Force cooling the HRSG after shutdown may be on everyones mind

at midnight on Friday, so your team can start HRSG maintenance

work ASAP. But how much consideration has been given to the
long-term efects of force cooling? Could quick access this outage
mean more maintenance next outage? Thats no fun.
Force cooling should be performed with an awareness of the
impacts on the HRSG so the risks and rewards can be judged.
Spin Cooling
Force cooling the HRSG with air by spinning the combustion
turbine cools the gas-side rapidly, and efectively turns the
superheater and reheater panels into condensers. This creates
the risk of excessive component stress in drum shells and nozzles,
headers of superheaters and reheaters, and even in gas bafes and
fow distribution elements.
Accelerated Drum Pressure Decay
Reducing HP drum pressure rapidly causes the inside surface of
the drum to cool much
more quickly than the
outside of the drum.
This creates stress, and
drum nozzle cracks
are often the result.
Shell-to-drum head
welds may also be at
risk. Components in
the drum attached
to the shell, such as
bafe plates and steam
separation housings,
are subject to stresses as
well during these rapid
transients.
Action to Minimize Risk:
Keep drum temperature ramp rate within the acceptable limits
for both increasing and decreasing pressure. These limits
should be determined specifcally for each HRSG design. HRST
can help assess and determine the limits for your HRSG.
Consider alternatives to spin cooling to speed up maintenance.
Increase natural draft through the HRSG during shutdowns
as an alternative to spin cooling. Opening HRSG access
doors on the roof and lower sidewall areas can boost
natural draft.
Add extra roof doors to increase cooling and improve
access, both of which can quicken HRSG internal access for
maintenance work. Roof doors can also help locate tube
leaks quicker, so repair plans can be developed sooner.
Evaluate and optimize the location of roof cable openings.
This can allow skyclimber cable set up and positioning
while the upper HRSG
header areas are cooling.
Skyclimbers can decrease
maintenance time by
eliminating the need for
scafold set-up and tear
down.
Continued on page 3
HRSG Rapid Cooling Page 1
for Maintenance
HRSG Gas Side Corrosion - Page 2
Beware the combination of
sulfur and humidity!
Welcome our Page 4
New Employees!
Tube Leak Pain Relief Page 4
In A Box
Superheater or Reheater Page 5
Failures got you
Feeling Drained?
Recent Project Success Page 5

Attemperator Liner Page 6
Inspection: Be diligent!
Water Hammer Page 7
HRSG Academy Page 8
TM
In This Issue of Boiler Biz:
YOUR HRSG SOLUTI ONS NEWSLETTER VOLUME 15 | I SSUE 1 | 2014
BIZ
BOILER


NEWS
HRSG Rapid Cooling for Maintenance
HRST, Inc. strives to be the worlds most trusted
supplier of HRSG and boiler related technical
services and products.
HRST, Inc.
6557 City West Parkway
Eden Prairie, MN 55344 USA
www.hrstinc.com
1-952-833-1427
Downcomer pass-through nozzle
stress during cooling
HP Drum head weld
crack examples
Copyr i ght 2014 by HRST, I nc. Al l r i ght s reser ved. Vol ume 15 - I ssue 1 - 2014
Page 2
Sulfur-related corrosion damage in HRSGs is becoming more common. Primarily these are oil fred combined-cycle plants
and some natural gas (NG) fred plants with higher sulfur content in their gas supply. Sulfuric acid can form during operation
and condenses before leaving the stack. Sulfuric acid also forms from sulfur-containing deposits that absorb moisture when
of-line. This acid results in HRSG damage to
tubes, drain piping, inner liners, outer casing, pipe
penetration seals, and stack inner surfaces.
