How To Prevent Boller Tube Corrosion Proper operation and maintenance of low pressure heating boilers to prevent tube failures through corrosion cannot be overemphasized. By updating a widely used article prepared for HPAC alniost 14 years ogo (January 1955), the éuthor tells how is ean be accomplished, by, BINST —roglted in failure through groov ratte gle ing next to the tube sheet 1h habe © Pico Ce ‘itares Oto Connosiow troubles in low pres. Oxygen Altack on Water Side sure heating holers—hich esta Let us consider tho varioun ly oporate at steams pressures below apochaasns that fend to pitting er 15 pig ot water presses below water side corrosion sine this is 30 paig—olten occur unapeessot- ho ost common type, aco ily. for 75 percont of the tubé failures During the post 60 yenrs, we examined inoue Inboratory. have had many oceasions to exam "Steel docs not corrode, appre ine boiler tubes to determine the ciably in dry reasons for their failure, In very enoe of moisture, Similarly, steal few casts have tube defects been does not corcole in elean, alkaline, the exuto, Th the vast majority of freshly boiled water if air is Kept ‘instances, the need for replacement away. hhas been traced to conditions of This hos been proved in the lab ‘environment. oratory’ by placing samples of In power boilers, corrosion of tubes in ordinary tap walcr the type cominon in heating boil: flasks and boiling the water, caus ts is rare, This is bicause opera ing the steam-to condense and rim tors of power boilers realize the backinto the flask. When the con Importance of proper water and denser! drops of water were al fire side’ conditions and take pre- lowed to contact the air, corrosion cautions to avoid such troubles. _ of the tubes occurred, ‘When the Many users of heating boilers, on oxygen was removed froin the ait the other hand, are not avare of in the flask and condenser by ram the possibilities of corrosion. They ning the sir through pyrogal often have little idea what causes acid, which is an oxygen absorbing ind lack the know-hove and exper acid, no corrosion of the tubes was rience to combat evident. Fortunately, sale is rot 2 major This shows that the presence of factor in low pressure boiler tube oxygen is an important factor in failuces. A buildup of scale at tube coetosion problems. Tt was alo ends, however, has in some eases found that if the heaters were shut only in the pres Si own atehight, dhe “corrosion was uch more rapid than if the water were kept foiling. Tn effet, some of the oxygen was exchidetl from the Rask by tle steam sjee:over the oiling: water, In Tow pressure heating boilers, the reiurn: water usually enters at the bottom, which * does not afford the axygen re: duction that ‘would: be obtained if it dropped through the seam space Piting i peobably the mot de: structive form of goftesion tlatat: fects the watot side of Walle bcs: Froquently only «fey pits. are present, and most of the surface is unattacked. In ather oases, the pits cover most of the surface, and as an extreme, the pig. run to gether, the corrosion tal form of uniform attack, 1 centration of pite ii & large extent by acidity or alkaliniiyeaeythe: water. Fig. 1 shows examples, of water side corrosion of horizontal boiler tubes. Acidity and atkaltuity are ex- ew by chet tems of scale resenting hydiozext eoitehinions A ‘strong acid solution (strong muck atic or sulfuric acid) is rated as 4, and a’sisong alkaline (conoen teated cavsti soda) is rated as M4. A neutral water has a pH of 7. IE its pH is bolow 5, the watee is actually sufficiently acid to dis solve the steel, and under these conditions no pits form. Instead, the corrosfon is relatively uniform, and the”steel gradually’ gets thin- reer until itis foo weak to hold the pressure or a small hole develops. If the pit is between § and 94, pitting takes place at a rate that pends on the concentration of oxygen in the wator. ‘Therefore, it is necessary that all air or as riuch air as possible be excluded from the boiler water. Tn ons experiment, a stip of steel lung in the middle of a fast roving stroam did not rust while an identical pisee hung in a stag rant pool at the edge of the same stream and connected to the frst by a wire pitted badly. This shorws that velocity and air conteat have an effect on the corrosion of steel. In most instances, pitting in hori ontal fire tube