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Use of Amines in Boiler
Use of Amines in Boiler
Use of Amines in Boiler
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Provided by Engineering Conferences International
Refereed Proceedings
S. J. Klimas1, K. Fruzzetti2, C.W Turner1, P.V. Balakrishnan1, G.L. Strati1 and R.L Tapping1
1
Atomic Energy of Canada Limited, Chalk River, Ontario, Canada K0J 1J0, email addresses: KlimasS@aecl.ca,
TurnerC@aecl, BalakrishnanB@aecl.ca, StratiG@aecl.ca, and TappingR@aecl.ca
2
Electric Power Research Institute, 3412 Hillview Avenue, California, U.S.A. 94304, Kfruzzet@epri.com
ABSTRACT tube bundle (on the SG shell side, where boiling occurs).
AECL and EPRI have been evaluating candidate The deposits are detrimental because of possible:
amines for control of corrosion and fouling in recirculating • creation of flow-restricted or liquid-deficient
nuclear steam generators. To permit an unambiguous zones, where aggressive chemistry may develop,
ranking of the suitability of the candidate amines, the resulting in under-deposit or crevice corrosion,
characteristics of base strength, volatility, price, steam • detrimental effects on heat transfer, resulting in
generator fouling, cost of associated condensate and degradation of plant thermal performance,
blowdown polishing, toxicity and ecotoxicity have been • flow blockages, resulting in an increased pressure
summarized in a single numerical index. drop and, in extreme cases, level oscillation.
The majority of the data required for the calculation of Fouling management may involve: station outages
the index is available in the literature. The effect of amine (e.g., for inspection and cleaning), station de-rating and, in
on steam generator fouling has been measured using a extreme cases, steam generator replacement. As an example
recirculating loop at AECL under flow boiling conditions. of the magnitude of the cost associated with SG fouling, one
The loop results coupled with steam generator modelling may consider the following figures: the cost of replacement
indicate a significant reduction in steam generator fouling power during an outage--US$1 million per day, the cost of
rates when optimized chemistry is used. The calculated removal of crud from SGs—US$3,200 per kg (based on
reduction in the cost of steam generator fouling and chemical cleaning performed when the crud loading on
corrosion control for several amines and amine mixtures is tubes reaches 0.1 kg/m²), the cost of SG replacement--$200
given. million per plant (the SG itself costs US$10-25 million
each). Over the last 20 years, 27 US PWRs have replaced
INTRODUCTION 85 SGs, and an additional 13 PWRs are currently in the
As a rule, pressurized water reactor (PWR) and process of replacing 34 SGs over the next 5 years. Power
pressurized heavy water reactors (PHWR) use an all- plants have been de-rated by as much as 10% due to SG
volatile water treatment (AVT) in the steam cycle fouling.
(secondary heat transport system). The main ingredient of Atomic Energy of Canada Limited (AECL) and
this treatment is an organic amine used to adjust the pH. Electric Power Research Institute (EPRI) have been
The most commonly-used amines are monoethanolamine evaluating candidate amines for corrosion and SG fouling
(ETA), morpholine (MPH) and ammonia (NH3). The latter control (Klimas et al. 2002, Turner et al. 1997, 1999, 2001).
is becoming less popular because of its high volatility, yet it Since any of a large number of amines or other additives
is universally present as a product of decomposition of other can be considered for water chemistry control, one must
amines, thus contributing to the overall pH. Other still less state at the beginning that the driving force for the selection
common “alternative” or “advanced” amines include 2- of the amine(s) is a minimization of the overall cost of the
amino-2-methyl-propanol (AMP), dimethylamine (in a control of corrosion and fouling in the power plant. While
mixture with ETA), and 3-methoxypropylamine (3MPA). fouling control has been the main focus of our work, all the
The main purpose of adding the amine is to control relevant amine selection criteria must be identified and
corrosion throughout the steam cycle by providing an satisfied, and thereafter the overall cost minimized.
adequately alkaline pH at all locations of interest. Many
moderately strong and volatile amines can provide adequate IDENTIFICATION OF AMINES
pH when dosed in sufficient quantities. However, since Amine Selection Criteria
steam generator (SG) fouling is an endemic and very costly The following fundamental selection criteria for amines
problem in nuclear power plants, there is also a desire to have been identified:
optimize the water chemistry for SG fouling control. • Corrosion control
SG fouling involves deposition of iron corrosion o Strong base
products, mostly magnetite, and other impurities on the SG o Low volatility (~1:1 water-steam partition
coefficient)
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Klimas et al.: Identification and Testing of Amines
Table 2. Calculated pHT and pHT of the Neutral Point at 15 Locations in the CANDU-6 Steam Cycle. The locations are: 1-
condenser, 2-deaerator, 3-SG, 4-high pressure turbine drain, 5-moisture separator, 6 to 11-low pressure turbine
drains (6 stages), 12-high pressure heater (shell side), 13-15-low pressure heaters (shell side).
