Project proposal

On

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Assessment of Erosion resistance of coal burner tip materials

and Improvement of erosion life through Computational Fluid
Dynamics modeling

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Materials Technology Division

Central Power Research Institute
Prof. Sir C V Raman Road, PB. No.8066
Bangalore – 560 080
 Title of the Assessment of Erosion resistance of coal burner tip
1.0 materials and Improvement of erosion life through
CFD modeling
project

2.0 Division/ Unit Materials Technology Division

3.0 Thrust Area of R&D on Power plant materials

Research

4.0 Project Leader and Man Power

R.K. Kumar EO IV
M.Janardhanan EO IV
P. Sampathkumaran JD
Dr. S. Seetharamu AD
Research Associate One
5.0 Background & Objectives of the project

In a coal based thermal power plants, the pulverized coal from the mill is carried to the
boiler by pneumatic conveying using primary air which is maintained at a temperature
of 80 – 90 deg. C . In a tangentially fired PF boiler, coal burner nozzles are provided in
the burner zone at seven different elevations which connects the PF pipe from the mill
outlet to the boiler. The coal burner nozzles connected at the end of each PF pipes injects
the coal particles into the boiler combustion zone. Indian coals contain nearly 45 to 50%
ash. Also, the ash contains high amount of abrasive minerals such as quartz which are
responsible for erosion of coal handling components. The heat radiated in the
combustion zone increases the service temperature of the burner nozzles and the average
operating temperature increases to 600-700 C. At elevated temperatures, the mechanical
properties of steel material decreases drastically and subjected to accelerated erosion-
corrosion. The high erosion propensity of coal combined with elevated service
temperatures causes the burner tip components severe erosion and low service life.

Presently, the austenitic stainless steels of 310 grades are widely used as the burner tip
materials and the reported service life in a typical 210 MW is only 8 – 9 months. The
erosion resistance property of burner tip material is affected by the particle impact
velocity and impact angle. In general, ductile materials such as stainless steel show
maximum erosion at 30 to 40 deg. impact angles. The tilting of burner tip is routinely
practiced by the utilities for achieving the desired super heat temperature. This interns
changes the particle impact angle on the splitter plates of the burner tip.

The materials used for burner nozzle tips should have the characteristics of high erosion
resistance at elevated temperatures. The tungsten carbide based clad materials, complex
carbides of Niobium –vanadium based hard facings have the potential for improved
erosion performance. The suitability of a given materials for specific application requires
the assessment of erosion performance of the material in the laboratory under accelerated
conditions.
 As there is no facility available in the country for conducting high temperature erosion
tests, the application of specific material is presently done based on the corrosion
resistance properties. Presently, no established data on high temperature erosion
resistance of burner tip materials is available Hence it becomes necessary for evaluation
of the erosion resistance characteristics of different base stainless steels and coating
materials under accelerated test conditions in the laboratory. The design of burner nozzle
tip should be tailored to achieve lowest impact angle at all service conditions of burner
tilt so as to achieve improved service life. Accordingly, optimization of the geometry of
the burner tip through the CFD analysis becomes important for achieving streamlined
flow. The erosion sensitive constants required as an input for the numerical modeling
shall be established based on the simulated laboratory experiments.

CPRI is having extensive facility for characterization of erosion resistance properties of

various engineering materials at room temperature. The comparative erosion resistance
of various engineering materials is evaluated as per the guidelines of ASTM G76
procedure using the jet or tunnel type erosion rig. The evaluation of actual performance
of burner tip material requires evaluation of erosion performance under elevated
temperature conditions which necessitates heating of both the sample and the carrier
medium (air) during the test and measurement of erosion thickness loss of sample. The
tests on the presently used materials viz. SS310 etc. shall be useful for benchmarking the
test parameters as well as the acceleration factor

The objectives of the project are as follows.