boilers takes placealong the top of the tubes on the juiside, and itis believed that this is partly because of the difforence in velocity of the rising water and steaim bubbles, which creates an eddy effect along the top of the tubes and accderates the corro- sion, much as in the Mowing stream experiment, Tn any event, pitting woul not oveur in this type of boiler if no oxygen vere present in the water. Practically all ground sueface supplies of water contain dissolved ait, the quantity depending on the souroe, time of exposure, and tem perature. Cold water retains more air than warm water, a5 can be eon by filling. a clear bottle with cold vwater from a tap and ollowing it to stand overnight, Small air Iubbles will form on the sides, demonstrating that es the water warms up the gag is iborated, ‘This release of air in the form, ‘of bubbles creates a problem in « newly filed boiler. In a new boiler, ‘or one that has been drained and refilled with cold water, air bub Bles form on the tubes as the wa tor ayaimis up, and in a veay short time’ pits develop under the tub Bles becauso of the differenes in oxygen conesatration in the water surrounding the Dubble. Penetra tion as great as 50 poreent of the tube wall has been known to take place in water stagnant for two weeks duration, Once these pits form they propagate under operating condi Sometimes a new set of tubes ine stalled in a boiler has been found to Tost less than a year whoroas the former tubes lasted five to 10 years, Obviously, something has changed. In many eases the tubes are blamed when actually there have heen changes associated with the operation and maintenance of the boiler. A different method of starting up may have been zed. Circumstances may have _ been such that the boiler was imme: diately fired when the old set of tubes was installed while the neve set of tubes was exposed to the fresh water for somo time, Air bubble pitting may have started, leading to the eventual failure of tho tubes. The temperanie of the fill water may have heen diferent, With the result that more air was present in the now installation, ‘The composition of the fill water may have changed; 2 thin scale may have been laid down at the boginning of the life of the old tubes, which sorved as protec: tion. Changes in electrical eonnee- tions may havo induced stray car- rents, leading to eloctealyyié-cor Small air or steaja leaks around pipe joints and valves may have let afr into the new setup. Air vents may have become. plugged through jarring, of the piping. I short, any number of things iy, even shes cessive oxygen ia the have appened thet cased the failure. How To Remove Air A large munbor of boiler tube failures take place in fall when the boiler is started up for winter op- ‘These result from the air bubble pitting described above as well as from oxygen being drawn nto the system through packing and of nize chances of this c- a freshly filled boiler should be heated to bring the wa- ter to a good boil, and the steam $0 produced should be vented off to garry thy released gases out of tie’ boiler. Before this. boilout, water treating chemicals should be ailded so as to get good mixing. After the boibout, the vents should be closed and the boiler used, or cooled down if not needed, Tin hot water systems, prod of sieain i not desirable, s0 the ‘water temperature shouldbe 1d to 180 to 200 F for a short to allow most of the air to be Ativen off through vents, Tn largo boiler installations, ait fs removed from the feedwater by it up to the boiling point and venting off the dissolved gases. In seal installations, this is hard: ly praciical, In steam systems 30- quiring Targe quantities of makeup ‘water, however, it may be possible the most destructive form of water side corrosion of boiler tubes, These are examples of fre tubes allacked on the water sida by corrosion resulting frome, \dwater,to fit the return condensate tak with @ steam coil to prebeat the water to near the boiling point ‘This taok would have to be vented to release the grec At any rat, air can bo kept out of a boiler by heating the feed water to release the ai Another method suggested by F.N. Spaler, a noted authority on corrosion, Hs to pass the fecdvater through a deactivator, which is a tank containing. stee! scrap such ag tornings or wires. The oxygen in the water attacks the stoel in the tank