During Operation
Turbine exhaust gas contains sulfur dioxide (SO2)
which reacts with excess oxygen and forms sulfur
trioxide (SO3), which in turn, reacts with a water
vapor in the gas and forms gaseous sulfuric acid:
SO + HO -> HSO
In a properly designed HRSG operating at base load
and with the design fuels, the sulfuric acid normally
does not reach its acid dew point temperature
and leaves the stack in a gaseous form. This is
not the case for low-load operation and transient
stages such as start-up. A misconception is that as long as exhaust
temperature is higher than acid dew point, the condensation will not
occur. Yet what about tube metal temperatures (TMT)? The TMTs
are often lower than the design temperatures and subsequently
below acid dew point temperatures during start-ups and low load
operations. When gas comes in contact with cooler tubes, sulfuric acid can
condense on the tubes. For base loaded plants, this issue is not signifcant, as the
start-up and low load times are short compared to the overall run time. However,
for plants that frequently run at low loads or cycle, corrosion can become a
problem.
Other plants that may have issues with acid dew point are plants that have
frequent sulfur spikes in their fuel supply. Such spikes increase the acid dew
point temperature and condensation occurs at higher exhaust temperatures
than expected. That is why it is important to monitor fuel composition and
calculate the acid dew point temperature if sulfur content changes. The acid
dew point temperature is a function of oxygen and moisture in the exhaust
gas, as well as the amount of sulfur in the fuel. Figure 1 shows an estimation
graph for the acid dew point as a function of sulfur in a fuel for exhaust from
a GE 7FA turbine. It is important to note that oxygen and fuel fow are set to
be constant in this graph, yet will vary from one plant to another, depending
on turbine water injection level and other fuel constituents. Another very
important factor in calculating the acid dew point, and one which will vary
between plants, is the presence of CO and SCR catalysts. With the SCR
catalysts, the amount of SO3 can triple. With CO catalysts the amount can
double. With both SCR and CO catalysts, the amount of SO3 is four times.
This makes a big diference in the sulfur dew point!
Ofine
Sulfur-containing deposits that accumulate on tubes near the stack can become
even more corrosive when of-line humidity and lower temperatures allow acid to
form. (Figure 2).
After HRSG shutdown, sulfur that has deposited on the tubes, headers and walls
throughout the HRSG can become very corrosive if water ingress occurs. The
moisture reacts with the sulfur, creating acid that can be recognized for the wet
and thick appearance, and can be found in lower crawl spaces and at the bottom
of a stack (Figure 3).
The main sources of moisture inside of an of-line HRSG are: 1) humid outside air
that found its way inside (either via stack or access doors that were left open) and
2) rain water ingress through roof casing penetrations, like pipe seals and roof doors. Therefore, for sulfur-challenged HRSGs,
it is important to maintain a dry of-line environment and to implement a rigorous corrosion inspection program.
Authored by: Souren Chakirov
HRSG Gas Side Corrosion
Beware the combination of sulfur and humidity!
Figure 1. Graph shows infuence of turbine exhaust
moisture, temperature and fuel sulfur on turbine
exhaust sulfur dew point temperature.
Figure 2. Example of heavy tube fouling
containing sulfur.
Figure 3. Example of heavy sulfur deposits
in a Lower Crawl Space of an oil fred HRSG.
Copyr i ght 2014 by HRST, I nc. Al l r i ght s reser ved. Vol ume 15 - I ssue 1 - 2014
continued from page 1
Thermal Stress Damage to Superheaters and Reheaters
Superheaters and Reheaters still under pressure will form condensate as
the relatively cool GT spin cooled air is blown across the hot tube coils. This
has the potential to cause damage from cool condensate raining down
and accumulating in hot lower headers. Additional damage can result if
accumulated condensate is not removed from the system before the next
start-up.
Action to Minimize Risk:
If possible, keep pressure as high as possible and steam temperatures
as low as practical on the steam side just prior to the CT trip. This will
help minimize the temperature diference between the condensate
and the lower header when they contact. When using this approach,
carefully monitor attemperator steam outlet conditions for at least 50F
of residual superheat.
