Corrosion Monitoring

REI, in collaboration with Corrosion Management (Manchester, UK), has developed and tested an advanced, real-time, corrosion monitoring technology for application to high temperature combustion environments. This technology provides immediate response, high sensitivity, and the potential for quantitative corrosion measurements over a range of conditions. The need for effective corrosion monitoring and management has increased with the recent wide-spread adoption of low-NOx firing systems for cost-effective control of NOx emissions. The resulting reducing conditions and flame impingement on waterwalls have sometimes led to unacceptable corrosion and/or limitations on the extent of potential reductions of NOx emissions. The ability to understand, monitor, and manage boiler waterwall loss can be dramatically improved through the application of a verifiable, real-time corrosion monitoring system. The addition of bromine-containing chemicals to boilers for mercury control has also created a need to understand how these chemicals may affect corrosion potential in the system. Real-time corrosion monitoring is necessary in order to link the corrosion behavior with real power plant conditions in the region of the air heater.

Applications of this technology in laboratory combustors, pilot-scale facilities and during field tests at coal-fired utility boilers have established its value as a tool for addressing high temperature corrosion. The equipment has proven durable, flexible, and can be operated remotely or as an on-site addition to existing instrumentation operations. In addition, a proprietary technique has been developed that allows the sensor elements to be removed periodically to verify the quantitative accuracy of the sensor.

REI has coupled this corrosion monitoring technology with CFD analysis to develop a Corrosion Management System that can effectively monitor and anticipate corrosion behavior in combustion systems.