Flow-Accelerated Corrosion: A Critical Issue Revisited

摘要

Sudden failures of high-pressure, high-temperature feedwater piping by flow-accelerated-corrosion (FAC) continue to claim lives in the utility industry, which is, of course, the ultimate catastrophe. The conventional condensate/feedwater treatment of oxygen-scavenging/pH-conditioning, used for many years by utilities throughout the country, has proven to be the culprit. The reducing environment generated by this chemistry will induce FAC, where gradual thinning of pipe or tube walls in a very localized area leads to sudden and catastrophic failure. The following discussion of FAC, and methods to prevent it, is taken from a seminar given at the 2007 Electric Utility Chemistry Workshop.