8/30/2015

PhosphateHideout

Jonas,Inc.

SpecializinginSamplingandInstrumentation,Corrosion,
WaterandSteamChemistry,andFailureAnalysis

Servingthepowerindustrysince1983

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Pomfret,MD20675
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PhosphateHideout
Whentheconcentrationofphosphateintheboilerwateristoohigh,phosphatewillreactwith
boilerscaleformingironandironsodiumphosphatesorprecipitatetoformasolidphaseonthe
hotboilertubesurfacesandelsewhere.Thisphenomenoniscalledphosphatehideoutandit
canresultinchangesofpH,aswellastheconcentrationsofphosphateandotherchemical
speciesintheboilerwater.Hideoutusuallyfirstoccursinboilertubeswiththehighestheat
fluxandlowmassflow,wheredeparturefromnucleateboiling(DNB)orunderdeposit
concentrationoccur.Surprisingly,hideoutandboilertubecorrosioncanalsooccurinHRSGs
wheretheheatfluxismuchlowerthanincoaloroilfiredunits.Thisisbecausetheremaybe
accumulationofcorrosionproductsorinadequatemassflowthroughsomegeneratingtubes
particularlyduringductburnerfiring.
Becausethesolubilityofphosphatedecreasesasboilerpressureincreases,hideoutistypically
onlynoticedduringloadchanges.PhosphatehideoutusuallyresultsinanincreaseofPO4
concentrationandadecreaseofpHduringloadreductionandinanincreaseofpHanddecrease
ofPO4concentrationduringtheloadincreases.Theseverityofphosphatehideoutisboiler,
heatflux,temperature,pressure,andboilercleanlinessspecific.Inclean,conservatively
designedandoperatedboilers,theseswingsdonotresultinanyboilertubecorrosionproblems.
Whenusingphosphateboilerwatertreatment,theconcentrationofphosphateshouldnot
exceedtheequilibriumconcentration.ThisisthemaximumconcentrationofPO4inthe
boilerwaterthattheboilercantolerateunderthehighestheatfluxconditions(fullload).This
concentrationcanbeexperimentallydeterminedbyincreasingthephosphatefeedtothepoint
wherethereisnofurtherincreaseinthePO4concentrationintheboilerwater.Thisisthe
equilibriumconcentrationandthenormalboilerwaterphosphatemaximumlimitshouldbe
approximatelyonehalfofthisconcentration.
Theequilibriumphosphateconcentrationshouldbedeterminedonceperyearbecauseit
changeswiththeboilercleanliness.Inaddition,aphosphatebalanceshouldbeperformedonce
peryearusingseveralweeksofchemistrydatatodeterminetheamountofhideoutthatis
occurring.Thetotalamountofphosphatefedintotheboilerandtheamountbeingremoved
throughblowdown,plussampling,shouldbeapproximatelyequal.Ifthefeedisgreaterthan
theremoval,hideoutisoccurring.

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