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Heat Exchanger Tube Failures

Article in Heat Exchanger Design Updates · June 2023

DOI: 10.5281/zenodo.10390701

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 Heat Exchanger Tube Failures

Prepared by: DSc PhD Dževad Hadžihafizović (DEng)

Sarajevo 2023
Six Causes of Heat Exchanger Tube Failure
Specialising in heat exchangers for over 35 years has provided Fluid Dynamics with extensive
experience across a wide array of heat exchanger types, in a broad range of industries. Each
type of heat exchanger performs a unique function, and has its own advantages and issues.
In this month’s article, we will focus on potential problems you may encounter with the tubes
of Shell and Tube heat exchangers, then follow up with a series of articles exploring further
common problems you may encounter, such as fouling, and how to avoid these problems;
plus tips on care, maintenance and repair.
Shell and Tube Heat Exchangers
Heat exchangers are an absolutely vital element of many applications.
Shell and Tube heat exchangers are robust and reliable and come in a range of sizes; from
large custom-built units such as feedwater heaters to small off-the-shelf hydraulic oil coolers and are
used in many industries, including power generation, oil and gas refineries, industry, ships, and on-
road and off-road machinery.
Consisting of a shell and a bundle of tubes (tube-stack), a shell and tube heat exchanger keeps two
fluids separate; allowing heat from one fluid to exchange heat with the other cooler fluid as they pass
in opposite directions – one fluid through the tubes (tube-side) and the other fluid over the tubes
(shell-side).
Shell and tube heat exchangers do not contain moving parts, provide a long service life and require
little maintenance. But are vital pieces of equipment, are subject to a number of threats to their
ongoing satisfactory performance and should be respected and cared for. In many cases a heat
exchanger failure or malfunction could cause a complete shutdown of operations.
This article seeks to provide engineers with an overview of some problems specifically affecting heat
exchanger tubes.
Six Causes of Heat Exchanger Tube Failure
1. Tube Corrosion
The biggest threat to shell and tube heat exchangers that use carbon steel tubes is oxidation
(corrosion) of the heat transfer surface of its tubes.
The reaction between oxygen (O2) and iron (Fe2, Fe3) is the most commonly observed form of
corrosion. This reaction yields a building layer of iron oxide (Fe2O3) on carbon steel tubes
which results in decreasing thermal permeation and eventually the deterioration of the tubes.
This problem is difficult to combat and is often only detected when tubes become so corroded
their thermal performance levels decrease, the fluid flow is significantly reduced or the tubes
are perforated and leak.

Corroded carbon steel tube.

2. Tube Erosion
Erosion of tubes is the physical wearing of the metal by fluids. Fluids with high levels of total
dissolved solids – such as silica, silt or sea water containing salt, sand and marine life –
catalyze the erosion of tubes both internally and at the leading edges of the inlet tubes.
Although all tubes are subject to erosion over time, the weakest points for tubes are generally
the U bend (if any) and the leading edge of the inlet tubes.
U-bend Erosion
Tube-side fluid velocity in excess of manufacturers’ recommendations can lead to erosion
damage along the internal face of the returning outer bend of the U-bend. The change in
direction of flow at this point introduces resistance to its flow causing the force of the fluid, and
any particulates in it, to concentrate against the far wall of the tube, constantly eroding the tube
at this point. U-bend erosion on galvanized steel pipes, due to extreme water velocities.
Inlet Tube-end Erosion
Significant erosion of the tubes can also be found at the leading ends of the inlet tubes, where
the tubes are connected through the tube sheets and face the full force of the incoming fluid. At
this point the division of fluid flow from a single stream into many smaller streams results in
turbulence and extremely-high localised velocities.

Tube end erosion at the inlet.

3. Steam or Water Hammer
Steam or water hammer is a powerful force and can cause the rupture or collapse of either the shell or the
tubes of a heat exchanger. Hammer generally occurs where there has been a surge in pressure commonly
caused by a sudden interruption in cooling water flow, the rapid vaporization of stagnant water or pump
malfunction. The phenomenon can be observed in feed-water heaters where high steam pressures increase
the chances of hammer.
Hammer can often be heard, but only rarely will it damage the shell. Tubes, being weaker than the shell, are
the more likely victims of hammer, however damage to tubes will only be detected on internal inspection or
when leaks become apparent.

Collapsed and ruptured copper tube resulting from steam hammer.

4. Thermal Fatigue
Heat exchanger tubes are vulnerable to tears and cracks due to accumulated stresses related
to constant thermal cycling or high temperature differentials. Thermal fatigue occurs when
extreme temperature differences between the shell and tubes result in tube flexing.

Significant tear in a copper tube due to extreme temperature differences.

https://www.fluiddynamics.com.au/services/articles-case-studies/six-causes-of-heat-exchanger-tube-failure
Thermal fatigue may cause the tubes to warp, producing stress loads that exceed the material’s
tensile strength and will eventually rupture the tube.