Objectives :

1. Design & Development of high temperature test rig comprising

i. Fabrication of heating system for air , sample holder & erodent material
ii. Fabrication and assembly of convergent type stainless steel with ceramic
nozzle
iii. Integration of heater assemblies with that of the tunnel test rig.
2. Characterization of high temperature erosion resistance of candidate burner tip
materials under accelerated conditions
3. 3D geometrical modeling of a coal burner nozzle and CFD analysis for
prediction of erosion intensities for different tilts
4. Optimization of burner geometry for achieving maximum service life.
5. Filed trial of nozzle tip in one of the unit of TPS ( RTPS/NTPC Units)

6.0 Scope and Methodology

Keeping in view of the close conformity of the actual service conditions in a tunnel
erosion test rig, it is proposed to use the Tunnel erosion test setup for erosion
performance evaluation with design modifications for high temperature test upto 600
deg.C.

The detailed work programme covers the following.

 Design modifications to the existing tunnel erosion test setup for heating the
 process air to temperature of 550 to 600 deg.C. The exit tunnel size shall be
approx. 25 mm diameter. Rotary air blower shall be used as the source for
accelerating the particles to the required velocity.
 Design of sample holder for high temperature experiments with provision for
sample heating and monitoring the temperature during the test.
 Laboratory accelerated  erosion test on clad and other representative stainless
steel, coating materials both under Room temperature ( RT ) and at 550 – 600 C
for two different impact angles such as 15 & 30 deg using the high temperature
erosion test set up and determination of erosion sensitive constants under
different varied velocities and impact angles
 Collection of design drawings of coal burner and creation of 3D geometrical
modeling of coal burner. CFD analysis of erosion for prediction of erosion
intensities for different burner tilt.
 Establishment of min. erosion conditions through optimization of burner
geometry for a given material type
 Fabrication of nozzle tip as per the optimized design and field trial in one of the
210 MW thermal power station ( Raichur TPS or NTPC units.)

7.0 Sponsoring Agency CPRI RC Funds

8.0 Duration 2 years
9.0 Personnel employed and percentage of time spent
R.K. Kumar 50 %
M.Janardhanan 25%
P. Sampathkumaran 15 %
S. Seetharamu 10 %
10.0 Total cost of the project 30.0 lakhs
11.0 Budget Requirement
Sl.No Particulars Amount
( Lakhs)
Design and fabrication of hot air supply unit and sample
1 3.0
heating setup and interfacing with erosion test rig.
Procurement of Base materials SS310, hard facing
2 electrodes, Clad materials etc., abrasives, SS nozzles for 2.5
test etc..
Sample preparation, metallographic consumables,
3 asbestos gloves, air flow meter, anemometer, pressure 2.5
gage, outside testing services
4 Technical support/AMC for CFX software for one year 5.0
5 Fabrication of 4 Nos of nozzle tip for field trial 10.0
6 Salary of one Research Associate for 2 Year 5.0
Miscellaneous expenses such as travel to RTPS, NTPC
7 2.0
R&D, report preparation, etc.
Total 30.0
lakhs
12.0 Major equipments required : Nil
13.0 Schedule of the project 2 year
Activities ( Quarterwise)
Sl.No Work Description
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8
Design , fabrication and interfacing of air,
1
sample heating setup for high temp. erosion
Evaluation of erosion resistance of candidate
2 burner tip materials under diff. impact angle &
velocities
Collection of burner geometry, Creation of 3D
Geometry of coal burner of 210 MW and CFD
3
analysis for prediction of critical erosion
regions
Design optimizations of burner geometry
involving change of splitter plate thickness,
4
shape etc for achieving min. erosion rate for a
specific burner material.
Fabrication of actual burner nozzle tip and
5.
field trial studies
5 Analysis of results and Report preparation

14.0 Deliverables
 New test rig for assessment of comparative erosion resistance at high
temperatures upto 600 deg.C
 New coal burner tip design for achieving optimum erosion life for specific
burner tip material
 Erosion resistance performance data of burner tip materials viz. clad, hard
facing material and advanced coatings.
 CFD model output in terms of prediction of regions of max. erosion and
performance in terms of erosion life of both conventional and cladded coal
burner tip materials for the optimum design considered.
 Field performance data on the newly designed and fabricated burner tip
material