Journal of Thermal Vol. 7, No.

4, 2012

Science and
Technology
The Effect of Temperature Distribution
on Tube Rupture*
Ozer AYDIN** and Muhammet M. DURAK***
** Mechanical Engineering Department, Dumlupinar University, Kutahya, Turkey.
*** Institute of Science and Technology, Dumlupinar University, Kutahya, Turkey.
E-mail: ozaydin@dpu.edu.tr

Abstract
This paper reports the effect of temperature distribution on tube rupture at the
pulverized coal fired thermal power plant. A computational model was applied to a
150 MWe boiler burning high-ash, medium-volatile coal. The radial and axial flame
temperature distribution in the boiler was simulated using CFD code FLUENT.
Flame temperatures were measured at points close to wall in some boiler levels and
compared with computational fluid dynamics (CFD) solutions. CFD analysis
showed that the flame shaped in the centre of the boiler and the temperature
decreased gradually towards the boiler walls. The coal and ash composition was
analyzed, and tube thickness was measured. Analysis showed that the ash and
chlorine content of the coal, and SiO2 content of the ash were very high. Deposits
on tubes can occur overheating, fouling and slagging which lead to tube ruptures.
The abrasive effect of the ash accelerated thinning of the tubes and caused them to
rupture.

Key words: Thermal Power Plant, Coal Combustion, CFD Modeling, Tube
Rupture

1. Introduction
Pulverized coal combustion at thermal power plants has been one of the main
methods used for electricity generation over the past few decades (1). Boiler tube
rupture is one of the most significant causes of power cuts at thermal power plants.
Boiler tubes have a finite lifespan due to prolonged exposure to high temperature,
stresses, and aggressive environments (2).

*Received 30 Aug., 2012 (No. 12-0350)
[DOI: 10.1299/jtst.7.753]
Copyright © 2012 by JSME
Over the last 20 years, CFD has gained a reputation as an effective tool for
identifying and solving problems related to pulverized coal combustion. Many
researchers have modeled pulverized coal combustion using commercial software,
in particular, FLUENT (3-8). Vuthaluru et al. simulated a wall-fired boiler using a
commercial CFD flow solver, and the results showed good agreement with measured
and reported data (7). In order to investigate tube rupture, Rahimi et al. used CFD to
model a 320 MW natural gas-fired boiler, and the results showed that tube failure
was mainly caused by working at temperatures exceeding the design temperature
(9). Othman et al. used finite element analysis to investigate the deformation of
superheater tubes (10). They found that temperature was the main factor in the
deformation due to tube restriction. Many researchers have reported failure analyses
of boiler tubes (11-13). Purbolaksono et al. emphasized overheating of the tube,

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concentrated flue gas flow, and coal having a low ash fusion temperature as the main
causes of failure (13). Other researchers found that the tube rupture originated from
high-temperature or high–stress operating conditions, or both (11), (13).

The ash from coal combustion has been a long-standing problem for the power
generation industry, causing reductions in thermal efficiency and unit availability
and increases in operating and maintenance costs for coal-fired boilers (14)
Depending on operational conditions, fuel characteristics and geometry of the
boiler, ash particles entrained by the flue gases can impact and adhere to solid
surfaces, aggregate and accumulate in form of a solid deposit that severely affects
the boiler operation (15). All the deposit components originally come from the fuel
or from materials in the combustion chamber. Deposits derived from the minerals
and inorganic components of coal can cause operational problems. The ash
deposition causes heat transfer inhibition due to both slagging and fouling
phenomena, which become a trigger of the boiler operation troubles (16, 17). The
slagging behaviour involves the coal ash being partly fragmented and becoming
molten during combustion, and then it adheres to the tube surface. For the fouling
behaviour, on the contrary, the ash in the original coal is influenced by the thermal
history before adhering to the tube (18).

Seyitomer thermal power plant, which is one of the major thermal power
plants in Turkey, generates an average of 3.6 million MWh of electricity annually.
This represents two percent of the country’s total electricity generation of 198
million MWh. However, power loss sometimes occurs, mainly due to tube ruptures
as well as seasonal changes and other uncontrolled natural factors. The cost of tube
rupture consists of the cost of tube replacement and the cost of power loss due to
energy production cutoff while tubes are replaced. The thermal power plant was out
of operation approximately 210 times between 2000 and 2011 as a result of boiler
tube ruptures. During this time interval, tube ruptures resulted in energy loss of
2 000 000 MWh (19).