Heat effected tubes after a high temperature hydrogen attack.

Another result of high temperature differentials is the physical thermal expansion and
contraction of tubes along their length, which may eventually compromise the integrity of a
tube’s connection to the tube sheet, causing leaks.
The threat of thermal fatigue is almost impossible to diagnose until a failure has occurred.
5. Vibration/Resonance
Vibration and resonance, from whatever source and whether induced externally and internally, can impose
powerful forces on heat exchanger tubes and, once vibration or resonance is commenced it can increase in
intensity to a point where tubes rupture and fail or lose their seal with the tube-sheet and leak.
Baffles provide a vital support for the tubes in a shell and tube heat exchanger and direct the flow of the
shell-side fluid to assist in thermal energy exchange. Heat exchanger tubes are normally either welded or
tightly roller-expanded into their tube sheets to ensure the join does not leak. Both the sites of a tube’s
contact with baffles and tube sheets are points of weakness.
Excessive tube-side velocities of fluids may result in a tube vibrating or resonating at high frequency,
causing abrasion between it and the baffle edge. This can cause either the tube to rupture or the tube’s
bond with the tube-sheet to fail.
Equipment or machinery, to which a shell and tube heat exchanger is attached, may also transfer its
external vibration to heat exchanger tubes and cause damage or failure.

Broken baffle and worn tubes caused by radial erosion from high frequency, environmental resonance.
6. Pitting of Tubes
Chemically-induced corrosion can result in the pitting of heat exchanger tubes to the point
where pinholes form and the tube fails and leaks.
Pitting results from the electrochemical potential set up by differences inside and outside of,
what is commonly referred to as, a concentration cell. The oxygen-rich environment in this cell
acts as an anode and the metal surface as a cathode, resulting in the metal surface being
slowly pitted by the chemical reaction.
A concentrated electrochemical gradient of oxygen (O2) and carbon dioxide (CO2) is frequently
the cause of tube wall pitting, as is the presence of excess chemical compounds such as
chlorides and sulphates often found in inadequately treated cooling water.

Large pitting attack on a copper tube.

Feedwater Heaters
Cost Effective & Environmentally Friendly Solutions

What is a Feedwater Heater?

Feedwater Heaters are heat exchangers designed to preheat boiler feedwater by means of
condensing the steam extracted from a steam turbine.
The tube-side fluid (condensate/water) remains enclosed in the tubes and does not mix with the
shell side fluid (steam). Heat transfer within the vessel occurs by means of both convection and
conduction rather than by combustion alone.
Unlike a surface condenser, the flow rate of steam into a Feedwater Heater is not limited by the
amount of available steam.
The shell-side operating pressure in a Feedwater Heater is determined by the pressure of the
steam, rather than by the amount of heat transfer surface.
Three types of Feedwater Heaters
•Low Pressure Heater (LP):
A Feedwater Heater located, with regard to feedwater flow, between the condensate pump and
either the boiler feed pump or, if present, an intermediate pressure (booster) pump. It normally
extracts steam from the low-pressure turbine.
•High Pressure Heater (HP):
A Feedwater Heater located downstream of the boiler feed pump. Typically, the tube-side design
pressure is at least 100 Bar, and the steam source is the high-pressure turbine.
•Intermediate Pressure Heater (IP):
A Feedwater Heater usually located tube-side between the booster pump and the boiler feed
pump. The typical tubeside pressure is between 65 and 100 Bar and steam is extracted from an
intermediate pressure turbine.
Feedwater Heater design

Most Feedwater Heaters are a shell-and-tube design in which a bundle of tubes (tube stack) is
contained within the outer shell.
U-tubes are the most common tube bundle configuration as they are relatively resistant to
thermal expansion during operation. In most configurations, the feedwater flows inside the tubes
(tube side) and the steam flows over the tubes (shell side).
The positioning of Feedwater Heaters is flexible and they can be installed vertically, either head
down or head up, or horizontally. Generally, their orientation is dependent on the design and the
space available at the operation site.