e0 that corrosive propeaties are neutralized. The process is sat Istictory if the tank is large enough to permit eomplete deacti- vation and ifthe serap matal i xe newed frequently. ‘This practice fs not often followed in steal heat ing boiler installations because ‘other methods of contra! ore ast ally more desirable. Tn addition to the aie carried into the boiler by makeup water, substantial quentitics may be pulled in to the systems during op. eration by the vacwum in the eon Aensate line or by vacuum formed when the boiler fe shut down or the fire allowed to die out. Wasm days in spring ana fall and even in_winter often sesult in. cooling down of sual! boilers and radi ators. This eauoos a vacuum, which pills air into the system theough vents, valves, end packings. Proper maintenance of the entive heating tem is a must. TH ater ste. ahold not suffer from air catering with makeup water because there should be no makeup. There aro many cases, however, where make- up is requiced because personncl draw off hot water for custodial services or washing vehicles cir cenlating pumps leak, flonts become water logged, oF automatic feed systems stick. Systems are sometimes designed to be pressurized with compressed air in such a way that a large area of water is exposed, ellowing air tw be disiolved. In one system, well water was pumped into a ‘hori zontal eylindrical tank pressurized across its entire surface, In. an. other system, Hot water from three boilers was ‘pumped to an over hhead horizontal tank of approxi ‘mately $000. gal eapacity, which was pressurized with compressed air from pomp in another build ing, No ane had any idea of how itch aft was being pumped into this system. Fighty pounds of sodi- tum sulfite, an oxygon scavenger, added to this system every day could not sep up with the dis solvod oxygen hing pumped fn Any pressurizing of this type should be in an offshoot of the sys- tem and not in the main stream, If it must be in the main stream, nitrogen ges should bo used fot pressurization. With all-these ways of air get ting into a boiler, it appoars that it is most diffieul to keep it ont. Fortunataly, there are methods for rendering it inactive im boiler wa- ter. Using Oxygen Scavengers One method of removing oxygen from boiler water is to add an oxy. ‘gen absorbing chemical such as sodium sulfite, as refoned to above, This is practical if only sorall quantities axe requited for small quantities of oxygen. It is impractical, however, to try to handle large quantities of air by using, this chemical in large quan tities since constant additions will cause foaming, Alkalinity of the water must be controlled in conjunetion with the use of sodium sulfite, The pH should bo 9.5 or Hydeazine is @ cheinical fre queatly used in large utility boil: ers to react with dissolved oxygen, but it- isnot recommended for heating boilers because it must be closely controlled. Seldom i such chemical control availeble in these installations, Inhibitors are dass of chemi- cals that deposit a coating on the surface of the steel or react with it in some way to protect it against attack. The former Steel Boiler In- stitute compound, cemposed main- 1y of sodium chromate, was one of these. Similar compounds are available from most water treat iment companies, When added to the water in recommended quam titiey, this chemical will protect boiler surfaces ducing. operation or standby. Since it is harmful if taken internally and since it may stain other products, it should not he used if the steam is used for process work, Tt has the advantage of imparting a yellow color to the water, which the operator can soe in'the gauge glass and thus readily Aetermine if more is needed. Some trouble has been experi= fenced in hot water systems from this material's formation of sodi- um chromate eyistals in. pump seals, resulting -in leakage. Lower concentrations than the 2.2 Ib per 100 gal recommended for steain hollers have therefore been sug gested for hot water boiters. "The value of this treatment and of another inhibitor containing so- dium miteate anid sain nitrite was established in a sosies of tests reported in two HPAG articles od Pointers on the Care of Low Pressuré Steam Steel Boilers, pub lished in February and April 1962. These tests proved that both the sodium chromate and the sodium nitrtenitrate inhibitors. were of