Hiroshi Naganuma

Thickness evaluation of thermally sprayed coatings after exposure to boiler tube environments by eddy current testing

This paper discusses the feasibility of determining the thickness of Ni-based alloy sprayed coatings that have been heated in plant environments using swept frequency eddy current testing based on the measurement of the impedance spectrum of the measurement coil. Through a comparison of the experimental and computed signals, an electromagnetic model simulating the test geometry including the coating and the substrate is presented, with particular focus on the effects of heat treatment. Using these models, the coating thickness is estimated using the measured impedance spectra, and the estimation error was found to be around 30 μm.

Reduction of Ash Deposition in Pulverized Coal Fired Boilers

This study proposes reduction technology of ash deposition on the heat exchanger tube in pulverized coal fired (PCF) boilers. Thermal spraying technique is adopted to change the surface properties of tube to reduce the ash deposition. As a result, Ni alloy as a thermal spraying material played an effective role to reduce the deposition under both the ash deposition experiments and the actual coal combustion experiments. However, it is necessary to change ash types in order to evaluate that the thermal spraying technology is universally useful or not. If this technology will be applied to the commercialized PCF boilers, additionally, the effectiveness for the long-term will also be studied as well as the theoretical elucidation on the reduction of ash deposition must be discussed. In this study, therefore, four types of coal ash with different melting points were tested as samples for the ash deposition experiments. The long-term ash adhesion experiments were also carried out, using a precise tension tester at high temperature. As the theoretical approaches, the compositions of each ash particle depositing on the tube surface were analyzed by a computer-controlled scanning electron microscope (CCSEM) with electron dispersive spectroscopy (EDS) detector, thereby the interfacial reactions between the ash deposition layer and the heat exchanger tube were discussed. Those results obtained were also compared to the results obtained by the thermal equilibrium calculations.

Control of ash deposition on the surface of heat transfer tube

Ash deposition, called fouling, is one of major problems occurring in boiler that incinerates waste products as fuel. Ash deposition layer on heat transfer tube in a boiler causes not only heat transfer inhibition but also corrosion of the surface of heat transfer tube. Compared with pulverized coal combustion boiler, a concern of fouling becomes larger under waste incineration conditions due to their high contents of chlorine compounds. In this study, using ash samples derived from waste incineration processes, ash deposition experiments were carried out in vertical ash deposition furnace with a thermal spraying burner. Ash samples deposited on the tube surface were analyzed for elemental compositions and their distributions, using CCSEM equipped with EDX. A thermal spraying technique was applied to improve the surface properties of heat transfer tubes in boiler for reduction of ash deposition. Ni alloy as a thermal spraying material showed a positive effect to reduce ash deposition even under waste incineration conditions. In addition, to clarify the mechanism of ash deposition, thermal equilibrium analysis was also carried out.