Evaluate the HPSH and Reheater for proper drain sizing, location and
automated valves with a mechanism or logic for condensate detection
and removal under all conditions. HRSGs designed after about 2007
should have them since they are now required by ASME Section I Boiler
& Pressure Vessel Code. But if your HRSG was designed before then,
get them checked! HRST can help!
Damage to Non-Pressure Part Gas-Side Components
HRST has observed a correlation between spin cooling and damage to
gas-side components like tube coil gas bafes, fow distribution perforated
plates, and turning vanes. Spin cooling will cause a reverse in the normal
start-up expansion and fexing of gas-side components. This can drive or
accelerate non-pressure part gas-side component failures.
Action to Minimize Risk:
Inspect gas-side components more frequently if spin cooling frequency
increases. Put extra inspection focus in the Inlet Duct and Module 1.
Module 1 inspection should include front and rear tube faces, plus the
upper and lower crawl spaces.
If non-pressure part damage is found, evaluate the design and
criticality of the components. HRST can help! Failure of gas bafes can
result in tube failures and outage safety hazards, so their importance
should not be underestimated.
Flushing Water from the Economizer Inlet
A method of force cooling the HRSG is fushing water through the
economizer and then draining from the evaporator.
Damaging HRSG economizer stress can occur if the fow of water is stopped
and then restarted. If fushing is used to cool the evaporator, it will result in
more rapid cooling of the steam drum and that could create stress.
Furthermore, when spin cooling, the tube coils will cool faster than the
drums. If water fow is stopped and resumed during this period, the water
exiting economizer coils will be cooler, and the steam drum will still be hot,
creating another potential source of damage to the drum.
Action to Minimize Risk:
Care should be used to maintain continuous water fow and avoid
starting and stopping, using a simultaneous draining and flling
process.
The fushing process should always be done within the acceptable
drum pressure depressurization ramp rate.


HRSG Rapid Cooling for Maintenance
Page 3
Reheater lower header bowed by
condensate accumulation
Gas bafe failure in Module 1 of
an HRSG that had undergone
multiple spin cooling events in
the previous year.
Authored by: Jonathan Aurand, Bryan Craig, P.E., Lester Stanley, P.E.,
Dan Baldwin
Steam drum bafe with attachment weld crack
Copyr i ght 2014 by HRST, I nc. Al l r i ght s reser ved. Vol ume 15 - I ssue 1 - 2014 Page 4
Tube Leak Pain Relief In A Box -
Take one out and tell your boss the pain is now under control!
Have you ever found a tube leak on a Friday afternoon and needed a piece of spare tube? I know some of you have, because Ive
gotten some of those calls! What a headache! The size & material of the tube determines how easy it will be to fnd. HRSG cold end?
Not too hard. HRSG hot end? Can be very hard.
In the last Boiler Biz issue, we described the value of preplanning repair scenarios to save outage time and reduce the drama. Now we
want to show you how to avoid a Friday afternoon panic to source tubes for the weekend repair!
Box of Pain Relief!
Let us help you with a box of spare tube stock! Well do the review and analysis to select the best set of tubes to put in the box so
everywhere in the HRSG is covered. Some engineering is required for this.
Stocking some slightly thicker tubes may help them be useable in several locations. Some material substitutions may also help.
Care is required, and we will provide code calcs to prove the material change is proper. Did you know that at lower temperatures a
SA-178A (carbon steel) tube has a higher allowable stress than a SA-213 T22 (alloy steel) tube? In this case, substitution may need to
be a thicker T22 tube than the original carbon steel.
Result: One very efective box of pain relief! Well package the box of tubes with MTRs that are clearly organized and labeled.