In this study, the effect of temperature distribution on tube ruptures at the

fourth unit of Seyitomer power plant in Kutahya, Turkey were investigated. The gas
temperature was measured at the points close to the boiler walls, and temperature
distribution was simulated using CFD code FLUENT. The thickness of some tube
samples was measured. The coal and ash composition analysis were presented, and
their effects on tube ruptures were discussed.

2. CFD modeling and experimental study

Boiler tubes, also known as superheater tubes, wall tubes, and economizer
tubes. Tube ruptures usually occur in superheater tubes and wall tubes. Cr–Mo steel
tubes are widely used in the Seyitomer thermal power plant. Pulverized coal
combustion in the boiler of the Seyitomer plant was numerically modeled using the

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commercial CFD code FLUENT (20). The three-dimensional boiler and burner
geometries were created using the GAMBIT program. A schematic diagram of the
3D model of the boiler is shown in Fig. 1. The installation power capacity of the
opposite-wall coal-fired boiler is 150 MW. The boiler has a total of 24 burners. The
burners are located on the boiler’s various surfaces in six rows (6*4 = 24). Each
row includes four burners, and each burner is mounted on the corresponding boiler
surface at a different angle. The first is at an angle of 40°, the second at an angle of
90°, the third at an angle of 25°, the fourth at an angle of 33°, the fifth at an angle
of 90°, and the sixth at an angle of 33° to the boiler surface (Fig. 2). The model
geometry is based on these angles, and the dimensions of the coal and air inlets are
to scale.

Numerical simulation was performed using FLUENT 6.3.26 on a HP xw8600

workstation. Grid independence tests were carried out using three different mesh
sizes: 3 600 000, 3 900 000, and 4 600 000. The temperature values on the boiler
center line were not changed by the mesh number above 3 900 000. Additional grid
independent study confirms that further increasing the grid density has not given
more accurate results or any change of flow patterns. A flexible, unstructured grid
was used where necessary, and the solution domain was subdivided into fine-grid
regions near the burner and combustion chamber, which were meshed more
coarsely. For all cases studied, a mixture of triangular and quadrilateral elements
was generated. The temperature distribution inside the boiler was simulated by
CFD modeling.

Results are significantly affected by the choice of CFD model used for
pulverized coal combustion simulation, and many researchers report more realistic
predictions of flame temperatures using particular models (21-25). CFD
simulations were performed using a pressure-based, steady-state, segregated
implicit solver. The relationship between velocity and pressure corrections was
calculated using the SIMPLE algorithm. The governing equations for flow,
turbulence, and energy were solved iteratively until convergence was obtained. The
turbulent viscosity was obtained by solving the transport equations for k and ε. The
discrete phase equations were formulated in Lagrangian form, and coupling was
introduced between the gas and discrete phases. Gas-particle turbulence flow was
simulated using the standard k–ε model and the Lagrangian particle tracking
method with the random walk model. The interaction between the gas phase and
coal particles was considered at an interval of 20 iterations for a continuous phase.

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Figure 1. Boiler geometry (Z = Boiler level).

Figure 2. The schematic representation of the burners’ set up configurations.

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The standard k–ε model predicts free shear flow spreading rates, mixing layers,
and plane, round, and radial jets and is therefore applicable to wall-bounded flows
and free shear flows (26). The reaction rates were computed from Arrhenius rate
expressions using the eddy dissipation model, which is suitable for a wide range of
applications, including premixed, partially premixed, and non-premixed turbulent
combustion (27). Coal particle devolatilization was modeled using a single kinetic
rate model, while char combustion was computed according to the
kinetics/diffusion-limited model (28-30). In this study, a non-premixed combustion
model was used. Species concentrations were derived from the predicted mixture
fraction fields. The thermochemistry calculations were preprocessed in prePDF.
The single mixture fraction probability density function (PDF) and P1 radiation
models were used in the simulations. The P-1 radiation model is applicable to any
complex geometry and it works well for a large optical thickness (31). The PDF of
the mixture fraction was described using a β-function. The P1 radiation model was
used to account for the exchange of radiation between gas and particulates, and a
composition-dependent absorption coefficient was specified using a cell-based
weighted-sum-of-gray-gases model (WSGGM). The fuel composition inputs were
determined using proximate and ultimate analysis data (Table 1), which were also
used to derive the elemental composition of the volatile stream.

