Technical

Paper

HRSG Water-Side Reliability - Design And

Operating Considerations
Ivin J. Cotton,Consultant, R. Henry Weed, PE Sr. Project Engineer – IPP, GE Water and Process Technologies
Trevose, PA, John Kolarick, Operations Manager, Westinghouse Operating Services Co., Sayreville, NJ

Abstract thermal efficiency of these systems, combined

with ease of construction, flexibility in operation,
Reliability is a critical factor in independent power and acceptable environmental impact make them
and cogeneration operations. The heat recovery economically attractive.
steam generators (HRSG) are a major part of the
power system. Thus, an understanding of HRSG However, because cogeneration facilities are
design and operational parameters, along with often tied into the host plant operation, there are
specific knowledge of steam host plant needs, is additional considerations that sometimes receive
required to engineer an effective boiler system less attention. One of these is the system's water
water treatment program. quality and chemical treatment. In a typical HRSG
system, there are three main water treatment
This paper reviews various HRSG designs and the concerns:
boiler chemical treatment programs that should • Preventing metal failure due to corrosion
be applied for each. Examples of water-side fail-
ures and how they were corrected are presented • Minimizing deposition on heat transfer sur-
throughout the paper. Emphasis is placed on the faces
importance of coordinated pH/phosphate chemis- • Maintaining steam purity
try, proper oxygen scavenger selection, and effec-
tive pH control through amine chemistry. The typical independent power/cogeneration
facility also has a number of additional con-
Metallurgical analyses and design and operational straints which make water treatment more diffi-
information are presented for two similar plants, cult than a utility or industrial power plant. These
as well as several case histories. Recommenda- constraints range from limited properly trained
tions for improved design interface and on/off line personnel to perform required testing and feeding,
monitoring are included. Brief mention is made of to plant shutdowns to unusual operating needs
some of the state-of-the-art monitoring and feed (such as extended periods of minimum power
systems which can also improve plant reliability. generation). In addition, the various feedwater and
The parameters affecting erosion/corrosion, one heating arrangements and different pressure boil-
common specific problem area, are also reviewed. ers make treatment very site specific. All of these
constraints can have an effect on HRSG reliability.
Background Interruption in plant reliability can cost hundreds
There are hundreds of cogeneration facilities of thousands of dollars. This cost may be incurred
across the country that couple a combustion tur- by the owner and/or the operator for equipment
bine and a heat recovery steam generator to pro- replacement, emergency repair or installation. In
duce high temperature steam for electrical many cases, the outage is not scheduled, so there
generation and for sale to host plants. The high usually are penalties incurred from not meeting
availability criteria.

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Figure 1: Typical combined cycle facility
Figure 2: Arrangement of heat removal sections
To improve HRSG reliability, it is important to
understand several key items, such as HRSG
design differences, selection of a comprehensive
water treatment and monitoring program, and
knowledge of water-side reliability problems with
HRSGs. Figure 1 shows a typical arrangement of a
combustion turbine and HRSG in the power and
steam production system of a combined cycle
cogeneration facility.

HRSG Design Differences

General
An understanding of the heat fluxes and water Figure 3: Multi-pressure boiler system with common
and steam flows in an HRSG is an important first deaerator
step in system treatment. There are several major
combustion turbine manufacturers, several major design. Water, steam/water, or steam travels
boiler manufacturers, and many load, process through the tubes.
and power requirements for particular operating
conditions. Given these varied requirements, there As the exhaust gas passes through different sec-
are numerous HRSG design configurations. tions of the duct, it gives up its heat to the differ-
ent boiler sections. Each boiler section has tubes
These differences have been shown to have a sig- arranged to remove the required amount of heat.
nificant impact on the requirements of the water- In a typical high pressure or intermediate pressure
side treatment and even on unit reliability. section, the first bank of tubes is the superheater,
followed by the generating tubes, then the
Heat Removal Arrangement economizer tubes. Low pressure systems include
an economizer and feedwater heater. A reheat
The basic HRSG system directs the combustion cycle or bypass may be incorporated around the
turbine exhaust through an insulated, ceramic- intermediate pressure boiler, but these two
lined exhaust duct. Inside the duct are vertical, arrangements will not be discussed here. The heat
finned tubes that remove heat. The tubes are con- removal sections of a typical three-pressure HRSG
structed of various alloys, including stainless system are shown in Figure 2.
steels, and they are interconnected by headers
and/or drums, depending upon the particular

Page 2 TP389EN 0602

 ers, with common pretreatment, identical boiler
treatment and interconnected steam operation.
This can cause difficulties in maintaining proper
boiler chemistries. Typically, the feedwater avail-
able for the lower pressure units is the same as
that available for the high pressure unit. The diffi-
culty becomes apparent when trying to maintain
proper boiler water pH in each drum. First, there is
a tendency to try to operate the lower pressure
units at higher cycles of concentration than the
high pressure unit. This means that all contami-
nants, as well as all additives, are cycled to a
Figure 4: Multi-pressure boiler system with integral higher concentration.
deaerator
Secondly, the effect of any neutralizing amine in
The exact configuration of the feedwater system the boiler system must be considered. This
of each boiler is extremely important, since it can includes any amine incorporated into the oxygen
have a significant impact on the boiler water scavenger or from amine in the return conden-
treatment options available. Figure 3 shows a sate. Each neutralizing amine has a specific distri-
typical three-pressure boiler system with an bution ratio (DR), which is the percentage of amine
external deaerator and storage tank. This found in the vapor phase divided by the percent-
arrangement permits treatment of the deaerator age found in the liquid phase at the specified
with oxygen scavenger and amine and treatment pressure. In addition, in high purity systems, the
of each steam generating system as an individual effect of amine basicity and distribution ratio can
boiler system. have different effects at each boiler pressure level
(see Figure 5).
In comparison, several HRSG manufacturers have
designs that use the low pressure boiler steam
drum as the deaerator storage tank. The LP sys-
tem functions as a boiler system since steam is
produced and feedwater is received from the
deaerator. However, it cannot be treated with
conventional coordinated pH/phosphate chemis-
try since the steam drum provides feedwater for
the high and intermediate pressure boilers.
The typical pH of this system is similar to the
feedwater pH, 8.8 to 9.6. This can make it more
susceptible to magnetite instability and corrosion
in systems with design or operational constraints.
Figure 4 shows an HRSG system with the low
pressure drum providing feedwater to the other
boilers.