Amine 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15
ETA 9.4 7.1 6.6 7.1 7.2 7.1 7.7 8.2 8.4 8.6 8.9 7.1 7.2 7.7 8.3
NH3 10.1 7.6 6.6 6.9 6.9 6.9 7.3 7.7 8.0 8.3 8.6 7.2 7.8 8.3 8.8
MPH 9.5 7.2 6.6 7.0 7.0 7.0 7.5 7.9 8.2 8.5 8.8 7.0 7.4 7.8 8.4
DMA 10.3 7.8 6.6 6.9 7.0 6.9 7.3 7.8 8.1 8.4 8.8 7.4 8.1 8.5 9.0
PYRR 9.8 7.5 6.6 7.0 7.1 7.0 7.5 8.0 8.3 8.6 9.0 7.2 7.7 8.1 8.6
3HQ 9.0 6.9 6.6 7.1 7.1 7.1 7.7 8.1 8.2 8.4 8.6 7.0 6.9 7.3 7.9
DPA 10.0 7.6 6.6 6.8 6.8 6.8 7.2 7.6 7.9 8.3 8.7 7.2 7.8 8.2 8.7
MA 10.2 7.7 6.6 7.0 7.0 7.0 7.5 8.0 8.2 8.6 8.9 7.3 7.9 8.4 8.9
3MPA 10.0 7.5 6.6 7.1 7.1 7.1 7.6 8.2 8.4 8.8 9.2 7.2 7.7 8.2 8.8
4AB 8.9 6.8 6.7 7.1 7.1 7.0 7.6 8.0 8.1 8.3 8.5 6.9 6.8 7.2 7.8
5AP 9.0 6.9 6.6 7.1 7.1 7.0 7.7 8.1 8.2 8.4 8.6 6.9 6.8 7.2 7.9
DAE 9.1 6.9 6.6 7.1 7.1 7.1 7.6 8.1 8.2 8.4 8.7 7.0 7.0 7.4 8.0
DAP 9.0 6.9 6.6 7.1 7.1 7.1 7.7 8.1 8.2 8.4 8.7 7.0 6.9 7.3 7.9
ETA+DDA 9.5 7.1 6.6 7.1 7.2 7.1 7.7 8.2 8.4 8.6 8.9 7.1 7.2 7.7 8.3
DAE+DDA 9.2 7.0 6.6 7.1 7.1 7.1 7.6 8.1 8.2 8.4 8.7 7.0 7.1 7.5 8.1
pHneutral 6.9 5.7 5.6 5.7 5.7 5.6 5.8 6.0 6.1 6.2 6.4 5.7 5.8 6.0 6.3
When selecting the amine concentration, requirements least volatile of the amines considered (4AB, 5AP, DAE,
for neutralization of acidic crevices could also be DAP, ETA) are more effective at neutralizing acidic
considered. Table 3 shows example pHT values calculated crevices.
for a model SG crevice in the presence of 3 common It is recommended that similar pH calculations be
impurities (chloride, sulfate, acetate) and the concentrations performed for any other considered candidate amines and
of amine in the feedwater as listed in Table 1. amine mixtures.
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Klimas et al.: Identification and Testing of Amines
of pHT throughout the feedtrain (e.g., Table 2), and the An alternate parameter describing SG fouling is the
dependence of the corrosion rates on pHT. For the factor for fouling reduction by blowdown, fred,bld, which is
application in the amine index, the crud concentration in the defined as the ratio of the rate of the ingress of the impurity
final feedwater is of interest. Under steady-state operation, into the SG to the rate of its accumulation in the SG. It can
this concentration can be reasonably expected to be be readily shown that:
proportional to the overall rate of production of the 1
corrosion products in the steam cycle. f red ,bld = (7)
The amine effect on SG fouling has been found 1 − Ebld
experimentally to be amine specific, i.e., different amines From Equations (6) and (7), both the blowdown
produce varying fouling rates at constant high-temperature efficiency and factor for fouling reduction depend on the
pHT and thermohydraulic conditions. It is treated in detail normalized fouling rate; therefore, they are chemistry-
in the experimental section of this paper. dependent. Thus, SG chemistry can be optimized for a
The rate of accumulation of crud in a SG (kg/s) can be maximum blowdown efficiency.
described using the following equation: The comparative cost of fouling, $B, for two amines
dM can be calculated as:
= K f ρAC SG (3) f red ,bld ,1 C feed , 2
dt $ B2 = $ B1 · (8)
It is assumed that the concentration of crud in the SG is f red ,bld , 2 C feed ,1
uniform and equal to the crud concentration in blowdown. where the indices 1 and 2 refer to the first and the second
The value of Kfρ (kg/m²s) is termed the normalized fouling amine, respectively. Equation 8 assumes that the cost of
rate because it can be calculated by normalizing the fouling fouling management is proportional to the rate of the
rate per unit area to unit mass fraction of crud. Equation (3) accumulation of crud in the SG.
uses as an overall normalized fouling rate for the entire SG.