Table 1. Properties of the coals used in the CFD study and ash compositions.
Proximate analysis (%) Ultimate analysis (% daf)
Moisture 29.1 Carbon 72.8
Ash content 35.0 Hydrogen 7.9
Volatile matter 23.7 Nitrogen 1.8
Fixed carbon 12.2 Sulfur 1.0
Total sulfur 1.13 Oxygen 16.5
Chlorine : 300 mg/kg
Ash compositions [wt%]
SiO2 54.6 K2O 1.7
Fe2O3 10.6 Na2O 1.1
Al2O3 17.5 TiO 0.8
CaO 4.6 SO3 1.0
MgO 4.0 P2O5 0.1

The distribution of coal particle diameters are 1 mm (15%), 0.2-1 mm (45%),

0.09-0.2 mm (25%) and 0.09 mm (15%) used at Seyitomer Thermal Power Plant.
The particle diameters were fitted to the Rosin-Rammler distribution, with
minimum diameter 0.09 mm, mean diameter 0.4 mm, and maximum diameter 1
mm. The boundary and operating conditions were listed in Table 2. Except for the
lids of the monitoring holes of the combustion chamber, all boiler surfaces were
insulated. Temperatures were measured on the insulated surfaces and on the

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uninsulated lids using a thermal camera and contact thermometers. The temperature
of the walls was set to 650 K with an emissivity of 0.8. A Testo 735
temperature-measuring device with ±1 ºC accuracy was used. The measurements
were taken using a K-type temperature probe in the range -60–300 ºC, which is
appropriate for rough surfaces. Non-contact measurements were made using a FLIR
T200 thermal camera with a resolution of 1280 x 1024 (1.3 megapixels). The
thermal sensitivity of this camera is 0.10 °C at +30 °C/100 mK, with temperature
ranges of -20 °C to +120 °C, 0 °C to 350 °C, and up to +1200 °C. The flame
temperature was measured at the monitoring holes of the boiler using three
ceramic-sheathed Pt-Rd-Pt thermocouples. The outer diameter and the length of the
ceramic sheath were 10 cm and 50 cm, respectively. The thickness of the
thermocouple wire was 0.5 mm. The measuring range, precision, and accuracy of
the thermocouples were 0–1760 °C, ± 1 °C and 1 °C, respectively. The uncertainty
of the temperature measuring device was ±10%.

Table 2. Boundary and operating conditions.

Burner coal
Coal flow Air flow rate Burner air port
port WxH
rate (kg/s) (kg/s) WxH (mm)
(mm)
Bottom
3 940x355 3.75 1100x130
Burners
Middle
3 940x355 3.75 1100x130
Burners
Top Burners 4 940x535 3.75 1100x155
Inlet air temperature : 553 K
Air-coal mixture temperature : 523 K
Total coal feed rate : 200 t/h
Total air flow rate : 580 000 Nm3/h
Temperature of the walls : 650 K
Emissivity : 0.8

All the major physical processes of coal combustion were modeled using
available CFD models. It is generally recommended to start by obtaining a
non-reacting flow solution for coal combustion. The trajectory of the discrete
phase model coal particles is critical and sensitive to the velocity and turbulence
fields, hence starting from a non-reacting solution is often necessary for
convergence. The non-reacting solution was obtained by disabling energy and
radiation in the discrete phase model equations and setting the pressure
discretization to PRESTO. Once the non-reacting solution was converged, coal
particles were set to release by enabling the energy, P1, and discrete phase model
equations. Momentum and pressure under-relaxation factors were reduced to a
value of 0.5 for the first-order solution. The discrete phase sources under-relaxation
factor was set to 0.25, which was more stable than the default of 0.5. This
simulation converged after more than 3000 iterations.

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3. Results and discussion

Tube ruptures did not always occur in the same location in the boiler at the
Seyitomer power plant. The calculation of temperature distribution in the boiler
using CFD was important in determining the causes of tube rupture. Firstly, the
simulated temperatures were validated with experimental ones, comparing the
measured and simulated flame temperatures at the points close to the boiler walls in
various boiler levels. The measured and simulated temperatures at boiler level 3.5
are shown in Fig. 3. The temperature difference between the measured and the
simulated values was less than 100 K. Boiler level 3.5 is the “flame ball” level. The
flame ball formed in the mid-section of the boiler cross section. Since the fourth
burner blows only oxygen, the temperature in the region close to this burner was
relatively low compared to other regions.