Multiple Pressure Systems

In a traditional powerhouse operation, there may
be multiple boilers, but their pretreatment and
boiler treatment are usually independently con- Figure 5: Distribution ratios of neutralizing amines vs.
pressure
trolled. On the other hand, the combined cycle
facility using one HRSG has multiple pressure boil-

TP389EN 0602 Page 3

Cascading Blowdown Each user of the steam should be consulted to
determine what level of steam purity is required.
The operating requirements of the owner or host For example, suppose a facility's steam purity
plant must be fully incorporated into the design of requirements for sodium are <0.005 ppm (mg/L).
HRSG systems. Many plants want to conserve The original design specifies cascading boiler
heat, reduce makeup water requirements and blowdown to save heat. Based upon this operat-
control chemical treatment costs by cascading ing constraint, concentration of sodium in the in-
boiler blowdown from the high pressure boiler to termediate pressure boiler water is expected to be
the intermediate pressure unit. Some designers 20 ppm (mg/L). If the boiler manufacturer offers
have proceeded further to also cascade the steam separation equipment that can reduce
intermediate pressure blowdown to the low pres- carryover to 0.1%, the intermediate pressure unit
sure system. steam would contain 20 ppb (µg/L) of sodium. The
What is important in the design stage is the effect plant is forced to decide to discontinue the use of
of the higher level of contamination in the lower cascading blowdown, use higher purity makeup
pressure boilers. For example, consider a system water, or pay a possible increase for the capital
producing 100,000 lb/h (45,000 kg/h) in the high cost of the steam separation equipment.
pressure unit and 50,000 lb/h (22,500 kg/h) in both
the intermediate pressure and low pressure boil-
ers. If all three boilers operate at 100 cycles of
concentration, the final concentration factor in the
intermediate pressure drum will be 300, while in
the low pressure drum it is 400 times. This means
that for boiler feedwater that meets ASME guide-
lines for iron (e.g., 0.020 ppm [mg/L] iron) the iron
concentration in the intermediate and low pres-
sure boilers could approach 8 ppm (mg/L). This
high level of contaminants could increase the risk
of deposition and possibly cause heat transfer Figure 6: Three-drum boiler arrangement
loss and failure.

Steam Purity
Steam purity is a major factor in HRSG system
design. Poor steam purity can result in the follow-
ing:
• Steam turbine deposition and corrosion
• Condenser corrosion Figure 7: Two-drum boiler arrangement
• Superheater fouling or cracking
Water and Steam Flow
• Steam line cracking
• Combustion turbine fouling Knowledge of the specific flow of makeup water,
• Host plant problems feedwater, and steam within the HRSG boiler sys-
tem is important. This information makes it possi-
Each HRSG manufacturer has various types of ble to determine the level of treatment required
steam separation equipment designed to remove and the restrictions on that treatment.
moisture from the steam. This includes cyclone
separators, chevrons, baffle plates and wire mesh The exact configuration of the headers, steam
screens. However, the amount of equipment drum, generating tubes, downcomers, etc. must
included and the specific design can vary depend- be known to set up a comprehensive inspection
ing upon the steam purity requirements of the bid and monitoring schedule. For example, makeup
specification. water in HRSG systems is usually demineralized
water. Since this water is fully oxygenated, the
system metallurgy must be corrosion resistant.
Page 4 TP389EN 0602
Corrosion due to low pH and oxygen pitting must
be controlled with mechanical and/or chemical
oxygen removal and amines to adjust pH.
Figures 6 and 7 show two different designs for this
part of the boiler system. Figure 6 shows the flow
from the steam drum down the large downcom-
ers into the lower drum and/or headers. In this
arrangement, the sets of vertical generating tubes
(risers) carry a mixture of steam and water into
the "evaporator" drum. This drum is usually
designed to be fully submerged at all times and it
directs the steam/water mixture into the baffled
portion of the steam drum. In the steam drum, the
steam separation equipment removes the mois- Figure 8: Steam blanketing of a high pressure riser tube
ture from the steam through a series of cyclones
and mist eliminators. • Varying host steam load demands
As shown in Figure 7, the feedwater flows into the • Stringent host steam purity requirements
downcomers and to the lower headers and/or • Condensate contamination
drum. The generating tubes from the lower sec-
tion are "risers." These risers discharge the steam Of primary concern from a design standpoint are
and water mixture directly into the steam drum the steam flow and pressure requirements of the
separation equipment. host. The various steam load scenarios must be
outlined to the HRSG designer to ensure that the
Flow information is important when troubleshoot- system can meet those needs.
ing or when trying to determine which area of the
boiler is more likely to be susceptible to deposition A second concern, which is frequently overlooked,
and/or corrosion problems. Experience has shown is the input of host plant steam requirements on
that these problems include erosion/corrosion in design. These specifications usually define steam
the low pressure section (discussed later), steam purity in terms of maximum limits of total dis-
blanketing, and deposition in vertical risers near solved solids. However, they may also establish
baffles and duct walls in the high pressure section. limits on the types of volatile components and
their concentration in the steam. This is seen fre-
The problem of steam-blanketing is commonly quently in plants that are regulated by FDA or
seen in horizontal runs of tubes, usually due to USDA and are also seen in plants that have proc-
high heat input and circulation problems (see Fig- ess limitations.
ure 8). Where steam blanketing is occurring, depo-
sition can occur and corrosion can take place The third concern, which arises from close asso-
even without the presence of free caustic. In this ciation with a steam host, is varying heat value
area, there is a steam/magnetite reaction and the and purity of condensate return from the host.
dissolution of magnetite. In such cases, opera- These parameters determine the level of conden-
tional changes or design modifications may be sate treatment required, determine pretreatment
necessary to eliminate the cause of the problem. needs, and establish where the host condensate
can be pumped back into the feedwater cycle.
Host Requirements Contaminated condensate can impact the reliabil-
ity of operation, and provisions must be made to
Combined cycle plants must meet the steam handle this problem when it occurs.
requirements of the host plant, while at the same
time fulfill the contractual obligations for electrical These concerns emphasize that maintaining a
production to the utility power grid. Three areas of close and ongoing relationship with the host com-
concern are: pany is critical.

