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    Description of Damage: 4.2.11 Steam Blanketing 4.2.11.1

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    Ajmi Hmida
    Steam blanketing occurs when the heat flow balance is disturbed in steam generating equipment, causing individual steam bubbles to join and form a blanket over the internal surface of tubes. This condition, known as departure from nucleate boiling (DNB), can cause rapid tube rupture within minutes as the tube overheats without cooling fluid flow. Carbon and low alloy steels are affected. Critical factors are heat flux, fluid flow restrictions, flame impingement, and hoop stress from internal steam pressure. Failures can occur in any steam generating unit like boilers, and inspections focus on burner maintenance and tube bulging to prevent ruptures.

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    Description of Damage: 4.2.11 Steam Blanketing 4.2.11.1

    Uploaded by

    Ajmi Hmida
    755 views2 pages
    Steam blanketing occurs when the heat flow balance is disturbed in steam generating equipment, causing individual steam bubbles to join and form a blanket over the internal surface of tubes. This condition, known as departure from nucleate boiling (DNB), can cause rapid tube rupture within minutes as the tube overheats without cooling fluid flow. Carbon and low alloy steels are affected. Critical factors are heat flux, fluid flow restrictions, flame impingement, and hoop stress from internal steam pressure. Failures can occur in any steam generating unit like boilers, and inspections focus on burner maintenance and tube bulging to prevent ruptures.

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    Steam Blanketing

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    Steam blanketing occurs when the heat flow balance is disturbed in steam generating equipment, causing individual steam bubbles to join and form a blanket over the internal surface of tubes. This condition, known as departure from nucleate boiling (DNB), can cause rapid tube rupture within minutes as the tube overheats without cooling fluid flow. Carbon and low alloy steels are affected. Critical factors are heat flux, fluid flow restrictions, flame impingement, and hoop stress from internal steam pressure. Failures can occur in any steam generating unit like boilers, and inspections focus on burner maintenance and tube bulging to prevent ruptures.

    Copyright:

    © All Rights Reserved
    Download as PDF, TXT or read online from Scribd
    Download as pdf or txt
    755 views2 pages

    Description of Damage: 4.2.11 Steam Blanketing 4.2.11.1

    Uploaded by

    Ajmi Hmida
    Steam blanketing occurs when the heat flow balance is disturbed in steam generating equipment, causing individual steam bubbles to join and form a blanket over the internal surface of tubes. This condition, known as departure from nucleate boiling (DNB), can cause rapid tube rupture within minutes as the tube overheats without cooling fluid flow. Carbon and low alloy steels are affected. Critical factors are heat flux, fluid flow restrictions, flame impingement, and hoop stress from internal steam pressure. Failures can occur in any steam generating unit like boilers, and inspections focus on burner maintenance and tube bulging to prevent ruptures.

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    4.2.

    11 Steam Blanketing

    4.2.11.1 Description of Damage


    The operation of steam generating equipment is a balance between the heat flow from the combustion of
    the fuel and the generation of steam within the waterwall or generating tube. The flow of heat energy
    through the wall of the tube results in the formation of discrete steam bubbles (nucleate boiling) on the ID
    surface. The moving fluid sweeps the bubbles away. When the heat flow balance is disturbed, individual
    bubbles join to form a steam blanket, a condition known as Departure From Nucleate Boiling (DNB).
    Once a steam blanket forms, tube rupture can occur rapidly, as a result of short term overheating, usually
    within a few minutes.

    4.2.11.2 Affected Materials


    Carbon steel and low alloy steels.

    4.2.11.3 Critical Factors


    a) Heat flux and fluid flow are critical factors.
    b) Flame impingement from misdirected or damaged burners can provide a heat flux greater than the
    steam generating tube can accommodate.
    c) On the water side, anything that restricts fluid flow (for example, pinhole leaks lower in the steam
    circuit or dented tubes from slag falls) will reduce fluid flow and can lead to DNB conditions.
    d) Failure occurs as a result of the hoop stress in the tube from the internal steam pressure at the
    elevated temperature.

    4.2.11.4 Affected Units or Equipment


    All steam-generating units including fired boilers, waste heat exchangers in sulfur plants, hydrogen
    reformers and FCC units. Failures can occur in superheaters and reheaters during start-up when
    condensate blocks steam flow.

    4.2.11.5 Appearance or Morphology of Damage


    a) These short-term, high-temperature failures always show an open burst with the fracture edges
    drawn to a near knife-edge (Figure 4-32).
    b) The microstructure will always show severe elongation of the grain structure due to the plastic
    deformation that occurs at the time of failure.

    4.2.11.6 Prevention / Mitigation


    a) When a DNB condition has developed, tube rupture will quickly follow. Proper burner management
    should be practiced to minimize flame impingement.
    b) Proper BFW treatment can help prevent some conditions that can lead to restricted fluid flow.
    c) Tubes should be visually inspected for bulging.

    4.2.11.7 Inspection and Monitoring


    Burners should be properly maintained to prevent flame impingement.

    4.2.11.8 Related Mechanisms


    a) Steam blanketing can cause caustic corrosion (caustic gouging) as outlined in 4.3.10.
    b) Very similar characteristics are observed in short term overheating (see 4.2.10).

    4.2.11.9 References
    1. “Steam - Its Generation and Use,” 40th Edition, Babcock & Wilcox, 1992.
    2. “Combustion Fossil Power Systems,” Third Edition, Combustion Engineering, CT, 1981.
    3. H. Thielsch, “Defects And Failures In Pressure Vessels and Piping,” Krieger Publishing Co., NY,
    1977.
    4. R.D. Port and H.M. Herro, “The NALCO Guide To Boiler Failure Analysis,” McGraw Hill, NY, 1991.
    5. D.N. French, “Metallurgical Failures In Fossil Fired Boilers,” John Wiley & Sons, Inc., NY, 1993.
    6. B. Dooley and W. McNaughton, “Boiler Tube Failures: Theory and Practice – 3 Volumes,” EPRI, CA,
    1995.

    Figure 4-32 – Short-term high-temperature failures from DNB are wide-open bursts with the failure
    lips drawn to a near knife edge. They are ductile ruptures. Mag. 25X.

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