Authored by: Darryl Nagel

Randy Ojeda
Randy Ojeda joined the HRST engineering team in March 2014. He is a graduate of the
University of Wyoming with degrees in Civil and Architectural Engineering. His work
with an HRSG OEM for over 17 years, has provided comprehensive experience in design
and manufacturing in both the power generation and petrochemical industries. Randys
experience includes a wide range of HRSG applications in both domestic and international
markets. He also possesses over 10 years of engineering experience in a wide range of
non-HRSG industrial applications. Randy resides in Minnesota and is looking forward to
when the last two of his fve children (four boys and one girl) are of to college.
WELCOME OUR NEW EMPLOYEES!
Jerry Covington
Jerry Covington joined the HRST Field Technical Advisor team in December 2013. Jerry brings a
wealth of industrial piping experience, having worked extensively over the past ten years as an
NCCER Certifed Pipeftter for several major construction contractors in the Gulf Coast Region.
He also has a strong background in industrial safety, and possesses extensive experience in
rigging applications. A member of our Gulf Coast Regional ofce, Jerry currently resides in
Texas with his wife and their 2 children. In his spare time Jerry likes camping, fshing, and doing
other outdoor activities with his family. Jerry enjoys hunting and sport shooting, and is an avid
saltwater angler and kayaker.
HRST selected tubes, labeled with MTRs inside. Box enclosure sized to ft in plant store room. Door and tags for easy
inventory checks.
Copyr i ght 2014 by HRST, I nc. Al l r i ght s reser ved. Vol ume 15 - I ssue 1 - 2014 Page 5
Drum Door Alignment Blocks Manway Gaskets Liner Studs Sidewall Access Doors
Floor Pipe Penetration Seals Roof Pipe Penetration Seals Sidewall Pipe Penetration Seals Roof Access Doors
Drum Door Alignment Kits Liner Retainer Clips Coil Gas Bafes Liner Washers
Tube Supply Internal Stack Expansion Joint Debris Cover Internal Thermal Liner for Desuperheater Steam Drum Manway Door Assembly Upgrades
Forged Nozzle Assembly Fabric Pipe Penetration Seals Thermometer Assembly Steam Drum Agglomerator Mesh Pads
LP Evaporator Feeder Pipe Assemblies Vent Silencers Steam Drum Chevrons P91 Pipe & Fittings
Inlet Duct Floor Liner SH/RH Drain Modifcations Downcomer Feeder Pipe Upgrade Tube Tie Repair Sleeves
Below is a partial list of recent product and design projects shipped to our clients.
Superheater or Reheater Failures Got you Feeling Drained?
From our HRST inspection experience, we often fnd evidence of problems related to
superheater or reheater drains. These problems can be bowed SH/RH tubes, or perhaps
bent or cracked drain pipes. Often, repeated tube failures in SH/RH can be traced to
problems with the drain system.
Of the drain problems we encounter, most can be traced to one or more of the following
categories:
1. Cool or saturated steam by-pass through the drain system.
2. Low point in pipe system that cannot be drained.
3. Low point drains that are not operated.
4. SH/RH drain expansion interference during lateral or vertical thermal displacement.
5. Drain pipe fexibility (expansion overstress).
6. Drains undersized and/or not automated.
Why so many categories? Unfortunately, there are many factors that contribute to these
problems. Sometimes the problems are fairly subtle. We recently re-designed one
customers drain system that was correctly designed to most common criteria, and was
being operated properly. Unfortunately, there was a slight low-point at the end of a long
pipe run that joined two sections of reheaters. This low point allowed some water to
accumulate because the available drain was slightly up-hill from the low point. Undrained
water was being swept up into the reheater and causing bowed tubes. The solution was
to reposition the drain to the low point (see illustrations).
What should the proactive plant staf do to avoid drain related issues?
Careful outage inspection of the drain arrangement is a great start! We can help!
Depending on the HRSG OEM and the vintage of their design, we probably have insight
on where to place extra inspection focus. HRST has addressed all six categories over the past few years, and has recently formed an
engineering/design team to better tackle design problems and issues related specifcally to drains. The team can provide proven
solutions to all six problems above.