TP389EN 0602 Page 5

Duct Burners/Varying Heat Flux changes in operating pressure are not seen in
intermediate and high pressure boilers.
The inclusion of duct burners is another major
design difference that should be considered. Duct The estimated maximum velocity and metallurgy
burners are used primarily to supplement the heat type must be specified by the boiler manufacturer
input when steam thermal demands exceed the for all anticipated operating conditions. Particular
heat available from the combustion turbine emphasis should be made to known problem
exhaust. areas.
Some facilities use the duct burners for burning Communication
waste fuel products or to provide heat for host
steam production when the combustion turbine is The host plant steam requirements are usually
down. The exact location of these burners can communicated directly to the owner. The owner
affect heat fluxes in a particular portion of the balances these needs with financial considera-
HRSG. Problems that can occur with duct burners tions when an Engineer/Procure/Construct (EPC)
include improper orientation and overfiring in one contractor is hired. The host plant steam require-
section. ments are then relayed to the equipment design-
ers through bid specifications and other meetings.
In addition, even without duct burners, there may Even though all parties attempt to communicate
be a higher heat flux in one area due to poor dis- effectively, not all considerations may be met.
tribution of the exhaust gases. Even with straight-
ening vanes (which uniformly distribute gas flow), Improving the communication path should be a
steam generation in one part of the boiler may be priority to minimize operational problems. Specifi-
higher than in an adjacent area. Temperature and cally, once the equipment supplier has been
velocity profiles on operating units have indicated selected, there should be more direct interface
varying heat fluxes in different areas. between the user and designer. It is during this
period that some of the special conditions and
Design Versus Operating Conditions unusual operating scenarios can be discussed to
ensure that the HRSG system can reliably handle
In HRSG systems, operating pressures can vary them.
significantly from the original design pressure.
When combined with varying load requirements,
Two Similar Systems
this can lead to problems. For example, if the
design pressure is significantly higher than the Two plants having similar designs began to
operating pressure, the velocity of the fluid flow experience boiler tube failures at approximately
through the tubes can be affected. This can have the same time. These two plants, one located in
a significant impact on the reliable operation of the mid-Atlantic area and one in New England,
the HRSG. had the same general components.
In particular, the low pressure section of the HRSG Both facilities fire natural gas in two 104 MW
may be more susceptible to the effects of these combustion turbine trains and recover the
pressure changes. For example, the specific vol- exhaust heat in two, dual pressure, same manu-
ume of saturated steam at 25 psig (1.8 kg/cm2) is facturer HRSGs. Both plants also use one single
10.6 ft3/lb (0.7 m3/kg). At 10 psig (0.7 kg/cm2), the flow extraction steam turbine to generate an ad-
specific volume increases to 16.5 ft3/lb (1.1 m3/kg). ditional 50 to 90 MW. Cooling of the steam from
This is a 56% increase in specific volume for a the turbines is accomplished with air cooled con-
relatively small decrease in operating pressure. densers. Each HRSG produces 900 psig
(63 kg/cm2) superheated steam for steam turbine
Since the cross-sectional area in the tubes was
use and export to a steam host. Low pressure
fixed during design, this increase in specific vol-
steam is sent to the low pressure steam systems
ume increases the velocity of the fluid flowing
for use in the deaerator, steam turbine, or steam
through the tubes. This is one factor that can have
host.
an impact on the erosion/corrosion phenomenon
seen in some HRSGs. Generally, the impact of