The value of Kfρ depends on the chemistry and LOOP TESTING
thermohydraulic conditions. Its dependence on the amine The specific effect of the amine and crud type on the
identity has to be evaluated experimentally. fouling rate under SG operating conditions was measured in
The crud source is the SG feedwater, and the sinks for a water recirculating loop at the AECL Chalk River
the crud are: SG fouling, blowdown, and moisture carry- Laboratories for several amines and cruds. As the fouling
over. Thus, one can write a mass balance for non-volatile substrate, nuclear steam generator quality tubing UNS
species: N06600 (“Alloy 600”) was used. The arithmetic average
dM roughness height of the fouling surface was approximately
= C feed F feed − bC SG − cC SG (4)
1.2 µm. The loop thermohydraulic conditions are listed in
dt
Using (3) to eliminate CSG from (4) and re-arranging Table 4, and chemistry conditions in Table 5. The flow
yields: direction was vertically upwards, and the channel diameter
was 10.7 mm. The test loop has been described in detail
dM C feed F feed K f ρA elsewhere (Turner and Klimas, 2000, Klimas and Pietralik,
= (5)
dt K f ρA + b + c 2002, Klimas et al., 2002).
Magnetite (particle diameter ~0.2 µm, Figure 1) was
The above equation represents the rate of crud
used as the fouling species in most of the tests. It was
accumulation in the SG as a function of the SG independent
manufactured using a method described by Sugimoto and
operating parameters. Thus, the SG fouling rate depends on
Matijevic (1980). Two tests employed magnetite with a
the magnitude of the normalized SG fouling rate, which is
surface purposely contaminated with silica (a common
chemistry-dependent.
station impurity). Two tests used a crud collected in a
An important parameter describing SG fouling is the
Canadian NGS SG (85% magnetite and 15% hematite,
blowdown efficiency, Ebld. The blowdown efficiency for an
particles 0.1-10 µm, volume average diameter 1.6 µm).
impurity is defined as the ratio of the rate of discharge of
Several tests used hematite, which was either commercial
the impurity with the blowdown (including moisture
grade (“Fisher Scientific”, 0.1 µm diameter) or
carryover) to the rate of impurity ingress to the SG with the
manufactured at AECL (~0.2 µm diameter). Lepidocrocite
feedwater. Dividing (5) by the rate of transport of crud into
was manufactured at AECL (rods, 0.2 µm length, aspect
the SG one obtains:
ratio ~10). Fresh ferrous precipitates were allowed to form
b+c in the loop during the test by a continuous injection of
Ebld = (6)
K f ρA + b + c ferrous acetate at a rate very low compared with the loop
flow rate. For all types of crud, a radiotracer (59Fe, half-life
44.6 days) was employed for on-line monitoring of the rate together with the confidence interval (90%) to contain the
of crud buildup at several locations on the heated test mean. For tests with small number of data points, the
section using high-efficiency (high-purity Ge monocrystal) confidence intervals were not calculated. The effect of
γ-ray detectors. These on-line data were calibrated after the amine on fouling of adiabatic surfaces is shown in Figure 3.
test by a precise determination of the radioactivity The specific effect of crud type on fouling rates is shown in
distribution along the test section. Figure 4.
A+ A
A
ET DA
RR
PH
A+ A
A
A
PA
ET M
D
O
4A
ET M
pH272 (at pH unit 6.2 6.2
ET
DP
M
3M
A+
D
PY
D
D
X=0)
[O2] µg/kg < 5 (below the ~150 Fig. 2 Specific Effect of Amine on Fouling Rates Under
detection limit) Typical SG Operating Conditions
residual µg/kg 25-100 0
[N2H4]
AECL CRL H3 Loop
1.2E-03
MPH
DMA
1.0E-03
Normalized Fouling Rate [kg/m²·s].
ETA+DDA
2.0E-04
0.0E+00
Fig. 1 Scanning Electron Microscopy Micrograph of -0.40 -0.20 0.00 0.20 0.40 0.60
Magnetite Used in the Majority of the Loop Tests Steam Quality [-]
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Klimas et al.: Identification and Testing of Amines
AECL CRL H3 Loop species. Dissolved ferrous species and hematite particles
1E+00
appear to be particularly effective foulant species.