One fnal note: ASME has added requirements
in recent code revisions of Section I to address
HRSG drains. These requirements are good
changes that help provide better drain
function to HRSGs. However, these changes
are the bare minimum, and in many cases, do
not cover all of the six problem categories.
Generally it requires an experienced approach
to solve existing problems and to specify the
correct design for new construction.


Authored by: Guy Thompson, P.E.
Recent Project Success
BEFORE
AFTER
Reheater drain line crack found by HRST before failure.
Caused by lack of expansion allowance.
Copyr i ght 2014 by HRST, I nc. Al l r i ght s reser ved. Vol ume 15 - I ssue 1 - 2014 Page 6
Attemperator Liner
Inspection:
Be diligent!
Be diligent by having a borescope inspection of your
HRSG attemperator piping section! Each year we
borescope many attemperators as part of our inspection
service. Cracked liner sleeves and broken sleeve supports
are becoming a more and more common fnding as
HRSGs gain operating years and cycles. Sometimes we
fnd cracks in the piping itself. Borescope inspection
should be timed for when the attemperator probes are
pulled for inspection.
Did you perform this inspection a couple of years ago?
Maybe no problems were found? Excellent! But dont
scratch this item of your planning list. We see a trend
with HRSGs that are about 10 years old.no problems
two years ago, then big problems this year. Once an
attemperator internal thermal sleeve reaches the end of
its fatigue life, degradation happens quick!
Our service is typically purchased with our Standard HRSG
inspection, so a very cost-efective adder to the project.
We can also design and supply upgraded components for
this area, if problems are found.
Authored by: Lester Stanley, P.E.

HRST
PRODUCTS
HRST Retroft
Tube Coil Gas Bafes
Designed for your exact
arrangement and includes on-site
Technical Advisor assistance.
HRST engineer performing attemperator
borescope inspection.
Installation of new attemperator liner.
Designed and supplied by HRST.
Internal liner cracks.
Found before failure, barely.
Typical arrangement of probe style attemperator
with internal liner.
Robust hardware
protects tubes
HRST Gas Bafes
minimize gas bypass
Copyr i ght 2014 by HRST, I nc. Al l r i ght s reser ved. Vol ume 15 - I ssue 1 - 2014 Page 7
We addressed water hammer in Boiler Biz way back in 1999. I
related a story about experiencing water hammer up close and
how it scared me to death.
How do you hammer things with water anyway? Water seems
kind of soft and squishy. Well, here in Minnesota, liquid water
is scarce for six months out of the year. You could pound
nails with Minnesota water. Seriously though, water hammer
occurs when an abrupt change in momentum is imposed on
a volume of water. Water, being rather heavy and essentially
incompressible, resists changing direction instantaneously.
Think of the time you did a bellyfop of the diving board. It
smacked you pretty good, didnt it?
Four types of water hammer are
encountered.
Type #1 Thermal Shock Visualize a
steam bubble in sub-cooled water.
The outer surface of the bubble is
touching the sub-cooled water and
rapidly condenses only to expose the
next layer of steam to the cool water.
The bubble implodes. Wham! This
kind of water hammer is characterized
by sharp high-pitched banging
noises and a shaking of the afected
components. Water hammer of this
type has the potential to damage.
Gauges are particularly vulnerable to
the short intense pressure spikes.
Type #2 Flow Shock Hammer occurs
when slugs of water are fowing in a
pipe with high velocity steam. All is
well until the slug of water comes to a
turn. Bam! The slug of water wants to
go straight and the pipe resists. The
pipe shakes violently. Pipe supports
are stressed to the breaking point. And
then its over. What just happened??
Type #3 Hydraulic Shock This form happens when a rapidly
moving column of water is suddenly stopped. Say we have high
fow in a pipe and a valve slams shut. The water slams against
the valve with a single bang. Typically this is not as violent as
Type #2 because the velocity of pure water in a pipe is much
slower than the velocity of a slug of water being driven by steam
fow.