Page 6 TP389EN 0602

However, differences in operational and host plant gical examination confirmed that ero-
requirements impacted the two relatively identical sion/corrosion was the primary cause of the metal
systems. Inspection and investigation revealed loss in this elbow area.
that the metal loss problems were different. These
problems were attributed to design and opera- The upper row of elbows entering the evaporator
tional causes. drum on the side facing the gas pass were
replaced on one unit with T-22. T-22 is a higher
Different Plant Design/Operation alloy chromium/molybdate material, which has
higher erosion wear resistance than the standard
Although the plants are almost identical, there are SA178A carbon steel material. In the other unit,
some differences that make each plant unique. At the existing carbon steel tubes were not fully
the mid-Atlantic plant, the requirements for steam replaced.
to the host vary from 0 to 210,000 lb/h (0 to
94,500 kg/h) and all steam additives must be FDA Further investigation revealed that the cyclone
approved. At the New England plant, host steam separators in the low pressure steam drum
flow and demineralized makeup flow is less. In showed significant metal loss, requiring repair or
addition, this plant must minimize wastes since it replacement. In addition, the crossover tube
is a zero discharge facility. designed to feed the steam/water mixture to the
far set of cyclones showed significant metal loss.
Also of importance is the difference in operating It was replaced during the outage.
pressures. The mid-Atlantic plant normally pro-
duces 680,000 lb/h (306,000 kg/h) of superheated Following the outage, an evaluation was con-
steam at 870 psig (61 kg/cm2) and low pressure ducted to determine if other factors could be iso-
steam at 185,000 lb/h (83,300 kg/h) and 80 psig lated, which were contributing to increased metal
(5.6 kg/cm2), and it operates the deaerator at loss. The factors evaluated included:
6 psig (0.4 kg/cm2). At the New England facility, • Feedwater temperature (heater in and out of
high pressure steam flow is 690,000 lb/h service)
(311,000 kg/h), while low pressure steam flow is • Phosphate and pH levels
95,000 lb/h (42,800 kg/h) at 92 psig (6.4 kg/cm2).
• Oxygen scavenger usage
System Reliability Improvements • Operating pressure of the low pressure system
Manifestations of a problem at the mid-Atlantic On-site iron testing, with confirmation of results
facility began to appear shortly after commercial by laboratory analysis, was continued. In addition,
operation, but prior to any boiler tube failure. an Orbisphere hydrogen analyzer was connected
Monitoring of the boiler water indicated elevated to the steam and feedwater samples. This instru-
iron levels in both pressure boilers. ment can detect low levels of hydrogen gas,
which can be related to corrosion.
Subsequent investigation showed that there were
several items that were contributing to the prob- Feedwater temperature and phosphate treatment
lem. First, there was metal loss associated with a levels had no effect on iron levels. The hydrogen
feedwater valve that was improperly installed. analyzer also did not indicate any significant
Metal loss was also occurring in the piping return- variation with any changes. Feedwater iron levels
ing heated feedwater to the deaerator. remained at the previous level of <0.005 ppm
(mg/L) in all tests.
Secondly, inspection of the vortex breakers in the
low pressure steam drum showed extensive metal The most significant change was noted in the low
loss. After redesign and replacement of these pressure boiler system, when it was operated at a
components, the iron levels were lower, but still higher pressure of 85 to 104 psig (6.0 to
well in excess of expected levels. Boroscopic 7.3 kg/cm2). The iron testing showed a significant
inspection of the steam generating tubes in the reduction of iron levels in the boiler water.
area just prior to entry into the evaporator drum
of the low pressure system, showed a significant Recent inspection of the mild steel tubes in the
localized wear pattern. The pattern and metallur- low pressure section showed that, although ero-
TP389EN 0602 Page 7
sion/corrosion was not completely eliminated, the using standard coordinated pH/phosphate guide-
amount of area affected and the subsequent lines. This treatment was continued, but the phos-
metal loss appeared to be reduced. The newly phate levels were reduced to lower the total solids
installed tube elbows of higher alloy steel showed available for deposition.
virtually no metal loss.
Subsequent visual and metallurgical analysis of
Other Causes of Failure Experienced tube sections in the immediate area showed con-
tinued steam blanketing and some deposition, but
Weld problems in the economizer section in hard- much less evidence of the associated under-
to-reach areas were also detected in the unit. In deposit corrosion.
addition, depending on the particular HRSG
design, various banks of tubes and headers may Boiler Water Treatment
be supported either independently or inter-
dependently. Due to cyclic operation, this can
Considerations
result in differences in thermal expansion of vari- The three primary purposes of HRSG system
ous components, thus further aggravating these treatment programs are prevention of corrosion,
stress problems. control of deposition and maintenance of
required steam purity. Selection of the optimum
This type of mechanical stress failure is usually
treatment program depends on many factors.
more readily identified and can usually be solved
With HRSG operations, as with all boiler system
with structural changes. Although these mechani-
treatment programs, there are three major areas
cally-related problems frequently are apparent
that require protection with chemical treatment
within a short time after start-up, they may not
programs: boiler feedwater systems, boiler sys-
surface for several years.
tems and condensate systems.
HRSG High Pressure Failures
Established Guidelines
In New England, the plant experienced two tube
In all cases, boiler feedwater requirements are
failures associated with the high pressure section.
dictated by the highest pressure unit and/or tur-
A steam generating tube between the lower
bine NOx water/steam requirements. Water qual-
header and the evaporator drum failed. Metallur-
ity and steam purity limits are designed to protect
gical analysis indicated the problem was internal
the equipment, meet the emission standards, and
metal wastage. Visual examination of the tube
maintain warranty coverage.
showed parallel, longitudinal deposits along the
10 o'clock and 2 o'clock surfaces. Inorganic analy- An established list of guidelines frequently used
ses of the deposits in the area above and sur- for cogeneration systems is the American Society
rounding the failure confirmed the phenomenon of Mechanical Engineers (ASME) boiler feedwater
of "steam blanketing." consensus guidelines. Other commonly used
guidelines include:
Steam blanketing originates when there is insuffi-
cient fluid flow to maintain adequate cooling. It is • The Electric Power Research Institute (EPRI)
more common in horizontal or sloped tubes and is maximum levels of contaminants, which are
identifiable by the line of boiler water salts, which primarily based on electric utility experience
are evaporated at the steam and water interface. and known turbine pathway contaminant
Corrosion can occur under the deposits by provid- solubilities.
ing a mechanism for concentration of normally • The steam turbine manufacturer's maximum
soluble species under the deposit and at or above permissible levels of various contaminants for
the liquid/ vapor interface. protection of critical steam turbine equipment
(see Table 1).
Steam blanketing was determined to be the root
cause of the tube failures (a circulation-related • The gas turbine manufacturer's specified
problem). It was possible to reduce the corrosive allowable contaminants in steam and water for
effect of the steam blanketing by making several NOx control (see Table 2). (Note that these are
chemical changes. Initially, the boiler was treated different from the steam turbine manufac-
turer's levels and may be more stringent.)
Page 8 TP389EN 0602
Table 1: Industrial Turbine Steam Purity Specifications Table 2b: Total Allowed in Water, Fuel, and Air