Figure 3. The measured and simulated temperature values and contours (Z = 3.5m).

At the boiler levels 20.05, 31.3, and 40.1, there is no coal or air feeding. At
levels above the combustion chamber section, the flame temperature was more
homogeneous and decreased steadily from the center of the boiler towards the side
walls. Beginning from the level 20.05, maximum flame temperature was measured
in the core of the boiler, and the measured and simulated temperatures were in good
agreement (Fig. 4).

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Figure 4.The measured and simulated temperature values and contours (Z=20.05m)

The boiler level at 31.3 m corresponds to the lower part of the boiler’s outlet.
The higher temperature values were concentrated almost in the middle of the boiler
cross section (Fig. 5). The level at 40.1 m corresponds to the upper part of the
boiler’s outlet surface.

Figure 5.The measured and simulated temperature values and contours (Z= 31.3m).
Figure 6 shows the results obtained from numerical simulations at two vertical
planes. Examination of the temperature distribution shows that the flame filled the
boiler and the gases flowed to the upper region. The flame temperature was very
difficult to measure due to turbulence in central regions of the boiler. The most
effective method of simulating the temperature in these regions is CFD. In this
study, measured maximum gas temperature at 1 m from the boiler wall was not
exceeded to 1200 K. The temperature of central regions of the boiler can be
expected to much more than this temperature. The temperature of gas flowing
through the superheater tubes was measured and also simulated approximately
1150 K. The gas temperature contacted to tubes was not high, and an intensive
increase in temperature was not found at any location, which indicates a uniform
gas flow. The flame shaped in the centre of the boiler. The temperature decreased
gradually towards the boiler walls and took the values in the range of 850-1200 K.

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a) x/2-z plane b) y/2-z plane

Figure 6. The simulated temperature contours for two vertical planes.

Figure 7 shows a photograph of the microstructure of tube ruptures caused by

temperature in the Seyitomer thermal power plant (Seyitomer Thermal Power Plant
Technical Reports, 2012). The grains were extended in the direction of the
explosion. The extension of grains in the ruptured tube is a result of the
deformation due to rupture.

Figure 7. Tube rupture and its microstructure caused by high temperature.

Coal burned in power plants produces significant amounts of deposits on

tubes. The deposits insulate the metal from the cooling effects of the water,
resulting in reduced heat transfer into the water and increased metal temperatures.
As the result of long-term deposition occur overheating. At the temperatures above
750K, if chlorine is in the content of coal, it can diffuse through the oxide layer on
tube, that makes the layer porous and less protective. The chlorine content of the
coal burned in the power plant was 300mg/kg and high enough to make the surface

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porous. The prominent features of ash compositions shown in Table 1 were high
SiO2 and low CaO. More ash particles tend to adhere to the tubes as the amount of
molten deposit increases. Thereby, two undesirable processes, fouling and slagging
occur on the outside of the tubes.

Particle trajectories from burner 1 and velocity vectors were shown Figure 8.
The particles from the bottom and middle burners initially move downwards
towards the hopper section and burned out. The particles from the top burner
directly travel upwards to the high temperature zone. It was also observed that these
particular particles have a longer residence time inside the boiler. Coal particles
injected from top burners hit on the opposite wall. The impact of particles on wall
tubes was weaken the metal structure and deformed the surface layer. Especially,
wall tubes were exposed to erosive wear at boiler level above 15 m (Table 3).
Superheater and economizer tubes were already within gas stream and also abraded
by particles.

(a) (b)
Figure 8. (a) Particle trajectories coloured by particle residence time (s) fed from
burner 1 and (b) velocity vectors (m/s) across vertical cross section.

The microstructures of some tubes were normal (Fig. 9). The grains were
homogeneous and consisted of ferrite and pearlite phases. The surfaces of the tubes
exposed to the gas and particle flow were abraded, and measurements showed that
these tubes were excessively thinned. Periodic maintenance should be carried out to
prevent tube ruptures caused by ash erosion. Tube thickness should also be checked
regularly during maintenance. If tube thickness is under a minimum allowable
thickness, the tube needs to be changed to reduce the incidence of tube rupture as

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well as the frequency of power loss. If tube thickness is measured regularly, or

whenever the unit is out of order for any reason, tube ruptures will be prevented
more effectively. The speed of ash erosion on the tubes must also be inspected, and
tube thickness reduction and boiler operating hours must be controlled.

Figure 9. Tube rupture and its microstructure caused by ash erosion.