fective not only in preventing at- tack by dissolved oxygen hut also in stopping fupther attagk,once it had started. There are some limita: tions on the amount of chlorides or slfetes that can be tolerated, hut these are sotdom a factor in ‘waters used in heating boilers. A few "yoars ago, there was 8 Murry of gadget type water eon- Aitjoning. eaves being offered. Onc such device was tested in a supply lino and proved ineffective in. preventing or stopping coro: sion ofthe tubes, Don't Drain Needlessly Many boiler ovwners completely Acain'their units once or twice a year in the mistaken belief that the water in the boiler is dirty, Ac tually, this practice, along with that of periodically draining small quantities of water from a boiler, should be discouraged because it ‘causes loss of chemicals and re- res makeup watery which ngs inmore oxygen. Tf addi- ional chemsieals are added each time to compensate for loses, how- ver, litle hana will be done, In- surance companies require pe lic tests of the low water eutofl, and at such times protectionshould be insured by adding chem ical Tastead of inhibitors, alkalizers such as eaustie soda may be used, I is recommended that 2 ot of caustic soda per 100 gal of boiler water be added at the time of fil. 5, which will greatly reduce the pitting effect of dissolved oxy- gen. Some prefer a Tower concen tration, down to 1. oz per 100 gel, but outside of the posibility of foaming, the Inrger quantities can do litle harm and can act as a safety factor should losses take place by draining. Alkalizers, how- ever, will not stop pitting once it thas stovted. Jn now hoilers, or in old botlers that have been retubed, a boiting fout using cleaning compounds is recommended. This is mocessary to remove oils and other coatings put on the tubes bythe: mannfac- turer prior to shipment or storage to prevent rust. ‘These have no place in an operating boiler. Since they may shicld portions of the tubes from diroct contact with the water, pitting may be aceclerated. A good boibout is recommended, using cleaning compound such fas-n detergent or a mixture of 244 Th of caustic soda end 244 Tb of soda ash per 100 gal of seater. Dew Point Corrosion on Fire Side Approximately 15 percent of the tubes examined in our Ieboratory failed through fire side attack. Corrosion on tho fie side of boilex tubes. is eaneed by moisture con- devsing from the atmosphere dur ing periods of shutdown or from flue gases during. operation. ‘This is called dew point corrosion (the dew point is the temperature at which a vapor first condenses), Dew point corrosion is the locale ized penetration of tube walls, tube sheets, and other interior metal surfaces of a boiler by concen. trated solutions of sulfurous and sulfarie acids, The corrodent al ‘ways forms on the fire side of the surfaces. If formed in suflicient quantity, it con penetrate more than ¥ in, of steet in a year. Since fire tubes or water tubes in thick, the rapidity of failure after fonset of attack is not suprising, faces, however, tho sulfur com- Fig. 2 shows examples of fire side pounds readily. dissolve. to form corresion of horizontal tubes, acidic solutions ‘This type of corrosion is espe- _Acennnations of soot on tubes cially troublesome in areas with sould be poriodically removed. hhigh humidity and js accelerated Soot attracts moistores and air, by the uso of high solfur fuck, Ash moisture, and steel together result Aoposits accompany the combus- in corrosion, Cleaning may be tion of any low grade fuel. Theso daily, weekly, or monthly depend: deposits collect on the fire side of ing on the fuel used and the meth all metal surfaces and contain, of of firing, among other things, sulfur com Some hot water boilers—for ex- pounds such es sulfites ond sul- ample, those in greenhouses—op- fates, In the absenec of moisture, — erwle at water temperatives of 140 tho deposits are of litle coneem. to 150 F, and ‘wider such condi ‘Whea: the water vapor in the sir tions the’ condensing, gases from condenses on the, ash covered sur- coal or ofl firing form sulfurous DEWPOINT corrosion aitacks tubes on fire side. Tube at upper left {s carbon steel fire tube. Boiler was fred with low grade ful cit, Note lack of general corrosion. Tube at upper right is horizontal water tube; view is of underside. Below is shown a catbon steel horizontal fre tube sectloned