Manufacturer
General
Westinghouse LM 6000
Control Contaminant Electric
Westinghouse GE ABB (Water) Turbines*
Parameter (Steam)

Cation Na + K, ppm (mg/L) 1.0 <0.5 0.1

conductivity, 0.3 b,c < 0.2 < 0.2
µS/cm Pb, ppb (µg/L) 1.0

Dissolved Vanadium, ppm

0.5**
oxygen, ppb 10 b,c (mg/L)
(µg/L) Ca, ppm (mg/L) 2.0
Sodium, ppb Conductivity,
5 b,c 20 < 10
(µg/L) µmhos/cm at 477°F 0.5-1.0
Chlorides, (25°C)
5 b,c
ppb (µg/L) Manufacturers may additionally specify total limits in the com-
Silica, ppb bined stream of fuel, steam, and air which contacts the turbine.
10 c 20 20 * For the LM Series (GE), the total limits for all contaminants is
(µg/L)
0.2 ppm (mg/L) by weight.
Copper, ppb
2 a <3 ** This limit refers to fuels where no corrosion inhibitor is used.
(µg/L)
Iron, ppb Boiler Feedwater Protection
20 a < 20
(µg/L)
Proper boiler feedwater treatment must protect
Na/PO4
molar ratio
2.3-2.7 a,d piping, feedwater heater(s), economizers and the
deaerator. The most common causes of corrosion
Notes:
are due to oxygen pitting and acidic attack due to
a. Typical value. (Should be analyzed at least once per week.)
b. Used for chemical control by continuous direct analysis of the
low pH.
condensed inlet steam or as recalculated from steam generator
water and mechanical plus vaporous carryover. Oxygen Control
c. Continuous analysis recommended. Without proper mechanical deaeration and
d. For units with phosphate water treatment.
chemical oxygen scavenging, oxygen in the feed-
e. GE specifications, Bulletin GEK98965
water will enter the boiler. Oxygen is highly corro-
Table 2a: Typical Water and Steam Guidelines for NOx sive when present in hot water, and even small
Control
concentrations can cause serious pitting prob-
General lems.
Westinghouse LM 6000
Contaminant Electric The oxygen scavengers most commonly used in
(Water)* Turbines
(Steam)
boiler systems are sulfite, hydrazine and organic
Total Trace Metals (Na + oxygen scavengers, such as hydroquinone and
0.5 0.1
K), ppm (mg/L)
ascorbate. It is of critical importance to select and
SiO2, ppm (mg/L) 18 0.1 properly use the best chemical oxygen scavenger
TDS and TSS, ppm (mg/L) 5.0 0.1 for a given system.
Cl, ppm (mg/L) 6.0 0.5 Major factors that determine the best oxygen
SO4 0.5
scavenger for a particular application include:
reaction speed, residence time in the system, op-
pH 6.5-7.5 7.5-8.0 6.0-8.0 erating temperature and pressure, and feedwater
Fe + Ca, ppm (mg/L) 0.1 pH. Interferences with the scavenger/oxygen
Specific Conductivity, reaction, decomposition products, and reactions
8.0
µmhos/cm with metals in the system are also important fac-
TDS, ppm (mg/L) 3 tors. The selection of scavengers are also influ-
enced by the use of feedwater for attemperation,
Specifications may vary depending on the manufacturer. the presence of economizers in the system, and
* Based on millions of pounds of fuel. the end use of the steam.
TP389EN 0602 Page 9
Several different organic compounds are used to
remove dissolved oxygen from HRSG boiler feed-
water and condensate including: hydroquinone,
ascorbate, and CorTrol* treatment, a nitrogen-
containing oxygen scavenger (NCOS). These mate-
rials are less toxic than hydrazine and can be
handled more safely.
Hydroquinone is unique in its ability to react
quickly with dissolved oxygen, even at ambient
temperature. As a result of this property (in addi-
tion to its effectiveness in operating systems),
hydroquinone is particularly effective for use in
boiler storage and during system start-ups and
shutdowns. It is also used widely in condensate
systems. In addition, it has been effectively used Figure 9: Caustic gouging of a boiler tube
to reduce metal oxides as a result of its metal
conditioning properties.
Ascorbate-based materials are commonly used
where FDA or USDA limitations apply. The NCOS
materials are used where an alkaline material
with amine is beneficial. In addition, the use of
proprietary materials incorporating amines and
oxygen scavengers with the same volatility char-
acteristics can reduce corrosion and improve reli-
ability.