Type #4 Pressure Driven Thermal Shock This form is
similar to Type #1. Rather than sub-cooled water and steam
coming together, the water and steam start out as a two-
phase saturated mixture. With a sudden rise in pressure, the
saturation temperature of the steam suddenly rises. The water
temperature is unafected but at the new pressure the water is
now sub-cooled. The steam bubbles in the sub-cooled water
begin to implode. This kind of water hammer is characterized
by a rumbling that lasts for a few seconds.
What you should know
Type #1 water hammer occurs when steam and sub-cooled
water come together:
Steam enters a tank that contains sub-cooled water.
A bottled up economizer has been steaming. Flow begins
and sub-cooled water enters, collapsing the steam.
Sparging steam is injected into a cool HRSG.
When the combination of steam and sub-cooled water is a
given, the resultant hammering can be reduced to a growl with
a design that makes the bubbles small. Implosions are still
occurring, but they are small and far less violent. Often, Type #1
water hammer occurs when the vapor phase wasnt supposed
to be there in the frst place, say a steaming economizer. Most
economizers can be vented. Venting of the steam and water
hammer cannot occur.
Type #2 often occurs in reheater piping on start-up. The water
wasnt supposed to be there. The solution is simple. Make sure
the piping is drained before steam fow begins. Well, okay, not
so simple if the drains dont exist. When you see reheater piping
of the supports and mechanically damaged insulation you
ought to suspect a water hammer event. Chances are, youre
right.
Type #3 water hammer is not as
common in our industry. Obviously, if
water hammer is the result of a valve
that closes suddenly, then arranging
for the valve to close more slowly
solves the problem. Failing that, a
water hammer arrestor (like a shock
absorber or accumulator) can be
installed. Their use is rare in boiler
piping, but they are quite common on
hydraulic systems.
Type #4 water hammer is less common
in HRSG applications and requires a
sudden pressure increase on a steam/
water mixture. If it happens, perhaps
either the steam or the water didnt
belong in the system.
An HRSG example we investigated
was water hammer after overnight
shutdowns. The client had an LP
Economizer with a drum level control
valve at the outlet and a leaking check-
valve at the inlet. Each morning, when the condensate pump
was started, hammering was heard. The sound resembled a
freight train when it starts moving, due to the slack between
cars. The noise period was brief, since the series of vapor
pockets collapsed quickly with the increase in pressure (and
saturation temperature).
Another solution is good ear protection so you barely know it is
happening. Just stand back in case something lets go.
Water Hammer
Authored by: Robert Krowech, P.E.
Contributions by: Ned Congdon, P.E.
Cold reheat pipe with insulation damage
from Water Hammer
Type #2
Flow Shock Water Hammer
SAINT PAUL, MN
HRSG ACADEMY!
JUNE 16-18, 2014
This 3-day course focuses on the key points that HRSG operations
and maintenance personnel need to understand to minimize forced
outages, avoid unnecessary repairs and improve performance. Each
presentation is full of photos and illustrations showing actual problems.
We share our lessons-learned from hundreds of HRSG inspections and
problem investigations. We also do our best to make it an adventure!
G.H., TransCanada Energy, Excellent common sense approach to
inspection, maintenance and repairs. Good preventable maintenance
approach to avoid extended shutdowns..
W.H., Magnolia Energy, A wealth of useful information professionally
done!
The Learning Adventure Continues!
TM
BIZ
BOILER


NEWS
THE BOI LER BI Z NEWSLETTER I S AVAI LABLE FREE
TO OPERATORS AND OWNERS OF POWER PLANTS.
VI SI T WWW. HRSTI NC. COM TO SI GN- UP.
BROUGHT TO YOU BY:
PAGE 1
PAGE 2
PAGE 3 PAGE 4 PAGE 7 PAGE 5
PAGE 6