiblewithboththeshellandtubesidefluidsforlongperiods
undertheoperatingconditions(temperatures,pressures,pH,etc.)tominimizedeteriorationsuchascorrosion.All
of these requirements call for careful selection of strong, thermallyconductive, corrosionresistant, high quality
tube materials, typically metals, including copper alloy, stainless steel, carbon steel, nonferrous copper alloy,
Inconel, nickel, Hastelloy and titanium [3]. Poor choice of tube material could result in a leak through a tube
betweentheshellandtubesidescausingfluidcrosscontaminationandpossiblylossofpressure.
Process line heat exchanger failures can be very costly or even catastrophic for a business. Metallurgical failure
analysisandmetalcorrosiontestingandinvestigationcanhelpminimizeandeliminatetheundesirableaspectsof
unexpected down time. When the root cause of the metallurgical/corrosion failure is identified, results are to be
communicatedandrecommendationsaretobemadetohelppreventfutureevents.Metallurgicalfailureanalysisof
acomponentcanpreventrecurringfailures,helpwithpreventativedetection,orsuggestremedies[611].
Service History

Tube heat exchanger was made of 316 stainless steel straight type. The heat exchanger served to heat up
coldbasinwaterinSharmElshaikh,Egypt.

Basinwaterwassuppliedfromdesalinatedwaterwhichcontainedhighchloridelevelashighas800ppm.

Temperatureoftheheatexchangertubesreachedashighas80oC.

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www.mejournal.orgJournalofMetallurgicalEngineering(ME)Volume4,2015

Performed Investigations
Thefollowinginvestigationsareperformedontheheatexchangertubes:

Visualexamination

Chemicalanalysis

Corrosiontesting

Microscopicinvestigation

Results and Discussion

VisualExamination
The heat exchanger (Fig.1) was cut to remove the tubes for examination. Several tubes were taken, cleaned and
examinedbynakedeyes.Therewerenoholesseenontheexaminedtubes.Afterthat,acrosssectionoftheheat
exchangerwasalsocuttoexaminethecontactpointsbetweenthestainlesssteeltubesandtheheatexchangerhead.
Wewerealsounabletoobserveleakpoints.Thismaybeduetothefactthatthereislargenumberofstainlesssteel
tubinggatheredinonebundlewhichmakesitdifficulttodeterminetheleakpoints.

FIG.1IMAGEOFTHEHEATEXCHENGER

ChemicalAnalysis
The chemical analysis of the tube material was performed using the Spectrolab (optical emission spectrometer)
devicetodeterminethemainelementsofmanufacturedmaterial.Table1showsthat,thetubematerialismadeof
316stainlesssteelaswehavebeeninformedbythecompany.
TABLE1CHEMICALCOMPOSITIONOFTUBEMATERIAL

Element

Mn

Cr

Si

Ni

Mo

Fe

wt%

0.0254

1.98

17.4

0.366

12.78

1.89

Bal.

CorrosionTesting
Specimensfromthetubesweresubjectedtoelectrochemicalcorrosion(cyclicanodicpolarizationtest)testingusing
computerizedpotentiostatinsolutioncontaining1000ppmchlorideions(slightlyinexcesschlorideionsthanexist
in the basin water) prepared by dissolving 1.37 g of NaCl in distilled water. The test was performed at room
temperature and at 80oC to simulate working conditions. The test gave important information about the
susceptibilityofmaterialtowardspittingcorrosionattack.
Atroomtemperature,currentremainedpassive(about3x105Acm2)until0.6Vandthenincreasedrapidly(see
Fig.2). The potential at which potential was increased was taken as the pitting potential. Upon reversal of the
potential scan at about 1 V (blue line) a considerable loop was observed indicating that the alloy takes time till
restoringpassivation.Thisphenomenonwasassociatedwithmaterialswhichsufferedfrompittingcorrosion.At
hightemperature(80oC),currentremainedpassive(about3x105Acm2)until0.4Vandthenincreasedrapidly(See
Fig.3)Uponreversalofthepotentialscanat1.028V(blueline)aconsiderableloopwasobservedindicatingthat
the alloy takes time until restoring passivation. It was shown that the pitting potential is decreased while the
passive current is increased upon the increase of temperature. The loop area was also increased at high
temperature.

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JournalofMetallurgicalEngineering(ME)Volume4,2015www.mejournal.org

1.0

1.2

0.8

1.0
0.8
0.6
Potential / V

Potential / V

0.6
0.4
0.2
0.0

0.4
0.2
0.0
-0.2

-0.2

-0.4

-0.4

-0.6
-0.8
10-7

-0.6
10

-6

10

-5

-4

10

10

-3

Current / A cm-2

10-6

10-5

10-4

10-3

10-2

Current / A cm-2

FIG.2CYCLICANODICPOLARIZATIONCURVEOFTUBE
MATERIALIN1000PPMCHLORIDEIONATROOM
TEMPERATUEAND3MV/SSCANRATE.