pH Control
Maintenance of proper pH throughout the HRSG
feedwater, boiler, and condensate systems is
Figure 10: Coordinated pH/phosphate control
essential for corrosion control. Since condensate
accounts for 60 to 98% of boiler feedwater, con-
Boiler Water Treatment Programs
trol of pH is important for the following reasons:
• Low pH or insufficient alkalinity can result in In the boiler, either high or low pH increases the
corrosive acidic attack corrosion rates of mild steel. The pH that is main-
• High pH or excess alkalinity can result in caus- tained depends on the pressure, makeup water
characteristics, chemical treatment and other fac-
tic gouging/cracking and carryover due to
foaming tors specific to the system. For optimum protec-
tion in single or multi-pressure HRSG systems with
• The speed of oxygen scavenging reactions is high quality feedwater, coordinated phos-
highly dependent on pH levels phate/pH treatment programs are used. Fre-
To elevate condensate and feedwater pH, neutral- quently, synthetic polymers are added to the
izing amines should be used. Amines are effective, boiler water to control deposition of metal oxides
easy to apply, and do not have the control prob- and other contaminants. As mentioned, steam
lems of caustic and ammonia. In addition to pH blanketing may also be the root cause of deposi-
monitoring, it is important to monitor the feedwa- tion.
ter system for corrosion by means of iron and
copper testing. If the boiler water contains free hydroxide, high
concentrations of NaOH can form under deposits.
Caustic attack (see Figure 9) creates irregular pat-
terns, often referred to as gouges. Deposition may
or may not be found in the affected area.

Page 10 TP389EN 0602

Coordinated Phosphate pH Treatment • Passivation of metals is enhanced with amines.
Boiler feedwater systems using demineralized or • There is evidence that initial condensation of
evaporated makeup or pure condensate may be steam at the Wilson line in condensing turbines
protected from caustic attack through the use of can result in low pHs without proper neutraliz-
coordinated phosphate/pH control. ing amines.
• Ammonia may cause stress corrosion cracking
The phosphate buffers the boiler water, reducing of copper bearing alloys.
the chance of large pH changes due to the devel-
• Low distribution amines are needed to prevent
opment of high caustic concentrations. Excess
low pH's especially during storage and start-
caustic combines with disodium phosphate and
up.
forms trisodium phosphate. Different forms of
phosphate consume or add caustic as the phos- Selection of the proper amine blend is critical for
phate shifts to the proper form. Maintaining boiler effective results. The following is a brief explana-
water chemistry within the recommended control tion of key amine properties:
box is achieved through feed of the proper type of
phosphate and adjustment of boiler blowdown Distribution ratio (DR) is a measure of the volatility
(see Figure 10). of amines and is defined as follows:

Synthetic Polymer Treatment DR = concentration of amine in steam

concentration of amine in liquid
In addition to application of coordinated phos-
phate/pH programs, clean boiler tube surfaces Note that the DR of amines varies with pressure
reduce potential concentration sites for caustic and the selection of the proper blend of amines is
corrosion. Deposit control treatment programs, required to provide protection to all portions of the
such as those based on addition of synthetic system.
polymers, can help provide clean surfaces and are Amine basicity is the extent to which an amine
used widely in HRSG systems. Polymer use is hydrolyzes, which determines its effect on pH. The
especially critical in systems subject to periodic higher the basicity, the higher the resultant pH at
condensate contamination. condensation (once acid is neutralized). A lower
A new product has been developed that has molecular weight amine means less weight is
resulted in a significant improvement in deposit required to react with a given weight of acid.
control and, in some cases, cleanup of iron-based Stability is important in high pressure systems,
deposits. OptiSperse* treatment is a polymeric since thermal decomposition can lead to ammo-
material based on a patented, unique chemistry nia and non-beneficial organic materials.
using a modified phosphate chemistry as the
functional group. A slight degree of dephosphory- The recycle ratio is a measure of the amount of
lation allows the material to provide orthophos- amine that is returned to the system. This is sys-
phate and, thus, to operate within the coordinated tem as well as amine dependent. Ideally, an
phosphate/pH control range. amine or blend of amines can be selected, which
minimizes corrosion and maximizes system
Amine Treatment water-side reliability.
The primary reasons to treat feedwater and con- A relatively new development by GE Water &
densate systems in cogeneration plants with Process Technologies in amine selection is the
amine are: Condensate Modeling System (CMS). This program
• Host plants require protection of steam con- accurately simulates the effect of various chemi-
densate. cals and operating conditions on a specific com-
• Boiler feedwater must be buffered to an effec- plex system and allows the selection of the
tive pH range for corrosion protection. optimum amine treatment program.
• Elevated pH is required for efficacy of oxygen
scavengers.
TP389EN 0602 Page 11
HRSG System Problems
Although many systems have been designed and
operated at a high level of reliability, problems
related to water-side reliability have occurred.
Common problems include:
• Economizer deposition (and resultant corro-
Figure 11a: Erosion Corrosion of a Riser Tube in a Low
sion), economizer stress corrosion cracking, Pressure HRSG (Arrow Indicates Failure)
and fatigue cracking
• Steam blanketing and deposition, particularly
in the high pressure section
• Boiler tube component cracking
• Superheater overheating, corrosion, stress cor-
rosion cracking, and fatigue cracking
• Erosion/corrosion of low and, to some extent,
of intermediate pressure systems
Many of these problems can be interrelated. A
review of 60 recent industry-wide economizer
problems, some including failures, indicated that
40% were due to fireside corrosion, 35% were due
to fatigue or stress corrosion cracking, 15% were
Figure 11b: Close-up of Erosion Corrosion of a Riser Tube
due to deposition and 10% were due to oxygen (Arrow Indicates Failure)
pitting.
cracking. Adequate control of boiler water level,
High pressure sections can experience failures in
especially during start-ups, and periodic testing of
several areas. This is due to a combination of con-
steam purity using ASTM sampling nozzles can
taminated feedwater and circulation-based prob-
help prevent failures.
lems that can result from higher heat flux in
selected areas. If direct feedwater attemperation is used, ade-
quate continuous monitoring downstream of the
One of the primary problems experienced in
injection is needed to ensure good quality water. If
superheaters has also been due to overheating
caustic is used for feedwater pH adjustment or if
due to variations in flue gas heat flux. This is more
chlorides are present in the feedwater, stress cor-
frequently seen in systems that cycle frequently
rosion cracking can result.
and have duct burners. Temperature and velocity
profiles should establish the heat flux in the unit
Erosion/Corrosion
and should be run periodically. As always, manu-
facturer's start-up recommendations must be One problem that has recently surfaced in many
closely followed to help minimize overheating. HRSGs is two phase (steam/water) generating
tube erosion/corrosion. Erosion/corrosion can be
A recent survey of approximately 140 recent
defined as the increase in rate of attack on a
superheater problems indicated that 10% were
metal because of movement between the fluid
due to pitting attack, 10% were due to fireside
and the metal surface. Figures 11a and 11b are
corrosion, 5% were due to erosion/corrosion, 40%
photos of a riser tube that experienced severe
were due to overheating and 35% failed from
erosion/corrosion.
cracking. The overheating, creep cracking and
other problem areas can be interrelated. This problem has led to tube metal loss and fail-
ures in both the low pressure and intermediate
Carryover of solids into the superheater is another
pressure sections. In addition, baffle plates,
major problem. Deposition due to carryover can
cyclone separators, and related equipment have
lead to long-term overheating and subsequent
failure. In addition, failures can occur due to
Page 12 TP389EN 0602
also experienced erosion/corrosion and required Table 3: Recommended monitoring schedule
replacement.
Sample Point Analysis Required Suggested
There are many factors that impact susceptibility Frequency
of the HRSG system to erosion/corrosion. Some Treated Makeup Hardness Once per shift
key parameters include geometry of the system,
Conductivity Continuous
velocity of the steam/water mixture, metallurgy
and chemistry. GE has investigated numerous Silica Continuous
cases of erosion/corrosion - but that information Condensate Conductivity Continuous
is beyond the scope of this paper. Much technol- Iron Once per shift
ogy is known and one fact is clear: each system /Start-up
must be evaluated individually since the above Silica Once per shift
variables are interrelated and specific design and
Feedwater pH Once per shift
operational differences exist.
Silica Once per shift
Improved System Reliability Iron Once per day