Morpholine (pH272 = 6.2 at X=0) Using Equation (5) for CANDU SG, addition of DDA
Normalized Fouling Rate [kg/m²s].
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10 times higher than those under water chemistry NGS nuclear generating station
controlled with the mixture of ETA+DDA. PHWR pressurized heavy-water reactor
4. Modelling of SG fouling suggests that the rate of PWR pressurized water reactor
accumulation of crud in the SG would decrease by a SG steam generator (boiler)
factor of 3.7 if MPH was substituted with ETA+DDA
(amine-specific effect on fouling). Greek
5. Further reduction of SG fouling can be achieved by ρ mass density, kg/m³
optimizing the amine mixture so that appropriately high
pH is achieved throughout the steam cycle (amine- Subscript
unspecific effect on fouling). bld SG blowdown
6. The suitability of amines and amine mixtures for f fouling
corrosion and fouling control can be summarized with a feed SG feedwater
single cost-based “amine index”. Initial calculation of T at a temperature different than 25°C
the amine index suggests that significant savings (over
$1 million per effective full-power year) would results REFERENCES
by substituting MPH with a mixture of ETA+DDA in a Cobble J.W., P.J. Turner, and T.O. Passell, PWR
standard 1000-MW plant that uses no condensate Advanced All-Volatile Treatment Additives, By-Products,
polishing (or polishers in the amine form), and a and Boric Acid, Report TR-100755, Electric Power
blowdown rate of 1% of the steaming rate with Research Institute, Palo Alto, CA, U.S.A., July, 1992.
blowdown polishing. Klimas, S.J., D.A. Guzonas, C.W. Turner, and K.
Fruzzetti, Identification and Testing of Amines for Steam
NOMENCLATURE Generator Chemistry and Deposit Control, Report
$A the cost of the amine, $/EFPY 1002773, Electric Power Research Institute, Palo Alto, CA,
$B the comparative cost of fouling, $/EFPY U.S.A., December, 2002.
$C the cost of condensate polishing, $/EFPY Klimas, S.J. and J.M. Pietralik, Two-Phase Forced-
$D the cost of blowdown polishing, $/EFPY Convective Fouling Under Steam Generator Operating
$I the combined comparative amine index, $/EFPY Conditions, 4th Canadian Nuclear Society Steam Generator
$IXReg the cost of single regeneration or disposal of IX, Conference, May 5-8, Toronto, Canada, 2002.
$/bed Sawochka, S., Corrosion Product Transport, presented
A surface area, m² at the 2003 Steam Generator Secondary Side Management
b blowdown rate, kg/s Conference, Savannah, GA, U.S.A., Feb.10-12, 2003.
C mass fraction (kg/kg) Sugimoto T. and E. Matijevic, Formation of Uniform
c carry-over rate (kg/s) Spherical Magnetite Particles by Crystalization from
E efficiency, dimensionless Ferrous Hydroxide Gels, Journal of Colloid and Interface
F mass flow rate, kg/s Chemistry, Vol. 76, pp.227-243, 1980.
f a factor, dimensionless Turner, C.W., D.A. Guzonas, S.J. Klimas, and P.
IXCap capacity of IX bed for the amine (mol/bed) Frattini, Surface Chemistry Intervention to Control Boiler
K kinetic rate constant, m/s Tube Fouling, Report TR-110083, Electric Power Research
M mass, kg Institute, Palo Alto, CA, U.S.A., December, 1999.
MM molecular mass, kg/mol Turner, C.W., D.A. Guzonas, S.J. Klimas, and P.
pHT pH at temperature different than the standard 25°C Frattini, Surface Chemistry Intervention to Control Boiler
T temperature, K Tube Fouling— Part 2, Report 1006286, Electric Power
t time, s Research Institute, Palo, Alto, CA, U.S.A., September,
X thermodynamic steam quality, dimensionless 2001.
Y duration of a year, s Turner, C.W. and S.J. Klimas, Deposition of Magnetite
Particles from Flowing Suspensions under Flow-Boiling
Acronyms and Single-Phase Forced-Convective Heat Transfer, Can. J.
AVT all-volatile water treatment Chem. Eng., vol.78, pp.1065-1075, 2000.
CANDU® CANadian Deuterium Uranium, a registered Turner, C.W. S.J. Klimas, and P.L. Frattini, The Effect
trademark of Atomic Energy of Canada Limited. of Alternative Amines on the Rate of Boiler Tube Fouling,
EFPY effective full-power year of station operations Report TR-108004, Electric Power Research Institute, Palo
FW SG feedwater Alto, CA, U.S.A., September, 1997.
IX ion exchange
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