https://www.fluiddynamics.com.au/case-studies-1/feedwater-heaters
Why use a Feedwater Heater?
Feedwater heaters serve a number of purposes, all of which provide significant cost savings
and environmental advantages:
•Reduce fuel required for combustion by increasing the initial water temperature to the boiler;
•Reduce heat losses in the condenser;
•Minimize thermal transients within the boiler;
•Lower emissions as fuel use is reduced due to improved heat rate.
•Improve overall efficiency of the plant;
•Reduce operating costs; and
•Ease thermal stress on the boiler.
Orientation
Horizontal:
Horizontally mounted Feedwater Heaters occupy more floor space. However, most Feedwater
Heaters are configured in this position as it provides the greatest stability in regard to water level
control and offers convenient access for tube bundle removal.
Vertical:
Vertically mounted Feedwater heaters conserve floor space but there is reduced control volume
available for liquid level fluctuation.
•Vertical – Channel Down: Disassembly is by shell removal. Installation and removal is likely to
be more difficult than that for horizontally installed Feedwater Heaters
•Vertical – Channel Up: Least frequently used orientation. Disassembly is by bundle removal. If
a subcooling zone is present, the zone must extend the full length of the bundle as the water
must enter at the bottom end and exit at the top end of the Feedwater Heater.
Zones are separate areas within the shell of the Feedwater Heater:
•Condensing Zone:
All Feedwater Heaters have this zone and all of the steam is condensed in this area.
Remaining, non-condensable gases must be removed externally downstream. The majority of
the heat energy is added in this zone.
•Subcooling Zone: (Optional)
The condensed steam enters this zone at its saturation temperature and is cooled by convective
heat transfer from the incoming feedwater.
•Desuperheating Zone: (Optional)
The incoming steam enters this zone giving up most of its heat to the feedwater exiting from the
heater.
TOP SEVEN SHELL AND TUBE HEAT EXCHANGER FAILURE MECHANISMS (OVERVIEW)

Many of our customers utilize shell and tube heat exchangers in their facilities. Depending on the process
conditions, that equipment may not last for decades without maintenance and repair.
It may seem odd that a static piece of equipment like a heat exchanger would require maintenance,
however a good preventative maintenance program can greatly extend the life of the equipment and keep
your personnel, equipment, and entire facility operating safely and profitably.
Over the next few months, we will review the top seven failure mechanisms for shell and tube heat
exchangers along with some best practices for the maintenance and/or repair for each one.
TOP SEVEN FAILURE MECHANISMS:
1. Plugging
2. Fouling
3. Corrosion
4. Tube to Tube Sheet Joint Failure
5. Gasket Surface Damage
6. Tube Sheet Erosion https://wardvesselandexchanger.com/top-seven-shell-and-tube-heat-exchanger-
7. Poor Design failure-mechanisms-overview/
Heat Exchanger – Stainless Steel tube Failure/issues
 Types of Heat Exchanger
(Application Wise – Categorization)
Heat Exchanger - Tubes
(attention)
 Types of Stainless steel production in market
 Based on the Heat treatment, chemical composition, microstructure, metallography, mechanical properties,
chemical properties– Categorization into four types of stainless steel.
Austenitic 300 and 200 series stainless steel.
• With their specific added element and its
associated benefits

Most frequent used “Tube” SS

material in variety of an
applications such as
thermoelectricity, metallurgy,
petroleum, and chemical
industries due to its reliability,
versatility, and robustness at high
temperatures
 Ferritic 400 series stainless steel.
• With their specific added element and its
associated benefits

Martensitic 400 series stainless steel.

• With their specific added element and its
associated benefits
 Types of failures can occur in Stainless steel during
service periods
Material of construction – All types of SS
Location – Tubes inlet/ Tube bend / Tube wall
Prevention/mitigation
Causes  Use of erosion resistant materials for
tubes
 High fluid velocity
 Provide protective coating: carbide and
 Presence of nano and micro solid
nitride coatings, ceramic coatings
sediment particles
Type of failure  Use prismatic flow correcting devices
 Size of impurities
 Improvise the shape and geometry of
Erosion/ Erosion corrosion  High chlorine content
parts
 Turbulence
 Improve the design of inlet and outlet
 Impingement with scale particles
 Use infiltration technique and magnetic
 Bursting of bubbles
particles
 Inlet fluid pressure
 Reduce oxygen and control the pH of
media
 Material of construction – All types of SS
Location – Tube entrance/ Tube end

Causes
 High presence of liquid droplets in
steam medium Prevention/mitigation
 Impact pressure greater than
Type of failure  Use erosion resistant material with high
stagnation pressure
hardness
Liquid Droplet  Impingement angle
 Maintain and control the temperature
Impingement Erosion  Surface roughness
of steam
 Low material hardness
 Impact pressure
 Density and velocity of liquid drops
 Material of construction – All types of SS
Location – U bends / Tube walls near
Baffles / Tubes near to antivibration
bars

Causes
Prevention/mitigation
 Fluid elastic instability
Type of failure  Accumulation of debris  Use erosion resistant material with high
 Turbulence hardness
Vibrational Failures
 Flow induced vibration  Maintain and control the temperature
 Tube-to-tubesheet and tube-to- of steam
baffle interactions
 Material of construction – All types of SS
Location – Tubes near plugs / Tube bend

Causes Prevention/mitigation
 High temperature gradient  Periodically inspect temperature
 Thermal stresses controlling devices to avoid rapid
Type of failure  Improper tube and shell side cooling and heating
Thermal Fatigue temperatures  Identification of possible sites prone to
 Blockage by sediments, muds and cyclic thermal loading and inspection
scales  Regular quality inspections followed by
 Wetting proper maintenance

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