While it may not be possible to prevent all HRSG Oxygen Once per shift
boiler tube failures and eliminate problems, it cer- Boiler Blowdown pH Once per shift
tainly is possible to reduce the number of occur- Silica Once per shift
rences and to monitor closely enough to take
preventative action to minimize downtime. The Phosphate Once per shift

required procedures include: communication dur- Conductivity Once per shift

ing design and construction, effective treatment Steam Silica Once per shift
and monitoring during operation, and inspection
Conductivity Once per shift
during outages.
Sodium Once per shift
Design Communication
Monitoring
Prior to construction of the HRSG, decisions have
been made that will impact and affect its opera- The system designer will also specify sufficient
tional reliability. The end user needs to have instrumentation to properly monitor boiler opera-
communicated to the designer their special condi- tion. This includes such items as ASTM steam
tions regarding operation. These may include sampling nozzles and liquid sample connections
plant emergency shutdown procedures, rapidity on economizers and feedwater heaters.
of load change to be expected, or pressure varia-
tions desired under special load conditions. A well-designed laboratory, with adequate testing
apparatus and some instrumentation, is essential
Early involvement of the water treatment com- in today's operation. In addition to the Hach DR
pany in the project will provide benefits in con- 2000 spectrophotometer, which has provided reli-
struction and operation. They have the experience able service for a number of years, two laboratory
to look at all of the water-related aspects of the quality pH meters and one multi-range conductiv-
plant design. Not only can they alert the owner or ity instrument are required.
developer to potential problems, but they can
make specific recommendations for storage and On-line instrumentation is dependent upon the
chemical feed and indicate proper sampling loca- preferences of the user. On-line pH and conductiv-
tions. The direct discussions between user, sup- ity monitors can provide continuous monitoring
plier, and equipment designer will provide benefits for quick response to upsets. The inclusion of an
in terms of easier startup and fewer operational on-line silica analyzer and a sodium analyzer
difficulties. should be considered. These analyzers are versa-
tile in troubleshooting problems and important as
monitoring tools. Thermocouples in various sec-
tions of the duct work and velocity profiles will
provide early warning of problems such as gas
TP389EN 0602 Page 13
flow maldistribution. This is just part of the equip- the manager to compare parameters simultane-
ment that needs to be specified or included in a ously over a specified period of time.
design to monitor the system effectively.
Inspection
Once the plant is operating, the monitoring pro-
gram should be designed to ensure proper chemi- Outages provide the only time to get inside the
cal control and to alert personnel of possible equipment for inspection and testing. The steam,
operational problems. Water treatment testing, mud drums and some headers are easy to
which is required as a minimum, is shown in inspect visually, but the tubes must be checked
Table 3. with a boroscope. The boroscope permits visual
inspection further down into the higher heat
Periodic testing by a qualified laboratory is rec- transfer portions of the boiler, and the tube
ommended to verify the accuracy of operator elbows and horizontal runs can be inspected more
testing and to test for low level contaminants. thoroughly.
Much of this special testing should be periodically
performed by the consulting water treatment Videotaping the inspection is helpful for compari-
company. Maintaining water quality has always son of conditions from year to year. Additional
been a primary operating concern. specialized testing, such as ultrasonic thickness
testing, should be performed on elbows or other
As the number of operators is limited, other meth- areas where loss of metal is possible. In areas
ods must be used to ensure consistent chemical where deposition is suspected, tube sections
feed and control. One example of computer con- should be removed for the performance of deposit
trolled chemical feed is the PaceSetter* Plus weight density (DWD) testing. Deposits will
equipment. This equipment automatically feeds decrease heat transfer, reduce efficiency and
chemicals without operator handling based upon increase the chance for overheating.
an operating variable, such as feedwater flow.
Then it verifies that the specified amount of Case History
chemical has actually been fed. At one East Coast
facility, its use enabled precise chemical control, A Gulf coast chemical plant treated with another
eliminated unnecessary operator attention, elimi- company's boiler water treatment program,
nated the need for a day tank and resulted in bet- experienced failures in the HRSG high pressure
ter control and reliability. system. The HRSG is a two-pressure system and
the high pressure unit produces 360,000 lb/h
The operators must receive technical training in
(162,000 kg/h) steam at 850 psig (60 kg/cm2) and
daily instrument maintenance and the time and
the 25 psig (1.8 kg/cm2) low pressure section pro-
responsibility to perform it. Even if steam purity
duces 30,000 lb/h (13,500 kg/h) steam. Feedwater
problems have not been detected in daily opera-
consists of demineralized makeup and 70% con-
tor testing, a continuous steam purity study
densate return.
should be performed. By continuously monitoring
sodium, the steam purity can be judged during
various load conditions.
The amount of data available at most cogenera-
tion facilities is staggering, although most of it is
not normally maintained in a useful form. The
data obtained from testing, monitoring, and
chemical feed parameters should be maintained
in interactive computer files. The major water
treatment chemical companies now offer opera-
tor interactive software packages which store
manually-obtained data and provide immediate
feedback for out-of-control parameters. In addi- Figure 12a: HRSG high pressure deposition
tion, most of these packages have graphing ca-
pabilities and statistical process control (SPC) for