Abrasive components in the coal, such as silica, affect the lifetime of the tubes.
In order to investigate how ash erosion affects tube ruptures in the Seyitomer power
plant, the ash content of coal must be known. Fuel analysis showed that the coal
burned in the power plant had very high ash content. The sulfur content of the fly
ash was between 0.50 and 0.85%. Sulfur increases the susceptibility of the metal to
cracking, and high levels of ash cause erosion damage to tubes, making them
thinner and causing them to rip. Analysis by optical microscope revealed that the
ash deposit on some tubes exceeded the limit of 80 μm (18). This deposit creates a
strong layer of insulation, which prevents heat transfer and causes the surface
temperature of tubes to increase, leading to rupture. As a result of corrosion,
hydrogen is released at high temperatures and diffuses into the metal. It reacts with
carbon to form methane, and cracks occur in the tubes under the effects of
temperature and pressure.

The thickness of the tubes was inspected in order to investigate the effect of
abrasion. Superheater, economizer, and wall tubes were divided into a large number
of 1 m pieces, and each piece was numbered for tube thickness measurement. Table
3 shows the measurements for 18 pieces, which were taken using the Elcometer
206 DL ultrasonic thickness measuring device. The maximum measuring range,
accuracy, and resolution of the device were 0.63–500 mm, ± 0.01 mm, and 0.01
mm, respectively. A tube needs to be changed if its measured thickness drops to
40% of its original thickness. The materials of economizer tubes and wall tubes
were 15Mo3. The creep limit of the material reduces above 700 K. The materials of
superheater and final superheater tubes were 15Mo3 and X20CrMoV12-1,
respectively. The temperature and pressure of steam in final superheater tubes are
813K and 140 bar, respectively. Operating period of the tubes after exchange is 10
years.

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Table 3. Sample tube thicknesses.

Measured
Original tube
Part Diameter tube
Location Material thickness
No (mm) thickness
(mm)
(mm)
1 Wall tubes (5-15 m) 15Mo3 57 5 2.20
2 Wall tubes (5-15 m) 15Mo3 57 5 2.18
3 Wall tubes (5-15 m) 15Mo3 57 5 2.60
4 Wall tubes (+15 m) 15Mo3 57 5 1.90
5 Wall tubes (+15 m) 15Mo3 57 5 1.93
6 Wall tubes (+15 m) 15Mo3 57 5 1.88
7 Economizer (+43 m) 15Mo3 33.7 4 0.90
8 Economizer (+43 m) 15Mo3 33.7 4 1.00
9 Economizer (+43 m) 15Mo3 33.7 4 1.01
10 Economizer (+43 m) 15Mo3 33.7 4 0.99
11 Economizer (+43 m) 15Mo3 33.7 4 1.01
12 Economizer (+43 m) 15Mo3 33.7 4 1.00
13 Superheater (+43 m) 15Mo3 33.7 4 1.70
14 Superheater (+43 m) 15Mo3 33.7 4 1.81
15 Superheater (+43 m) 15Mo3 33.7 4 2.00
16 Superheater (+43 m) 15Mo3 33.7 4 1.86
17 Superheater (+43 m) 15Mo3 33.7 4 1.79
18 Superheater (+43 m) 15Mo3 33.7 4 1.94

4. Conclusions
Temperature distribution inside the pulverized coal burning boiler was
simulated using CFD code to determine the effect of temperature on tube rupture.
The temperature values measured at points close to wall in various sections of the
boiler were compared with CFD results, and were in good agreement. CFD analysis
showed that the flame shaped in the centre of the boiler and the temperature
decreased gradually towards the boiler walls. The temperature of gas flowing
through the superheater tubes was measured and also simulated approximately 1150
K. Deposits on tubes can occur overheating, fouling and slagging which lead to tube
ruptures. Analysis showed that the ash and chlorine content of the coal, and SiO2
content of the ash were very high. The abrasive effect of the ash accelerated thinning
of tubes and finally caused them to rupture. The surfaces of the some tubes exposed
to gas and particle flow were abraded, but the microstructures of these tubes were
normal. Tube thickness measurements indicated that the tubes were thinned
excessively.
Acknowledgements
The financial support of this study from TUBITAK under contract number
108M082 is gratefully acknowledged. The authors would like to acknowledge and

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thank for all the help they received from the staff of the Seyitomer Thermal Power
Plant, Kutahya-Turkey.

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