FIG.3CYCLICANODICPOLARIZATIONCURVEOFTUBE
MATERIALIN1000PPMCHLORIDEIONAT80OCAND3MV/S
SCANRATE

After performing cyclic anodic polarization experiments and determining pitting potential, tube specimen was
fixed at potential slightly higher than that potential for a sufficient amount of time (2 h). This test was named
potentiostatictestanditsuppliedconditionswhichfavortheoccurrenceofpittingcorrosionsothatitcanbeseen
under the microscope. Steady currents of 6x104A cm2and 5x103A cm2were obtained at room temperature and
80oC,respectively(Figs.4&5).Theincreaseintemperatureledtotheincreaseofsteadystatecurrentobtainedand
hencethesusceptibilitytowardpittingcorrosion.
10-3

Current / A cm

-2

Current / A cm

-2

0.01

10-4

0.001
0

1000

2000

3000

4000

Time /s

5000

6000

7000

2000

4000
Time /s

FIG.4POTENTIOSTATICPOLARIZATIONCURVEOFTUBE
MATERIALIN1000PPMCHLORIDESOLUTIONAT0.65VFOR2
HATROOMTEMPERATURE.

6000

FIG.5POTENTIOSTATICPOLARIZATIONCURVEOFTUBE
MATERIALIN1000PPMCHLORIDESOLUTIONAT0.45VFOR2
HAT80OC.

Fig.6showsthatpittingcorrosionwasvisuallyseenonspecimentestedat80oC.Theabsenceofpittingcorrosion
on the specimen tested at room temperature does not mean the absence of possibility of occurrence of pitting
corrosionbutitmeansthatthespecimenneedsmorepotentiostatictestingtime.
Pitting

FIG.6PITTINGCORROSIONONSPECIMENTESTEDAT80OC

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www.mejournal.orgJournalofMetallurgicalEngineering(ME)Volume4,2015

CorrosionMechanism
Corrosionisexpectedtooccuronthebasinwatersideoftheheatexchangetubes.Thiscomesfromthefactthatthe
basin water contains quite high chloride levels (~ 800 ppm) which is due to the use of desalinated water (R.O.
technology)andalsotheuseofhydrochloricacidtoadjustthepHofthebasinwater.
Thecorrosionresistanceofstainlesssteelalloysreliesontheformationofasurfaceprotectivefilmformedmainly
of Cr(III) oxide. Stainless steel alloys are subjected to pitting corrosion when electrochemical or chemical
breakdownexposesasmalllocalsiteonametalsurfacetodamagingspeciessuchaschlorideions.Thesiteswhere
pits initiate include scratches or surface compositional heterogeneities (inclusions). The pit grows if the high
currentdensity(theareaofbreakdowninitiationisexceedinglysmall)involvedintherepassivationprocessdoes
not prevent the formation of a large local concentration of metal ions produced by dissolution at the point of
initiation.Iftherateofrepassivationisnotsufficienttochokeoffthepitgrowth,twonewconditionswilldevelop.
First,themetalionsproducedbythebreakdownprocessareprecipitatedassolidcorrosionproductssuchasthe
Fe(OH)2 which usually cover the mouth of the pit. This covering traps the solution in the pit and allows the
buildup of positive hydrogen ions through a hydrolysis reaction. Then, chloride ions diffuse into the pit to
maintainchargeneutrality.Consequently,therepassivationbecomesconsiderablydifficultbecausethesolutionin
the pit is highly acidic, containing a large concentration of damaging ions and metallic ions, and a low oxygen
concentration.Therebytherateofpitgrowthaccelerates.Thepitistheanodeofanelectrochemicalcorrosioncell,
andthecathodeofthecellisthenonpittedsurface.Sincethesurfaceareaofthepitisaverysmallfractionofthe
cathodic surface area, all of the anodic corrosion current flows to the extremely small surface area of the
breakdowninitiationsite.Thus,theanodiccurrentdensitybecomesveryhigh,andpenetrationofametalstructure
bearingonlyafewpitscanberapid[Uhlig,2011].
Conclusions and Recommendations

Tubematerialisstainlesssteelwhichconfirmsthecompanyinformation.

Visualexaminationcouldnotrevealtheleakpointsintheheatexchanger.Thismaybeduetothefactthat
there is large number of stainless steel tubing gathered in one bundle. This does not allow observers to
determinetheleakpoints.

Corrosionisexpectedtooccuronthebasinwatersideoftheheatexchangetubes.Thiscomesfromthefact
thatthebasinwatercontainsquitehighchloridelevels(~800ppm)whichisduetotheuseofdesalinated
water(R.O.technology)andalsotheuseofhydrochloricacidtoadjustthepHofthebasinwater.

Cyclic anodic polarization and potentiostatic polarization experiments reveal the susceptibility of tube
specimenstowardspittingcorrosionathighchloridelevels,especiallyathightemperature.

Microscopicexaminationrevealedpittingcorrosioninthespecimentestedathightemperature.

The chloride level in the basin should be controlled to be less than 300 ppm. This may be done by
controllingthedesalinationprocess(reverseosmosis).Desalinationcanberepeateduntilthedesiredlevelof
chlorideisobtained.

Avoidingtheuseofhydrochloricacid(HCl)inadjustingthepHofthebasinwatertoavoidtheincreaseof
chloridecontentofthewater.Sulfuricacidcanbeusedsafely.

Itwasnoticedthatsomeoftheheatexchangertubeswereblockedtoacceleratewaterflow.Wethinkitis
bettertousethefullnumberoftubesandtoblocknoneofthem.

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