Page 14 TP389EN 0602

 • Understand the water flow, operating parame-
ters, and chemistry of the system
• Provide an effective water treatment program,
including effective chemicals, service, and con-
trol programs
• Stress proper monitoring, both continuous and
spot checks
• Document any failures and the corrective ac-
tion taken
Figure 12b: HRSG high pressure under-deposit corrosion
• Become knowledgeable about potential fail-
ures in the industry and possible remedial ac-
When the tube sections were taken for metallurgi- tion
cal analysis, excessive deposition was revealed. • Schedule detailed inspection during each out-
The deposits consisted of iron, nickel, and hard- age
ness at a density of 369 grams/ft2 (4.1 kg/m2). In
addition, cleaning of the surface indicated severe Following these steps will ensure that reliability is
under-deposit caustic corrosive attack. Figures maintained and can help alert operating man-
12a and 12b show the extensive deposition and agement to potential problems. If problems do
pitting corrosion uncovered. occur, management will be prepared to effectively
troubleshoot and resolve them.
Subsequent investigation indicated that excessive
oxygen levels were allowed to enter the boiler References
feedwater via the deaerator bypass line. Inspec-
1. Passell, T. O., "Feedwater Water Quality Con-
tion of the gas side of the superheater and gener-
ating banks indicated a significant degree of trol Extends Power Plant Life," Power Engineer-
bowing tubes in certain areas. Most of the tube ing, September 1993, page 19.
failures occurred in locations next to the partition, 2. Makansi, J, "HRSG's, Steam Turbines and Auxil-
downcomers and duct walls. iaries for Combined Cycles," Power, September
1994, page 43.
Several steps were taken to address these prob-
lems. A demineralizer and condensate study has 3. Lapriore, R. P., "How Utilities Monitor Pipe-Wall
been implemented to identify and eliminate con- Thinning at Nuclear Plants," Power, August
tamination sources. The system treatment was 1988, page 67.
changed to coordinated phosphate/pH control, 4. Mancini, K. B.; Huchler, L. A.; Cotton, I. J.; "Con-
along with the use of a synthetic phosphate- tinuous Monitoring and Control in Steam Gen-
based polymer. Plans for a standby rental boiler
erating Systems," National Association of
and retubing of the affected sections of the HRSG
have also been made. A velocity and temperature Corrosion Engineers, Corrosion 92, paper no.
profile study was recommended and will be com- 415.
pleted to address the gas side heat flux problem. 5. Robinson, J. O., "New Computer Modeling Sys-
The unit continued to be closely monitored. No tem Improves Condensate Treatment," Na-
recent failures have occurred. tional Association of Corrosion Engineers,
Corrosion Asia, Singapore, September 26-30,
Summary 1994.
Maintaining HRSG reliability and availability is 6. Robinson, J. O., "Water Treatment for Cogene-
critical in today's market. It affects the economic ration Plants," Cogeneration World,
welfare of all the parties involved. Despite the July/August 1985.
complexity of HRSG systems, the following action 7. Levine, J., "Factor Water Treatment Up-Front
can be taken to improve the water-side reliability in IPP Plant Design," Power, September 1994,
of these units. page 70.
TP389EN 0602 Page 15
8. Jonas, O., "Control Erosion/Corrosion of Steels
in Wet Steam."
9. Heitmann, H. G., Kastner, W., "Erosion-
Corrosion in Water-Steam Cycles Causes and
Counter Measures," VGB Kraft Works Technik
62, No. 3, March 1982.
10. Electric Power Research Institute, "Guide to
the Design of Secondary Systems and Their
Components to Minimize Oxygen Induced Cor-
rosion," EPRI NP2294, Project S189-1, March
1982.
11. Burgmayer, P. R., Cotton, I. J., Knowles, G.,
"Oxygen Scavenging and Passivation in Steam
Generating Systems: Fiction, Folklore and
Fact," NACE, Nashville, TN, April 1992.
12. Private communication with Dr. P. R. Burg-
mayer, GE Research & Development, Trevose,
PA.

Page 16 TP389EN 0602