longitudinally, upper section at top, lower section at bottom. gah ee104 and sillurie. acid, which attack the tubes and result in. « more uni form type af corrosion, Ifthe per centage of sulle in the® fuel is high, the situation is worse Bveti with gas firing of hot ws: ter boilers, serious fre side attack fan occur, Some systems use out dloor-indoor contellors to react systom water temperatures up and down as outdoor temperature Auetuates, Low water temperatures ‘em result in condensation of nicis: tire from the flue gas, leading to serious corrosion of the tubes. High water temperatures reduce the probability of attack Regardless of the fuel used, dew pint corrasion may oceur during shutdown periods because of high Ihumidity. When shutting down a Dailer under such conditions, the fire side tube suefaces should be brushed end flushed to remove the Winter's accumulation of soot and other products of combustion. Thi should be followed hy blowing through to dry the surfaces. Al in extromely Inumid locations, the stack should be disconnected, or tho damper et leest closed, and a trey of unslaked lime placed in the ashpit to keep the fire side dry. ‘The lime should be renewed when: ‘vor it becomes mushy to preserve its drying eflectiveness, Oiling the tim i of oi Out-of-Service Measures © Boil out the boiler with aa alkaline cleaner after installing new tubes to remove oil or othr coat ings from the tube surfaces. These protective coatings are commonly applied to new tubes to prevent rust during storage and transit; they will cause-corrosion if left on the tubes during boiler operation, f * Bring a steam boiler to.a good steanr output as soon as it is filed after draining to deaerate the waler. Heat the water in a hat water boiler fo 180 to 200 F for the same reason, This will not remove all the air, but most of it will be driven of. * Add sodium chromate or caustic soda to the water in recommended quantities * In damp locations, place a tray of unslaked lime in the ashpit to’ absorb moisture and close the boiler. Inspect lime occasionally and renew when it beeames mushy, nee 3_NECKING AND GROOVING is form of corrosion concentrated at fends bocause of strains. tube surfaces with, « good grade ie ako secommended after cleaning them at the staat of & ,shutdorn period. Many soimples of seale removed from firo side surfaces have bon found to be acid when water, and itis not sur the metal is eaten avay to eventaal failore. Tu some cases boflers are installed. in damp cells, some with water on the floor con stantly. Tt is obvious that Jnumid air will Ive ready acess to. the firo sido of boilor tubes if not kept out or guarded agains. Necking and Gooving Some horizontal twhe boilors suffer from a mechanism called necking. and grooving. ‘This shows up asa circumferential groove around the outside of a tube where the tube enters the tube sheet, as shown in Fig. 3. It usually oocurs at the boginning of the first pass, whieh is the Tottest end of tubes. In all cases there is son corrosion in evidenee in other areas, but it is concentrated at, the ends because of strains from two sourees. When tubes are rolled in, some unavoidable expansion takes place hack of the tube sheet. Also, when a boiler heats up, the metal fn the tubes expands, and with the ends fixed inthe’ tube sheets, strains ate sot up at the ends Sometimes the expansion is s0 se vere that the tubes loosen iv the sects. ‘This end corrosion ean be cor hated by more gradnat frin more gradual changes in temper: ature, and maintaining boiler wa ter free of oxygen and under prop er control vil ing that Follow These Rules In-Service Measures * Keep all boiler fittings air-tight * Add sodium chromate or caustic soda to the ‘ater in recommended quantities. * Use-a fuel with low sulfur content if possible to avoid corrosive action of sulfur gases. © Brush, flush, and dry out the insides of fire tubes as often as possible to remove saot and other products combustion, and prevent the ac- cumulation of moisture and condensed sulfur gases. * Use sodium sulfite regularly in the boiler feed- water to remove the dissolved oxygen. * Use a feedwater heater or deaerator to reduce the oxygen content. * Prevent water leakage and avgid periodic drain- ing of water from the system. This results in loss of treatment chemicals and requires makeup, which introduces air into the system,